Unknown death...

[Hyun]

Hi everyone.

I'm a new chicken owner. Today, I found one of my girls dead in the coop. She was 1 of 10 hens..all of them were raised from 2 days old and they are 7.5 months old right now. I quickly looked over my girl to see if she had any injuries or visible signs of trauma and I can't see anything. She also doesn't have any mites or bugs on her. Something had to cause this..she didn't just die..right? Can anyone tell me what I should look for so I can try to figure out what killed her? I have 9 other hens and I need to know if I should be checking or doing something to protect the other girls. I can say that 1 of them was sneezing a few weeks back but every time I heard it and turned to find out which girl,she wouldn't do it again. This went on for about a week...I think I finally found the right girl and I checked her..she had no discharge from eyes or nose, no respiratory distress...but I also don't know if she is the one that died. I also had a neighbor's dog trespass onto my property this morning...the girls are in a secure fenced in run so the dog didn't get to any of them but could the dog have scared/stressed the girls enough that it could have killed one of them? Lastly, I know that one girl was getting picked on by one other hen when I would go out to give treats..it wasn't agressive..there were never injuries and I always made a point to make sure that girl who was being picked on got some treats. I just want to know what happened and how to prevent it but I need to know what to look for..any advice/input would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[georgieboy11]

Welcome to byc. I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds like your hen is of laying age and it is possible she could have been egg bound and died from that, I am not sure though. I'm sure someone more experienced will be here to help you soon... Good luck!

 

[georgieboy11]

I have had young hens that seemed perfectly healthy die out of nowhere too

 

[Hyun]

Thank you for responding. They just started laying at the end of December. Is there a way to check if she was? A way to feel for it? I still have her in my garage..I can check her.

 

[theoldchick]

Well dang, what a way to meet us. Well, I'm going guess you hen might have had a cardiac event that ended her life. In other words she might have had a heart attack that killed her. If you need more information you need to have a necropsy performed on her. Sorry for your loss.

 

[georgieboy11]

Thank you for responding. They just started laying at the end of December. Is there a way to check if she was? A way to feel for it? I still have her in my garage..I can check her.

If she was egg bound you might be able to feel an egg in her lower abdomen or near her vent, and as theoldchick said it also very likely could have been a heart attack. You could take her to a vet to get a necropsy to find out. I hope you have better luck with the rest of your girls and enjoy your time on byc.

 

[Hyun]

Well dang, what a way to meet us. Well, I'm going guess you hen might have had a cardiac event that ended her life. In other words she might have had a heart attack that killed her. If you need more information you need to have a necropsy performed on her. Sorry for your loss.

Hi. Thank you taking the time to respond. Could a neighbor's dog scaring her through a fence have been a cardiac event? I have a puppy who charged the fence a few times but they settled down quickly bc I stop the puppy. My neighbor's dog, who gets loose quite often, could have been chasing my girls around the fence for much longer..I don't know how long bc I only saw the dog when the owner finally pulled up to get him..could that have done it? Are my other girls still at risk and should I be worried that more will die or that if it hasn't happened yet, they are fine. Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Hyun]

If she was egg bound you might be able to feel an egg in her lower abdomen or near her vent, and as theoldchick said it also very likely could have been a heart attack. You could take her to a vet to get a necropsy to find out. I hope you have better luck with the rest of your girls and enjoy your time on byc.

Thank you. I will check her and see if I can feel anything. I really hope my other girls are healthy.

 

[theoldchick]

Yes, a dog could have scared her into a panic which caused her heart to fail. It is difficult to know if the other chickens will die from terror, but I don't allow dogs to aggravate my chickens in such a manner. Putting up an electrified boundary wire may stop the puppy from coming around.

 

[SD Chicken Wrangler15]

I'm sorry for your loss. I had an 8 or 9 week old Buff Orpington die a few weeks ago out of nowhere.

I read in "storey's guide to raising chickens" that giving your chickens an inspection each day helps in identifying problems before they become deadly. The problem I have with that advice is the stress it can inflict on my chickens... catching, holding, even chasing. Waiting until nighttime when they roost is your best bet in checking on them just remember your flashlight. YouTube has a great clip on how to hold your chickens to make inspections easier on both of you too! Good luck!