[NormandyMary]

I went out to the henhouse to collect the eggs and feed the girls. Walked into the house and found one of my girls dead in one of the nesting boxes. I can see no apparent reason why this happened. She was a good weight still, there were no marks on her and there was no messy rear end. Can chooks just have heart attacks or something like that? I have disinfected the house and changed all the straw just in case there was something, but I saw no obvious signs of illness before she died. Its a puzzle.

[naturesparadise]

yes birds can just have a heart attack a birds heart beats at around 1000 beats a minnet and they can just drop dead

sorry for your loss

[Aunt Sally]

What a shock for you  :cry:

Sudden death can occur.

Hens (all birds actually) have a high blood pressure and can have heart attack or stroke.  They can also suddenly die from a condition called cage layer fatigue ( I think that's what it is called)  it is a deficiency of calcium in birds that have laid a lot of eggs.
It can cause paralysis, as Ca ions are needed for muscle contraction, and sudden death.  

[Oliveview]

We have had 2 hens die on us, 1 when the weather was over 45 deg and the other who was laying soft shelled eggs.  It was still a nasty shock though.  Sorry it happened to you Normandy Mary
Pamela

[Lost in France]

So sorry Normanymary, hope the others are ok.

Judi

[NormandyMary]

Thanks all for your good wishes and re-assurance. I will be keeping a close eye on all the others for the forseeable future!

Mary.

[babe]

aww, sorry you lost a girlie... hugs xxx