I no longer have the body. All my of my other chickens seem fine today so I am hoping there is nothing more to worry about. Thanks for all of the guesses, tips and helpful information.
Chickens are free range and get there own grit, I only provide grit in the brooder to the chicks. It did not smell bad from afar. I do still have the body, I can check.
I am worried this could be contagious (whatever it is) and possibly harm my hens, the chicks or myself.
If not contagious I wonder if it could be genetic, and my chicks hatched from eggs fertilized by him could be at risk.
Today I had all my chickens locked up in their run (often I free range if I’m home) and I was letting the littles (4 week olds) run around with the rest of my flock. I went inside for 1 hour maybe 2 hours, and when I come back out to check on the chicks, my silkie rooster was dead in the middle...
These are mostly a mix of cinnamon queen or golden sex link hen with a silkie rooster. The two black ones at the end are barnyard mixes. Thanks in advance for any guesses! (Just one picture of each bird) the third one and the fifth one look a little bit cockerel like to me.
All right, thanks for all of your answers! I’ll post pictures tomorrow when it’s light out again. Two of them are starting to get wattles and redder combs.