Found our roo dead in the coop

[blessedmamato3]

Hey all,

He hasn't been acting sick and was outside yesterday doing his thing. There was no evidence of anything getting him. His crop wasn't impacted.

The rest of the 13 hens all are acting and looking fine. Should I be concerned about something going around? I don't want to give them antibiotics if it's not absolutely necessary, as they are strictly organic.

Thanks!

 

[teach1rusl]

Any sudden death with no warning and no evidence of predators I always attribute to heart attacks or strokes. If I found one laying funny against a fence or wall, I might think broke a neck flying or running into something. But no, if he was acting fine, and the hens are acting fine, I would not be concerned about disease. JMO. And sorry you lost your roo if he was a keeper...

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm sorry about your roo. Sometimes sudden death can occur because of congenital heart problems.

If you don't see any symptoms, then it makes sense to keep an eye no them for now. You may want to check out this link to have ideas of what to watch out for:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[speckledhen]

Roosters in particular often die of sudden heart attacks. It just happens. They have high stress jobs, on alert all the time, watching the skies and surroundings while their women stuff their faces. It takes a toll on them, I'm sure. If you see no symptoms from anyone else, I would chalk it up to that and not worry.