I was out with my girls for a while this afternoon, and everything seemed fine. I looked out the window a few hours later and Sharon, my favorite girl, was sitting on the gate with her back end up and her head low. I pet her for a while on the gate, she would close her eyes and respond to the attention, but her comb looked more pale than usual. I assumed because it was early evening she was just ready for bed. We moved the coop recently so they have needed some help getting off to bed, so I carried her over to the coop. When I tried to put her on the nesting bar, she hit the ground (2ft. down) and didn't move. I picked her up and held her for a while until she passed out and her head fell. About two minutes later (at this point I was a bluthering crying mess) she screamed and convulsed, flapped her wings and fell to the ground. I picked her up and it happened two more times until she finally just died.
They were in perfect health, organic feed, completely scrubbed and cleaned coop a week ago (shoveled out daily), energetic all day. She has been laying normally. One of the other girls layed a shelless egg last night at bed time, but it was her second egg of the day so I can't imagine it's related.
Any idea what could have been the cause? I am wrecked. My dad brought me a bag of deer corn this afternoon left over from his hunting last week? The food I give them is whole kernel, too, so I don't suspect anything, but who knows.
Thanks for the responses.
They were in perfect health, organic feed, completely scrubbed and cleaned coop a week ago (shoveled out daily), energetic all day. She has been laying normally. One of the other girls layed a shelless egg last night at bed time, but it was her second egg of the day so I can't imagine it's related.
Any idea what could have been the cause? I am wrecked. My dad brought me a bag of deer corn this afternoon left over from his hunting last week? The food I give them is whole kernel, too, so I don't suspect anything, but who knows.
Thanks for the responses.
