young chickens dying in coop

[CarenTX]

I have a mix of pullets and cockerels (bought that way) and I have found 3 dead so far. Apparently killed by the others, assuming this is the rooster or roosters?? I'm somewhat new to this. Should I separate them out? I wanted a rooster which is why I bought mixed, not sure if I have any or not. I know some of them are Rock Island Reds, not sure of the breed on the others.

 

[backyardflock1]

How old are they?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have a mix of pullets and cockerels (bought that way) and I have found 3 dead so far. Apparently killed by the others, assuming this is the rooster or roosters?? I'm somewhat new to this. Should I separate them out? I wanted a rooster which is why I bought mixed, not sure if I have any or not. I know some of them are Rock Island Reds, not sure of the breed on the others.

Welcome to BYC - a little more information will be needed to really advise you.
How old are these birds? Is the rooster you reference as your suspect an additional adult bird or are you referring to the cockerels you purchased that are the same age as the rest of the group? Are you assuming they were killed by the males or did you witness an attack? I ask because if the birds died of other causes the rest of the flock, male(s) included can be expected to have dined on the carcasses and that often leads to the assumption that an attack caused the death when, in fact, it was death by other means with subsequent damage to the body from being consumed.
How many days has it been that the three birds died over - was it all right at once or one every x number of days?

 

[Mossman11]

Never mix chicks togeather that are over 2 weeks old with day old ones, even just two weeks differents in age can cause this with any breed and as they get older some times it is ok but you will have to watch, hope this helps, I line bresse breed because they are great to eat and are great egg layers and are gentle on each other, if you ever want to change breeds check out bresse farms online

 

[CarenTX]

They were all bought from Tractor Supply, as chicks, at the same time in February. So they have grown up together. The first 2 dead was about a week and half ago. The other dead was found yesterday and damage to body was extensive. I have noticed anything out of the ordinary that would make me think they are sick.

The only other chickens I have are 3 older hens who only coop up at night, other than that they free range.

 

[CarenTX]

Welcome to BYC - a little more information will be needed to really advise you.
How old are these birds? Is the rooster you reference as your suspect an additional adult bird or are you referring to the cockerels you purchased that are the same age as the rest of the group? Are you assuming they were killed by the males or did you witness an attack? I ask because if the birds died of other causes the rest of the flock, male(s) included can be expected to have dined on the carcasses and that often leads to the assumption that an attack caused the death when, in fact, it was death by other means with subsequent damage to the body from being consumed.
How many days has it been that the three birds died over - was it all right at once or one every x number of days?

They were all bought from Tractor Supply, as chicks, at the same time in February. So they have grown up together. The first 2 dead was about a week and half ago. The other dead was found yesterday and damage to body was extensive. I have noticed anything out of the ordinary that would make me think they are sick.

The only other chickens I have are 3 older hens who only coop up at night, other than that they free range.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They were all bought from Tractor Supply, as chicks, at the same time in February. So they have grown up together. The first 2 dead was about a week and half ago. The other dead was found yesterday and damage to body was extensive. I have noticed anything out of the ordinary that would make me think they are sick.

The only other chickens I have are 3 older hens who only coop up at night, other than that they free range.

So the older hens do mingle with the chicks at night - or the chicks are still in a brooder/separate coop? The chicks are about 2 (ish) months old then? How long from the time you moved them out to the coop did you lose the first two?

 

[CarenTX]

So the older hens do mingle with the chicks at night - or the chicks are still in a brooder/separate coop? The chicks are about 2 (ish) months old then? How long from the time you moved them out to the coop did you lose the first two?

Yes, they mingle at night; however when they go in the coop they get on their roost and that's it. I would say closer to 3, they seem a little big for their age. Hmmmm, several weeks. I bought like 30 chicks so they got crowded in the brooding box fairly quickly. I have a large divided coop so they were in the smaller part for a while and after I found the first two dead I opened it up all the way, thinking they could be too crowded.

 

[CarenTX]

How old are they?

about 3 mos

 

[enola]

I would suspect coccidia, before thinking they are milling each other. Do you see wounds on any of the remaining chicks?

Can you describe the extensive damage?