Dominant rooster dead

[Chicken Momma6]

I have a separate rooster pen next to my hen pen with 10 mixed bantams that generally get along well. I put two 6 month old brother cockerals (silkie/americauna mix) in there b/c they were double-teaming my hens. I was initially afraid for their safety, but I found my dominant cochin rooster (4 yrs old) dead this morning with no marks. It seems that the brothers are dominating the pen. Do you think they killed him? They have no spurs yet. Very confused!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Well hey there welcome to Backyard Chickens possibly heart attack how heavy was the cochin? where do you live ? there should have been marks if the killed him

 

[Chicken Momma6]

He was very fluffy so I'm not sure if he was overweight. The few times I picked him up he was lighter than he looked. His head & comb were fine but I didn't look for hidden marks. He was actually alive & laying down when I found him. He had some yellow runny on his bottom, so I put him in a small cage with nutri-drench water & fed him a few bites of plain yogurt & crumbles. He ate several bites on his own & sat down. It was late evening. He was dead the next morning. I live in southeast Texas. The highs have been the high 60's & the lows the middle 30's lately. His name was Cream & he was a beautiful gray bantam cochin. He seemed to be the alpha rooster, but his beta rooster did all the work of protecting the cage area.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

He was very fluffy so I'm not sure if he was overweight. The few times I picked him up he was lighter than he looked. His head & comb were fine but I didn't look for hidden marks. He was actually alive & laying down when I found him. He had some yellow runny on his bottom, so I put him in a small cage with nutri-drench water & fed him a few bites of plain yogurt & crumbles. He ate several bites on his own & sat down. It was late evening. He was dead the next morning. I live in southeast Texas. The highs have been the high 60's & the lows the middle 30's lately. His name was Cream & he was a beautiful gray bantam cochin. He seemed to be the alpha rooster, but his beta rooster did all the work of protecting the cage area.

If there were no marks and his neck wasn't broken then it doesn't sound like a rooster attack. Maybe the stress of the new roos brought out some illness he already had?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Now might agree with awesome there if he was familiar might have been heart attack from shock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a separate rooster pen next to my hen pen with 10 mixed bantams that generally get along well. I put two 6 month old brother cockerals (silkie/americauna mix) in there b/c they were double-teaming my hens. I was initially afraid for their safety, but I found my dominant cochin rooster (4 yrs old) dead this morning with no marks. It seems that the brothers are dominating the pen. Do you think they killed him? They have no spurs yet. Very confused!

He was actually alive & laying down when I found him. He had some yellow runny on his bottom, so I put him in a small cage with nutri-drench water & fed him a few bites of plain yogurt & crumbles. He ate several bites on his own & sat down. It was late evening. He was dead the next morning.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately, it would be hard to know what happened unless you have a necropsy performed. If you still have the body, sending it in would give you answers.

 

[Chicken Momma6]

Thank y'all for offering up possible answers and condolences. My husband (who picked him up often) said Cream was more overweight than I thought. I am guessing he may have had a heart attack from the stress. I would have gladly sacrificed the young roosters if I would have known the future.