Cockerel died overnight

[BaakNL]

Good you have a camera and not very nice to watch. It just seems like an it is an incident of bad luck. Chicks like to sleep on a roosting bar... I have never experienced anything similar, even though the chickens sleep at various heights on bars on my coop.
Good luck and hope you will not experience this again.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

So weird that a fall could kill it. We had to use baseball bats as a kid, to whack our rooster in the head so we could gather eggs without getting us bloody.
My vote is heart attack.

 

[Lumikko]

So weird that a fall could kill it. We had to use baseball bats as a kid, to whack our rooster in the head so we could gather eggs without getting us bloody.
My vote is heart attack.

Yeah, it seems weird to me too. I'm going to take an xray of him today and see if I can see anything. Wouldn't show heart issue unless its enlarged but could highlight a neck injury if that's what happened.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Good morning all. I'm looking to see if I can work out the why. I went out to the coop this morning to let my trio of 9 week buff orpingtons out and didn't hear the usual minor morning chaos and no one popped out of the door. Ran around to the other side and found the cockerel dead on the bottom of the coop and the two girls sitting on the roost bars. Everyone has been acting completely normal. No signs anyone was sick. I have a camera in a coop and watched the playback. I can't work out exactly what happened but I looks like he fell and injured his neck. I feel awful. I think I need to move the roost bar closer to the center? The nesting box is currently boarded up because they aren't laying age yet but I may unboard that too so there isn't a wall behind the roost bar? I've uploaded a video, it isn't nice to watch but I could do with some advice. Thank you. I'm devastated and want to make sure nothing like this happens again.

Oh gosh I'm sorry that happened. I don't think it was the fall that killed him. It looked like he was having an episode of some sort that caused him to fall.

 

[Annalyse]

it also looks like he lost his balance at first like he was dizzy or something

 

[aart]

Amazing that you caught it on camera!
Tho disturbing for you to watch.
Sure helped solve what would have been a mystery.

I don't think changing the roosts are in order,
it was a just a freak accident.
Sorry for your loss.

I'm going to take an xray of him today and see if I can see anything. Wouldn't show heart issue unless its enlarged but could highlight a neck injury if that's what happened.

Do let us know what you find.
Curious if there will be anything obvious.
How do you have access to xray?

 

[Lumikko]

Amazing that you caught it on camera!
Sure helped solve what would have been a mystery.
I don't think changing the roosts are in order,
it was a just a freak accident.
Sorry for your loss.

Do let us know what you find.
Curious if there will be anything obvious.
How do you have access to xray?

Thank you for the advice. Thank you to everyone.

I will keep everyone updated. My boyfriend works for a group of veterinary emergency hospitals and, while they don't really see chickens, they're willing to xray him for me. I'm actually an xray field support rep for a veterinary diagnostic company, it can be helpful at times.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Lumikko]

Do let us know what you find.
Curious if there will be anything obvious.
How do you have access to xray?

Good morning all. I wanted to provide an update. The x-rays showed possible dislocation of 2 of the vertebrae and collapse of the disc space. The specialist who reviewed the x-rays also reviewed the video and she feels he did not appear mentally appropriate prior to falling. This may indicate an underlying condition that may have caused death (possibility of seizure). Necropsy would be the recommended next step.

I'm likely not pursuing a necropsy. Both pullets did well overnight and into today. I will be closely monitoring them and if we see any unusual signs they'll be off to see a vet. If we lose another then we will have a necropsy done.

Thank you all for your help and support through this. It sucks. I wish I knew what happened.

 

[LaFleche]

This looks like a case of sudden heart-failure to me. It is not so unusual and known to happen mostly to young cockerels under the age of one year.