What caused our girl to die?

[GreenLivingNC]

We just lost a RIR hen. We rescued her a little over a year ago from a brutal situation but she's been healthy and find up until a couple of weeks ago. Since then, she stopped laying and eating and began moving very slowly. She was usually very skittish of us when we came close but in the last few days she didn't run away if we got close. Today she looked especially lethargic and I noticed that her whole backside was caked in poop. Tonight we went to check on her in the coop. She was not on the roosting shelf with the others and she allowed my husband to pick her up without ANY fight which she has never done before. We gave her a bath in some warm water and a little Dawn to try to remove the poop and she died as soon as it was done. I've attached pictures of her. This is my first death other than a fox kill, so I don't know what should be normal but her belly looks bloated to me and she seems prolapsed. Any help that might be good to keep the rest of our flock safe?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looks like possibility ascites which is often from organ failure.

 

[QuailExpert]

Im not an expert with cause of death but did you check her for a broken or stuck egg?? Maybe that could have caused the bloating. I know one of my quail due to a broken egg and she was bloated.

 

[BirdGirl2004]

I agree with both oldhenlikesdogs and QuailExpert. I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Without a necropsy - knowing the exact cause would be speculation at best. I do see quite a swollen abdomen and what looks like a protruding vent. Likely she had a reproductive disorder as mentioned previously.
If you still have the body, can you open the abdomen and take a look and post photos of what you find? That may give us a better clue as to what happened. Sometimes you will find egg yolks, excessive fluid, fatty liver or lash material in the abdomen.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree with the others...she looks to have had a very swollen abdomen and protruding vent.

She may have been egg bound or other reproductive issues.

If she was treated poorly in her prior care, being a production bird, it is not uncommon that her body was already fatigued and harboring internal issues.

Many production layers succumb to cancers and internal reproductive issues due to the massive amount of eggs their bodies produce.

3 years is the normal life span of many commercial lines simply because of those problems.

She had a happy year with you, much better than her prior life.

Sometimes there is simply nothing you can do.

LofMc