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[mozzar_ELLA]

I had a chicken death last night. Completely unexpected and she looks normal. (Not a predator attack) This is my first unexpected death and I have no idea why could of caused it. She was eating and drinking and laying yesterday. I’ve attached a picture because one of her legs was kind of splayed out. Can anyone share some stories that might shed some little? We are gonna to try to get her autopsied but with COVID idk if they will take her

 

[mozzar_ELLA]

I'm sorry about your hen.

When a bird dies, often there is some motion/reflexes so the body and legs can end up in different positions, so you can't say what one died of by how you found them.
Without necropsy, there's really no way to know what happened. So many things can happen. With a laying hen that was fine one day and gone the next, I would suspect some type of reproductive or liver disorder but that's speculation on my part.
There should be no problem taking her to your state lab. UC Davis is the CA lab. Just refrigerate the body/keep it cool until you get it to the

I'm sorry about your hen.

When a bird dies, often there is some motion/reflexes so the body and legs can end up in different positions, so you can't say what one died of by how you found them.
Without necropsy, there's really no way to know what happened. So many things can happen. With a laying hen that was fine one day and gone the next, I would suspect some type of reproductive or liver disorder but that's speculation on my part.
There should be no problem taking her to your state lab. UC Davis is the CA lab. Just refrigerate the body/keep it cool until you get it to them.

Ya I’m just shocked. She was absolutely fine. I live in ca and Davis is close so that’s why I’d go there. Thanks for the input.

 

[Everose]

This happens sometimes with chickens and there's no explanation.

Did you notice her stretch her neck at all to breathe occasionally? Has she had access to any poisons? Can she get into a neighbor's yard? Did someone stare at her for too long or give her a funny look? Was she vaccinated?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I had a chicken death last night. Completely unexpected and she looks normal. (Not a predator attack) This is my first unexpected death and I have no idea why could of caused it. She was eating and drinking and laying yesterday. I’ve attached a picture because one of her legs was kind of splayed out. Can anyone share some stories that might shed some little? We are gonna to try to get her autopsied but with COVID idk if they will take her

I'm sorry about your hen.

When a bird dies, often there is some motion/reflexes so the body and legs can end up in different positions, so you can't say what one died of by how you found them.
Without necropsy, there's really no way to know what happened. So many things can happen. With a laying hen that was fine one day and gone the next, I would suspect some type of reproductive or liver disorder but that's speculation on my part.
There should be no problem taking her to your state lab. UC Davis is the CA lab. Just refrigerate the body/keep it cool until you get it to them.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I had a chicken death last night. Completely unexpected and she looks normal. (Not a predator attack) This is my first unexpected death and I have no idea why could of caused it. She was eating and drinking and laying yesterday. I’ve attached a picture because one of her legs was kind of splayed out. Can anyone share some stories that might shed some little? We are gonna to try to get her autopsied but with COVID idk if they will take her

Honestly without an autopsy there's only so much guessing you can do. If you aren't too squeamish, you can do the autopsy yourself. It's a good skill to learn and can be very informative. I believe a few people on here have guides on it.

 

[mozzar_ELLA]

Some observations: she looks like a neat and tidy healthy bird, her area looks clean, her plumage is nice and her comb and wattles seem to have nice color.

So sorry for your loss

I think she may have eaten something she wasn't supposed to eat. Possibly an internal issue having to do with organs but if she's eating, drinking, laying, acting normal, it just seems too bizarre for her to drop dead.

Have you introduced any new chickens recently?

Yes it’s very strange that’s what is adding to my alarm. I haven’t introduced any new birds and no changes in food either. I’m at a loss. Thanks for commenting

 

[Everose]

Yeah we've been there too. An autopsy will probably shed a lot of light on this situation

 

[mozzar_ELLA]

I had a chicken death last night. Completely unexpected and she looks normal. (Not a predator attack) This is my first unexpected death and I have no idea why could of caused it. She was eating and drinking and laying yesterday. I’ve attached a picture because one of her legs was kind of splayed out. Can anyone share some stories that might shed some little? We are gonna to try to get her autopsied but with COVID idk if they will take her

UPDATE:: I just got the report back and unfortunately it was her liver. The report said this can happen when birds are fed high energy diets with limited exercise. So kind of good news bad news. Good news it wasn’t an infectious disease that got over looked by my regular check ups but bad news apparently my girls aren’t getting their exercise in. I’m really glad I know now though. Not knowing was so hard and not knowing if there could be other deaths while waiting. I know some people suggested it could be her liver. Is there anyone else who has been through this? How can I encourage even more activity?

 

[Malkaris]

They free range in a portion of our yard and they have their run for bad weather. Neither do I! It seems like they are always running and digging and what not. Definitely a shock that Popcorn wasn’t fit enough.

Strange! Other than a high corn etc diet maybe I don't know what else causes that. Hopefully someone will chime in with suggestions. Or it was a one-off. Do the other hens seem the same as her?

 

[mozzar_ELLA]

Strange! Other than a high corn etc diet maybe I don't know what else causes that. Hopefully someone will chime in with suggestions. Or it was a one-off. Do the other hens seem the same as her?

Right! I don’t even feed them corn! Idk it could of been a one off. I have read that sometimes they’re just genetically predisposed to liver disease. She was very much like the others. They’re all happy, scratchy, running around, flapping, exploring young hens.