What Killed My Chicken

[CJkid]

Bad news this morning. I went out to the chicken coop and found a hen dead. She hadn't been pecked, it looked like she just laid down and died.

I had noticed this same chicken a few days ago, because she was missing quite a few feathers on her belly. I decided to keep an eye on her, I thought maybe she was just going broody or maybe molting. Now that I think about it she had been staying in the coop a lot. I would find her just sitting on the top roost in the middle of the day.
It's too late to save her now but I want to make sure if she was sick or something that my other chickens don't get sick too. None of them are acting the way she did or are missing belly feathers.
Anyone have any idea what may have caused her to die?

 

[20736]

How old was she?
Chickens have a definite life span. She may have reached the end.

 

[CJkid]

In a week she would have been 1 year old.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your loss. You should send her off for a necropsy.
http://liv.mt.gov/lab/default.mcpx

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm very familiar with the signs of various cat/dog illnesses, but STILL can't figure out most chicken ailments. Whenever an otherwise healthy acting hen/rooster just up and dies, I usually figure heart, liver, or stroke issues. But since, in hindsight, you noticed she had been acting off... it's possible that she was molting, and her lowered resistance during the molt (because it takes a lot out of some birds) set her up for some illness. A heavy lice or mites load can bring down a bird's resistance too. Sorry 'bout your hen.

 

[casportpony]

I'm very familiar with the signs of various cat/dog illnesses, but STILL can't figure out most chicken ailments.  Whenever an otherwise healthy acting hen/rooster just up and dies, I usually figure heart, liver, or stroke issues.  But since, in hindsight,  you noticed she had been acting off... it's possible that she was molting, and her lowered resistance during the molt (because it takes a lot out of some birds) set her up for some illness.  A heavy lice or mites load can bring down a bird's resistance too.  Sorry 'bout your hen.

This is why I now have necropsies done on mine. I had one die on Sunday and one yesterday. The one that died on Sunday died from EYP, according to the preliminary report from UC Davis. Yesterday's hen probably died from the something similar, but won't know until tomorrow.

CJKid's hen probably also died from an egg related issue. Or, if her comb was pale, maybe a mite nfestation cause her to become anemic.

If people can't send their birds off for necropsy, they would try to do their own. Plenty of info on the web about doing one.

 

[CJkid]

Thank you all so much for your advice.
We do plan to do our own necropsy and hopefully that will reveal what caused it.
Thanks again

 

[casportpony]

Again, sorry for your loss. Please do let us know if you find anything.

 

[CJkid]

So we just completed the necropsy. I know I'm a total amateur at this but nothing really stood out as abnormal.
Croup, gizzard, liver, kidneys, eggs all looked good. There were no worms and it didn't look like she had swallowed anything she shouldn't have.
The lungs looked a little weird (kinda shriveled up) but I think that could have been because she had been dead for a day before we were able to do the necropsy.
Her heart looked ok, there was a big clot of blood, but I'm thinking it just settled there.
No real definite answers. We're thinking maybe she had heart problems or a stroke?