Dead rooster?? Need help/advice!!

[Brahma Chicken5000]

The actual coop (with food, water, 2 dust baths, heat lamps when needed, and roost) is 8’x8’x8’. Their coop is attached to an outside run that is pretty big, but we will be adding to it this weekend. I was counting the coop separately from their outside run.

I think you will want to double the size of your henhouse or make it 16’x8’ and that should accomadate your birds. Why do you keep their feed & water in the henhouse? How large is your run?

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

I think you will want to double the size of your henhouse or make it 16’x8’ and that should accomadate your birds. Why do you keep their feed & water in the henhouse? How large is your run?

I thought you were supposed to keep food and water in their coop?

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I thought you were supposed to keep food and water in their coop?

I don’t because I don’t want my birds spilling it during the night or when they wake up. Plus it takes up space.

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

I don’t because I don’t want my birds spilling it during the night or when they wake up. Plus it takes up space

Does not having it make them really irritated?

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Does not having it make them really irritated?

Not that I’ve seen. It will also depend if you are keeping your chickens in their henhouse 24/7, if you aren’t hen their feed and water can be left in their run. If your run is secure from predators then you don’t even have to close their pop door at night, of course only do so if you are comfortable.

 

[sylviethecochin]

3-4 sq. feet per bird IN COOP especially if you live in a colder area (less outside time) or have production birds (ISAs, Barred Rocks) because they will get bored or aggressive and peck each other to death. My grandfather keeps birds 1 sq. foot each, and I have seen his pecked to death. (He tosses the pecked ones outside the coop and leaves them to die. I now understand why my parents did not associate with these people.)

A run should have at least 10 sq feet per bird, if you don't want it to turn into a muddy/scratched mess. It also lowers stress.

I feed my adults twice a day. Chicks and younger birds should have more access to feed.

Food and water inside the coop is fine. I live in a rainy area, and I don't have a covered run. It works. They won't spill it during the night, (Chickens can't see in the dark, and they have no desire to go walking around in the dark) but it will attract rodents and predators, so I never leave feed overnight. The water can evaporate and cause moisture problems if your coop isn't well-ventilated.

1 sq. foot per bird only really works if the birds are de-beaked so that they can't kill each other due to the stress of being crowded like that. This is especially true at point of lay, 18-30 weeks, which is when the laying hormones go wild, and they're most likely to kill each other.

And can we see a picture of the dead rooster? Are the feathers all missing in a patch? Is there a lot of blood? Anything that looks like tooth marks? Are any other chickens missing feathers?
(I'm thinking that they might have been pecking at each other due to size constraints, but that a sickness killed him off, since you don't mention any blood. When chickens kill each other, they do it messily.)

 

[dirtroaddarlin]

3-4 sq. feet per bird IN COOP especially if you live in a colder area (less outside time) or have production birds (ISAs, Barred Rocks) because they will get bored or aggressive and peck each other to death. My grandfather keeps birds 1 sq. foot each, and I have seen his pecked to death. (He tosses the pecked ones outside the coop and leaves them to die. I now understand why my parents did not associate with these people.)

A run should have at least 10 sq feet per bird, if you don't want it to turn into a muddy/scratched mess. It also lowers stress.

I feed my adults twice a day. Chicks and younger birds should have more access to feed.

Food and water inside the coop is fine. I live in a rainy area, and I don't have a covered run. It works. They won't spill it during the night, (Chickens can't see in the dark, and they have no desire to go walking around in the dark) but it will attract rodents and predators, so I never leave feed overnight. The water can evaporate and cause moisture problems if your coop isn't well-ventilated.

1 sq. foot per bird only really works if the birds are de-beaked so that they can't kill each other due to the stress of being crowded like that. This is especially true at point of lay, 18-30 weeks, which is when the laying hormones go wild, and they're most likely to kill each other.

And can we see a picture of the dead rooster? Are the feathers all missing in a patch? Is there a lot of blood? Anything that looks like tooth marks? Are any other chickens missing feathers?
(I'm thinking that they might have been pecking at each other due to size constraints, but that a sickness killed him off, since you don't mention any blood. When chickens kill each other, they do it messily.)

I disposed of the rooster already, but it looked like all of the feathers were missing in a patch. I did not see any blood. I did not see any other bite marks but I did see a pile of different colored feathers in the corner. I’ve attached a picture.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I disposed of the rooster already, but it looked like all of the feathers were missing in a patch. I did not see any blood. I did not see any other bite marks but I did see a pile of different colored feathers in the corner. I’ve attached a picture.

Yes, I saw that earlier.

A lack of blood suggests that he was not killed by chickens. It could have been by a predator that just broke his neck, or by a disease. I'm thinking disease, as you posited originally. If it's a disease, you should probably figure out what so that it doesn't spread to the rest of the flock. If it was a predator, you need to secure your coop.

But something pulled out those feathers, and that suggests predator. An animal will grab feathers, only pull out a few, and might account for the scattered feathers in the picture if they weren't there before today (and they do look fresh and new.) Hens tend to pull them out over a period of time, slowly escalating. If those feathers weren't there before today, then it might have been a predator that did it.

Are your girls acting "shocky?" That would indicate a predator. Are you missing any chickens? (I realise that counting 36 can be difficult, but are you sure you aren't missing any? I didn't see a post where you said you did a headcount.)

I'm sorry if I'm being a "loud" poster, or annoying.

 

[dehowery]

Do you have any idea how much that costs?

In Alabama it costs 10$ plus the cost of shipping overnite.

 

[Kiki]

What state is the OP in?