Connecticut!

[CaCO3]

I have a mixed bunch as well, but not as many as you... ee, marans, barneveldor, and partridge rock. I am working with some lemon cuckoo orp/ golden cuckoo marans crosses this spring... just started collecting eggs this week. I like the color and shape of the marans eggs but I like the look and temperament of the orps...so I am making my own hybrid cross for fun.  Yes, spring fever has sprung!!!!

Yes, it has. Exciting! My flock is not as many as it sounds- flock is under 30. A hodge podge mostly 1 of each breed. I too am inadvertently making Orpington crosse(s). I put in a handful for a test incubation and I have one developing and no idea who's the mommy! Hope it's not too lonely. A lot of other eggs are fertile for sure I cracked about a dozen to see and the splash marans is also fertile. She is a sweetheart. Think I will put some in on Friday and see if I can get a few more so they will have friends. For now am making meringues with all the egg whites!

 

[rudy_rooster]

Sad chicken news today. We found our 8-month old rooster dead in their run early this afternoon. No obvious cause. A couple of blood spots were found in the run, but no clear injuries. He seemed fine this morning and nothing was different in his behavior recently. None of the hens seem sick. With a heavy heart, I buried him.

Heart attack? Something else? I would just like to rule out "unnatural" causes. There's a suspicious part of me that worries a neighbor could do something, though I have no proof and have never had any complaints (I even gave all the neighbors within crowing distance a letter with our phone number and email address in case they had concerns back in the fall).

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[new chick 203]

Sad chicken news today. We found our 8-month old rooster dead in their run early this afternoon. No obvious cause. A couple of blood spots were found in the run, but no clear injuries. He seemed fine this morning and nothing was different in his behavior recently. None of the hens seem sick. With a heavy heart, I buried him.

Heart attack? Something else? I would just like to rule out "unnatural" causes. There's a suspicious part of me that worries a neighbor could do something, though I have no proof and have never had any complaints (I even gave all the neighbors within crowing distance a letter with our phone number and email address in case they had concerns back in the fall).

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[CaCO3]

Won't bring him back but I bought a trail cam to monitor coop, for similar concerns. Not very expensive off amazon. If you lose any others take the body to UConn vet path lab for necropsy. It's free service and i was glad i took one of mine to find out her COD. Very sorry about your rooster.

 

[Adenium]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your roo!

I second new chick's thoughts - I've heard of many folks on here that had predators kill chickens but initially thought it was a natural death somehow.....then later they found a spot where a predator could enter or saw signs of it. If there was indeed some blood I would be thinking along those lines.

We too got game cams when we got our chickens. I have two now - the cheaper was about $80 at Cabela's and we've been happy with it. Gotten some great images, too. Oddly we've gotten lots of fox/raccoon pics but never investigating the coop or run. Maybe they realize it's hopeless?

 

[rudy_rooster]

Won't bring him back but I bought a trail cam to monitor coop, for similar concerns. Not very expensive off amazon. If you lose any others take the body to UConn vet path lab for necropsy. It's free service and i was glad i took one of mine to find out her COD. Very sorry about your rooster.

Thanks the ideas and info. I did not know that UConn would do it, or that it would be a free service. Too late now, but great to know for future reference. I didn't see any entry points for predators, and I do look pretty often, but I will give a thorough inspection tonight.

 

[pmessner]

Quote:
I used the free necropsy service at uconn... they were wonderful... a courier happened to be out in my area and picked up the rooster within a couple hours of my call. They were in the area to pick up a dead sheep so I was kind of lucky that day. The result came about a month later... determination of death was due to a bacterial infection. Knowing exactly the cause of death is so important... can't fix a problem if you don't know what the problem is.

One word of advice to all... a number of people told me to freeze the bird but that is incorrect... keep it cool in a storage container only.

 

[CaCO3]

Mine

I used the free necropsy service at uconn... they were wonderful... a courier happened to be out in my area and picked up the rooster within a couple hours of my call. They were in the area to pick up a dead sheep so I was kind of lucky that day. The result came about a month later... determination of death was due to a  bacterial infection. Knowing exactly  the cause of death is so important... can't fix a problem if you don't know what the problem is.

One word of advice to all... a number of people told me to freeze the bird but that is incorrect... keep it cool in a storage container only.

mine had egg yolk peritonitis. Probably not the cause for your roo.. They were great.

 

[new chick 203]

I lost one to EYP too. It's so sad. By the time she had any symptoms it was too late. The loss is by far the hardest part of raising chickens.

 

[CaCO3]

Yes it was sad because she was one of my first chickens and was a very friendly leghorn. Of the two adult chickens I've had die by the time they showed any sign of being sick they were gone in less than an hour. The one who had peritonitis had lost a lot of feathers below her vent area but it wasn't obvious until I flipped her over so its not something I would have been checking. The only reason I even suspected something was wrong was because I found her huddled up in the nesting box with a silkie and she kicked anyone else out when she wanted to lay an egg. But from what I've read it sounds like the prognosis for that isn't usually too great just hope she didn't suffer. Also relieved it was nothing contagious.