Dead rooster?? Need help/advice!!

[dirtroaddarlin]

Call your state vet. In plenty of states, it's free. No water is especially a bad sign in a coop. There should never be a time when chickens don't have access to water. No food is the second bad sign. Roosters wait until hens have eaten, so low, or no food is especially bad on them.

It wouldn’t have been very long without food or water, there were crumbs in the food bin. This roosters comb and wattles were bright red on Sunday. My question is, why did they go after the biggest bird, especially with him being a rooster?

 

[featherhead007]

It wouldn’t have been very long without food or water, there were crumbs in the food bin. This roosters comb and wattles were bright red on Sunday. My question is, why did they go after the biggest bird, and a rooster?

no more vacations for you, unless you take the flock too!

 

[abraga]

8 wks is sort of young for youngsters to kill one another. Did u start ur chicks off on medicated chick starter? I would suspect he was sick. Did you look him over does he seem thin compared to the others? Did he perhaps have an old wound that might have tempted the others to canabalize him? Sure there's no possibility a predator got in your coop? PUNCTURE WOUNDS? Weasels will kill a chicken and drink the blood and leave the body intact. it is possible that your others did the deed. Factors/stressors of coarse could have been no food/water..to hot.. to many birds in a small space.

 

[keesmom]

Walked into my coop this morning to find a dead 10 week old rooster. His feathers had been plucked. He started crowing about 7 weeks old. The coop was out of food and water (bad, I know!) what would cause the others to kill the biggest chicken, and a rooster, at that?? The others in the coop are between 10 weeks and 8 weeks. I have a bantam in the coop and she was not touched. Only my biggest rooster was killed.

Did the death occur during the night?

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

8 wks is sort of young for youngsters to kill one another. Did u start ur chicks off on medicated chick starter? I would suspect he was sick. Did you look him over does he seem thin compared to the others? Did he perhaps have an old wound that might have tempted the others to canabalize him? Sure there's no possibility a predator got in your coop? PUNCTURE WOUNDS? Weasels will kill a chicken and drink the blood and leave the body intact. it is possible that your others did the deed. Factors/stressors of coarse could have been no food/water..to hot.. to many birds in a small space.

Yes they are still on medicated chick starter. He wasn’t thin, he seemed to be a good weight for 10 weeks old. I don’t believe he had an old wound. I have chicken wire completely covering their outside run, and the chicken wire is zip tied together and zip tied to the chain link pen. I don’t believe another animal got in there, surely the animal would’ve killed more than just him? The only thing I saw on him was feathers had been plucked below his neck on his back. My coop is 8’x8’ and I have 35 birds in there now. I would think that’s enough room?

 

[Flockandfowl46]

That size is pretty small for that many birds hun

 

[Flockandfowl46]

My ideal ratio is 2 square foot per bird but mine free range all day

 

[featherhead007]

my coop is 16' by 20' + 12' high loft and I think I am crowding my birds. I have 10 hens

 

[Crow Mountain Chickens]

8’x8’ for 35 birds? That seems really small for that amount of birds...

 

[featherhead007]

8’x8’ for 35 birds? That seems really small for that amount of birds...

Might work for finches, but not chickens