What happened?

[teafreak35]

Last night I went out to check my chickens, as I do every night, and they were all fine. All of them were on the roost except for one. She was sitting on the clutch of eggs that had been laid that day. I didn't think too much of that and even moved her off the eggs so I could get them. She seemed fine other than that little oddity.

Anyway, this morning, I went back out to check them and she was lying in that same spot dead. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there is, what appears to be, the inner membrane of an egg hanging out of her vent. She's also wet all over her bottom. Does it sound like she got egg bound? If so, can it kill a chicken that fast? She's always been a great producer so I really hate to have lost her!

I'm open to any other ideas or suggestions as to what it could be. I have 9 other chickens in the same coop so I want to make sure it's not something that is contagious. Thanks!

 

[realsis]

she likely had laid internally. that was likely the egg mass you saw coming out of he body. I'm so very sorry for your loss. that's my guess as to what happened. again I'm very sorry.

 

[bucky52]

my guess also.i lost one to internal egg laying several months ago she was a red star sex link.i have another that is having issues with laying.all her eggs her soft shell or no shell at all.i did pull what was left of a soft shell out of her vent several weeks ago.she is doing OK.she does have days when i find her hiding with her feathers fluffed.i know i will find her one day gone on to chicken heaven.there is no cure.sorry for your loss.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a chicken yesterday that had a membrane sticking out of her vent from a soft-shell egg, and she finally passed it. I have had others do it, and there is always an occasional soft shell egg in my coop with lots of hens. I don't think that was positively her problem. If you have a strong stomach you could do a necropsy on her and take pictures of all the organs when you remove them. It is a learning experience to see what her organs look like, and what eggbound and egg yolk peritonitis looks like. On the Natural Chicken keeping Thread (and the Natural Chicken Keeping Blog) there are numerous pictures of necropsies and suggestions of cause of death. Most of the time you find they had a heart attack or liver disease, or were just defective and couldn't live a normal life. But next time one dies, you may know what to look for, and how to tell if something looks odd.