Young hen dying when her chicks are 2 weeks old?

[Iloveourbabychick]

Someone we know found his hen dead one morning.No sign of an attack.Her and her chicks were in a fenced in area,fence over the top.They were in there with a rooster.Would the rooster kill her?But there was no sign of nothing.The baby chicks are doing well.Someone told this man that she could have been egg bound,but that sounds a lil crazy to me.This was a young chicken.And I dont think they lay eggs when her chicks are only 2 weeks old.Any ideas?

 

[silkiechicken]

Hmm, if the girl was 100% protected in the run, perhaps she had a heart attack or an internal issue that nobody could see. Did she pick up her eating after the chicks? Or was she so preocupied that she starved? Although that last idea there is unlikly. If she became listless and then died, could have been egg binding, but it's usually 4-8 weeks after hatching chicks do the hen's hormones get rolling on egg production again. Sorry it happened. Although odd, chickens seem to die sometimes without warning or reason.

 

[hinkjc]

Without a necropsy, you will never know for certain what happened to her. Sounds like an internal malfunction. Could have also been lack of nutrition from sitting (some hens experience this and do not recover well once the chicks hatch) or she could have had an internal issue that was unknown (heart condition, ascites, etc). Could have even been that she was overtaken by internal and/or external parasites - parasites are a big issue with broody hens because they do not take the time to dust and consume natural insecticides to keep them under control. So sorry you lost her. :aww

Jody