Dead chicken

OK, so I got home today, and I wanted to clean the coop, so we went out to clean it, and I opened the door, and there was a dead chicken. Boom. Right in front of me. I said to Kelly, "Uh oh, we have a dead chicken" and he says (why do men do things like this?), he says "What makes you say that?"

What the heck ELSE would make me say that, other than the fact that I'm looking at a dead chicken! Geesh...

Anyway, it was one of the light brahmas, which made me sad, because it was one of the better looking light brahmas. I had 4 of them and 2 are the ones with no back feathers that are currently separated and actually growing feathers back, which is good, and then the other one is fine, but this one that died is probably the better looking of the 4. Anyway, she was lying on the floor of the coop, so I picked her up to inspect her.

So, I have never touched a dead chicken before (well, other than the grocery store ones) and her body was all stiff, but her neck was all wobbly. So what I wondered is, did she fall off the roost and break her neck? Is it normal to have a chicken be dead that is all stiff except for their neck? I could not see any wounds or other damage. Her comb and face skin looked a little purplish. I am not sure how long she was there because I didn't look in there yesterday. I bet the purplish is just normal after death. No nose crustiness or eye crustiness or other symptoms. A few mites around her vent but I am dealing with that in a few birds so not entirely surprising.

Anyway, it's not like I'm devastated (for example, if it was Rosie, I'd be ballistic). I didn't know these chickens well and I got them from my colleague who has had them for ages and I think only a couple of them are still laying because I think most of them are too old. I only get a couple of eggs a day and that's from 17 birds, and 2 of them are new birds that are only 1 year old, so I think most of the time it's their eggs. I didn't hand raise them or anything, so I'm OK with it, but I'm just curious about it. Mostly curious about her neck. That seemed odd to me but I am inexperienced with chicken death.

I completely cleaned out the coop and put in new shavings and paper in the nest boxes (shredded) and none of the others seem sick or anything, so I am not too concerned. Either she broke her neck falling off the roost, or she was old, or something. We buried her. Bye bye brahma.

Good thing I have lots of babies on the way!
Claire

The neck doesn't really stiffen like the rest of the body. Don't feel bad about it, old chickens die. Even some young ones do and we never know why. It's always frusterating to go out and find a dead one when they were all fine last time you looked. I found one once that was still on the perch. I couldn't figure out why she didn't go out with the rest in the morning and when I went and touched her, she fell off like a rock. Not the best way to start your day.

Wow, that must have been a shock for you. At least mine wasn't sitting on the perch. That probably would have freaked me out a little more.

Not much freeks me out any more.

My deepest condolences, CMOXON and jylgaskin.
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CF

WOW....what a shock!! I would have flipped!! I suppose it is a good thing you weren't terribly attached.......hope the feather growth on the other two is coming along. My girl is still relatively bald...but we lost the last scab this week, so I am hopeful that the new feathers won't be too far away.

So sorry for your loss.
:(

Teresa

Yes, it was rather a shock. I just wasn't expecting it, since she had not shown any symptoms of anything. I guess I should get used to it because it's going to happen - it always does when we care for animals and they get old, but it's never something I want to take lightly.

I should definitely take pics of the new feathers on my brahmas. They are looking so much better... Glad to hear that the scabs are clearing up. I hope the feathers will start to poke through soon.