Dead rooster?? Need help/advice!!

[keesmom]

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?

Chicken wire only keeps chickens in. It doesn't keep anything out. If he died during the night it was a predator.

And 8x8 for that many birds isn't enough.

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

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

I thought they need 1 to 3 square feet per bird. My coop is 64’ squared. Which would be enough room for 64 birds, at max?

 

[bobbi-j]

The recommended minimum coop space is 4 square feet of floor space per bird, 10 square feet per bird in the run. Over crowding can cause feather picking, cannibalism and other bad habits. Over crowding plus no food and water is a recipe for disaster. That being said, your cockerel could have been killed by a predator and cannibalized by the flock when they ran out of food.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

If its squared devide it by 4

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

Did the death occur during the night?

I believe so. I didn’t check them yesterday (Monday) but I was out with them Sunday and they were fine. I checked them this morning and the roo was dead.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

In other words if givingiving your birds 2 foot it will actually be 4 square foot per bird technicall
sorry meant 2 foot squared

 

[Flockandfowl46]

Can do it in my head just not good at explaining it

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

In other words if givingiving your birds 2 foot it will actually be 4 square foot per bird technicall
sorry meant 2 foot squared

It’s 8x8 now and probably 8’ tall. How big does it need to be to accommodate 40 birds? I’ll be adding 6 more in a month or so.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

As for your roo it was either a predator and if they get hungry and overcrowded they will cannibalize

 

[Flockandfowl46]

Sorry for your loss