4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[BERTIE MCSQUIRTY]

i have found a chicken in the nest box this afternoon dead. she was one and a half.

on picking her up she had a very dirty vent (it was ok this morning) with some yellowing to it.(the vent was ok earlier)

 

i am assuming that it was some egg production problem? as she was in the box and i haven't had some eggs from her for a while, but not too overly concerned as she had been broody (with eggs under her for a while) and was about 3 months out of it plus being winter my egg collection has been small. what i had noticed about her for a few months is that her comb had a slight bluish tint to it.

 

this morning she was ok, i didn't notice anything untoward about her, she was eating well.

 

i last wormed them 5 days ago with flubenvet, and apart from that she looked very healthy (with good glossy plumage)

 

am i on the right track with my suspicions of egg production problem?

[chelsea]

so sorry to hear about your hen, it must have been quite a shock to find her.

 

The blue tint on the comb suggests a possible heart problem (heart failure?), you could be right with your theory about a laying problem , hens can go downhill so quickly & also mask their illness so well that you may never have guessed or prevented it anyway.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sorry to hear that .

[Egluntyne]

When they keel over unexpectedly is can often be due to a heart problem.

 

Maybe the strain of laying a dodgy egg triggered it.

 

Sorry to hear it.

[WitchHazel]

Sorry to hear about that, Bertie.

[BERTIE MCSQUIRTY]

thanks for your responses - i just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something i was missing. the others are fine and dandy today, had a good look at them this morning, nothing unusual.

i am off to the vet this afternoon with daisy the puppy for her worming etc, so will ask there. i might ask them for a lice / mite application, although on checking the others they appear to be clear. i have some spray on stuff, given by the vet, but dont like using it on the hens -(its ok on the coop)