Comments on Urban Chickens Network blog: what do you do when your chicken dies?

Polloplayer, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. We...

2009-12-27T12:49:03.065-08:00

Polloplayer, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. We never did find out what happened to Sophia. The lab was able to determine she didn't die of anything communicable, so ZsuZsu was not threatened.

I've come to find out that sometimes chickens just die (like all pets). If the rest of your flock isn't showing distress, you should be ok, but try and find out via a local lab why your chicken did die via a necropsy.

Did you ever find out what caused your chicken's s...

2009-12-26T18:05:13.052-08:00

Did you ever find out what caused your chicken's sudden death? I just lost a healthy (seemingly) six-month-old hen yesterday (Christmas afternoon!) and came across your post while searching the topic. Am very concerned about my other three now since no idea what the cause of death might be. (I also have a chicken blog at http://polloplayer.wordpress.com)

Hi yl, thanks for asking. No, we never did figure...

2009-11-16T11:16:17.942-08:00

Hi yl, thanks for asking.

No, we never did figure out what happened to Sophia. The autopsy came back negative for any diseases (whew!) or obvious internal problems like a bound egg. "No known cause" was the report.

From what I've been able to tell reading the listservs I subscribe to, sometimes chickens... just... die. Not easy to deal with when it happens, especially the first time, but with the passage of time, it's easier to deal with.

Did you ever figure out what happened to sophia?

2009-11-16T11:09:39.214-08:00

Did you ever figure out what happened to sophia?

Thomas, I'm so sorry to hear about Sophia's death....

2009-09-01T13:29:02.283-07:00

Thomas, I'm so sorry to hear about Sophia's death. I faced a similar challenge with one of my chickens last November. What had been a perfectly healthy, normal-looking and acting pullet was dead the next morning.

How cool that you can have a free necropsy done! We don't have option here in IL, so I had to just keep watch on the rest of the flock and make sure all were staying well. Everyone else was fine, so I think Missy (the Delaware pullet that died) likely suffered some sort of internal rupture.

As for disposal, that was hard, too. I asked on our local online chicken forum and received a few answers, albeit a bit later than I needed. One person told me the city prefers that calls be made to our non-emergency line (311) and animal control would pick up the body. Another person said "chickens should be returned to the earth." I agreed with her, but late November in Chicago means hard/frozen ground, so there was no way I could dig a grave for her. I ended up double-bagging her and putting her in the regular trash. How sad.

Sometimes there is just nothing we can do. We give them the best life possible, but laying HUGE eggs nearly every day is very hard on their bodies.

You should get another chicken for ZsuZsu. Chickens don't like to live alone. It will be hard to introduce them at first, but they'll establish a pecking order on their own and it will work out.

Each state has different approved methods of dispo...

2009-09-01T12:55:03.950-07:00

Each state has different approved methods of disposal, including burial, cremation, landfill (garbage) and composting.

Check with university extension offices to see or with department of Ag for your location.

Dr. G.