# Mystery



## glwfan (Mar 19, 2015)

Please help. Yesterday I checked on nesting box and inside there was a dead chicken. She was a Dominique and was supposed to start laying any day. I had checked for eggs 3 hours prior and no birds were in the nests. The only other thing different than normal was late morning I saw a golden-tan colored clear fluid filled sac on coop floor. I almost mistook it for a large yolk without the albumin or shell, but don't think it was. 

I am grateful for peoples' thoughts of etiology. I thought maybe her egg duct got blocked, or she prolapsed. I didn't inspect her closely, and we burned her immediately. There are no signs of illness with rest of flock. I will be extra vigilant over next 3 weeks to monitor for disease symptoms in case something is incubating. Are Dominiques prone to any certain maladies?

Thank you so much for reading and your thoughts.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You can pretty much relax about the disease issue. You would have recognized the girl was off it was something that was not immediate. They look sick, stand around while the others are active, eyes are a big give away on how they're feeling. 

I don't think anyone could tell you with any certainty why she died, not without a necropsy.

And something to think about, if it were a communicable disease and she was with the flock, they have already been exposed. 99% of the time isolation is for new birds to the flock or to protect the one that needs extra support.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I agree with Robin. It's not a disease, but a necropsy is always best. It sounds like she possibly couldve been egg impacted, possibly a blockage in the oviduct or narrow oviduct, or perhaps an internal infection caused by egg contents expelled internally. Unfortunately these incidents can occur in first time layers. Sorry for your loss.


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## glwfan (Mar 19, 2015)

Thank you very much, robin and daug. I am very appreciative of your assessment.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Many times we don't know why they died. No one breeds chickens to be genetically healthy and live longer. If you get another one, I would wrap it and put it in the fridge and send it for a necropsy.


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