Chickens Dies after Laying First Egg

[eyewrist]

Yesterday, I was watching my chickens and one of the americauner (spelling questionable) was trying to lay eggs for the first time. This morning I found her dead in the coop but was successful at laying her first egg. Does this happen often? She was in good health getting a good balance of feed and greens, eating and drinking well. The other three appear to be fine. I even checked her body for any wounds, blood, parasites but nothing visible. Can anyone help with this mystery?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Was the egg unusually large? Did she seem fine yesterday, walking funny or anything?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm so sorry. New layers can have problems like having an egg stuck in their vent even when the hen is generally healthy I think. From what I have read it is fairly rare for such problems to result in sudden death.

 

[Sueg4332]

I had a wheaten marans hen do the same thing this week. But she manage to lay 3 eggs (nice and Dark) found her dead the next morning. It was such a bummer....

 

[Kittyf]

Oh, this is so sad - poor little thing! I hope this is a truly rare thing. What a terrible thing for you to find - I'm glad the others are okay.

 

[ChicKat]

Eyewrist,

Welcome to the forum. So very sorry you lost your pullet, and sorry that your first post is a sad one. Hopefully this event is very rare, and I hope your other chickens continue to be fine.

 

[eyewrist]

Everything was normal except when I found her attempting to lay yesterday which I knew was time for her to start laying soon so that was no surprise to me. Yes the egg was of considerable size for a first time layer. It was a large one and streaked with blood. I assuming that it may have been internal bleeding. She was very calm and gentle of the four.

Thank you for welcoming me. I have been reading messages on the forum and getting educated by those who actually are doing BY raising of chickens. I started this past May and find it very interesting and a learning experience while incorporating composting and organic gardening. All three work well for me to go "green and organic"

 

[bloom chicks]

I am sorry to hear about your chicken.

 

[Kevin565]

I'm not sure why this happened but I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[mstanco]

On Monday of this week (Feb. 10th), I went up to clean the coop and run and found one of my Blue Andalusians dead with no apparent signs of bloodshed or foul play. After cleaning the coop and run I found my first egg (white) under the coop ramp. The only one that could fit under there would be the dead chicken. All my other chickens have not started laying yet and they are approaching five months old next week.