Lost a hen last night...

[adgcountrygirl]

I lost one of my favorite Dominique pullets last night. At first I thought she got too cold and died, but she was between a rooster and a slightly larger hen. Could she have been jostled and fallen off her roost? She was facing the back of the coop when she went to roost. (I know this because I took a picture of them right after they got settled for the night.) When I found her this morning she was facing the inside of the coop and her legs were straight out behind her.

It was upsetting enough to find her like this, but when I realized she was the hen that my 8 year old nephew picked out for the year, it turned my stomach. He and his sister always "pick" one of the chicks if I get new ones. They help with chicken chores and catch grasshoppers to toss to "their" chickens. If any one else has had a chicken die in the middle of the night, please let me know. Maybe there is some way I can improve their roost?

 

[thebanthams]

So sorry ! I dont know how this can happen. was there any cuts on her? from fighting?

 

[americana-lover]

Now that's just a shame. I'm so very sorry about your loss. Do you have a heating lamp in your coop? If so, then she didn't die from the cold. Was she really old? Or just a youngster? The day before, was she eating and drinking properly? If not, maybe she had worms?
I'm so very sorry, this sounds like one of my nightmares... :/



Rip little chicken

 

[adgcountrygirl]

I couldn't find any cuts on her. She was almost 7 months old. I felt along her neck to see if it was broken. I couldn't find any evidence of an actual break, but her neck was curved almost all the way under the rest of her body and her legs were sticking out straight. The roost she was on was packed pretty tight. They could have spread out more, but they didn't. I have a heat lamp, but it wasn't on, because it was 40-something last night and they roost close together. The only two hens that don't roost with anyone else, each sleep in a nest box on the ground. (There are only 2 nesting boxes on the ground.) I don't know if she lost her ballance and lost her grip on the bar or what. I've never seen this happen before. My husband says she may have eaten a nail or some other sharp thing. She seemed fine the day before though.