Sudden death of EE (easter egger) hen

[Thechickentrainer1999]

Woke up this morning to let the chickens out and everyone woke up & was acting normal as always and then I went back to bed for about 3 hours to notice my 2 year old ee hen [a month from 3] laying dead in the run. Overall she was healthy, wasn't over weight, never had any worms or anything, no outside injuries and was laying on the ground with her eyes closed dead, she had even laid an egg just 2 days ago, as she laid about every 2 to 3 days on average. I'm so upset and cant imagine what would have happened. She showed absolutely no signs of anything. Flew out of the coop this morning, ran/walked around just fine, pecking and looking for grain and then within 3 hours just laying on the ground dead.

 

[azygous]

Sorry this happened. It's upsetting, a lot. But to determine what happened, you need to examine her for clues.

First look her over carefully for injuries. Is the run open to the sky? A hawk could have swooped down and broken her neck or hit her hard enough on the back to stop her breathing.

A chronic infection could have finally killed her. Look at her butt feathers. Are they soiled by whitish poop with mucous?

To get an accuratel diagnosis, you can find a state agricultural lab to do a necropsy on her body. Refrigerate her body, do not freeze, until you contact the lab for instructions on getting the chicken to them. The cost of this can vary from free to a couple hundred dollars.

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

The run is 8ft x 40ft with hardware cloth, even double layered to prevent anything from coming in. I examined her and noticed no broken bones at all. Of course she was completely stiff when I got her and her head and neck had no visible injury and did not at all feel broke. She has already been buried.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm so sorry for your loss, and she wasn't old, even harder to understand sometimes.
Without that necropsy, it will be a mystery, and as long as more aren't dying, it's some problem that only she had.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Tonight when the birds are roosting, check them over for mites or lice. use a flashlight, and look around their vents, under wings, and neck, at skin level. At least mites are something you can fix!
Mary

 

[~KH~]

Woke up this morning to let the chickens out and everyone woke up & was acting normal as always and then I went back to bed for about 3 hours to notice my 2 year old ee hen [a month from 3] laying dead in the run. Overall she was healthy, wasn't over weight, never had any worms or anything, no outside injuries and was laying on the ground with her eyes closed dead, she had even laid an egg just 2 days ago, as she laid about every 2 to 3 days on average. I'm so upset and cant imagine what would have happened. She showed absolutely no signs of anything. Flew out of the coop this morning, ran/walked around just fine, pecking and looking for grain and then within 3 hours just laying on the ground dead.

I had a similar situation last year - one of my EEs just died overnight - she had been acting normal the day before (as far as I could tell) and everyone else was fine. I couldn't see anything wrong when I looked her over. I just figured there must have been something wrong internally that killed her. She was just about a year old at the time.

 

[Mrs. K]

Sudden death does happen to chickens. I have lost many hatchery birds around 3 years of age. It is my understanding that hatchery birds are not really bred for longevity. I have always had either hatchery birds or just random cross bred birds.

I would just accept this as a normal life expectancy. I would not send for necropsy unless I had more birds die very closely together. In my experience, chickens are not real long lived animals. Some people post very old birds, but it is not common in my area, I don't know if it is the climate, or just where I get my birds.

Death is a hard part of chickens.

Mrs K

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

Sudden death does happen to chickens. I have lost many hatchery birds around 3 years of age. It is my understanding that hatchery birds are not really bred for longevity. I have always had either hatchery birds or just random cross bred birds.

I would just accept this as a normal life expectancy. I would not send for necropsy unless I had more birds die very closely together. In my experience, chickens are not real long lived animals. Some people post very old birds, but it is not common in my area, I don't know if it is the climate, or just where I get my birds.

Death is a hard part of chickens.

Mrs K

It's so strange because I saw that for an ee their average was at least 8 years if given the proper shelter, etc

 

[Mrs. K]

That is odd, I have never seen anywhere an average life span of 8 years for any breed. I have wondered if people that live farther south, with an easier winter have longer lived birds. However, we do get a real winter, or at least spells of a real winter, and I would say over 12 years a raising chickens, regardless of the breed, 3 years is about average. Most of mine die in that time period, I have only one that got past 4.

My birds have mostly commercial feed - with kitchen scraps, some free ranging, good shelter, plenty of sunshine and fresh air, and a well ventilated coop.

I would think an 8 year average to be unrealistic.

Mrs K

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

That is odd, I have never seen anywhere an average life span of 8 years for any breed. I have wondered if people that live farther south, with an easier winter have longer lived birds. However, we do get a real winter, or at least spells of a real winter, and I would say over 12 years a raising chickens, regardless of the breed, 3 years is about average. Most of mine die in that time period, I have only one that got past 4.

Ive also heard of reports that say some have had theres nearly 20 years (no particular breed).

The oldest I've ever had 1 live (black sex link) was 6 years & she was in great health, laid humongous eggs, bigger than extra large but unfortunately was killed by a raccoon that reached in on the old cage. It's been so hard trying to get over her loss now almost 2 years ago & now this one.