Help! Heat and seizure Cornish cross

MamaGer8ty

Songster
May 11, 2020
101
158
126
Kentucky
My Coop
My Coop
One of my rooster Cornish cross just seizured and died in my arms. From noticing when he wasn’t moving much to getting him in his own box with food and water to when he died was less than five minutes. Could the heat have killed him? All my chickens have water, shade, and food. He was panting real hard with his mouth open and now my other Cornish cross rooster is acting the same way.I check on my chickens multiple times a day to make sure they have what they need. What did I do wrong??? What can I do? I’ve thrown ice in their water and all around the coop for them. Since I’m not sure if it was the heat that he died from, would it be safe to still process him or should I just bury him?
 
How old are they? Cornish cross are prone to heart conditions. Sounds like a heart attack. If he was healthy and you saw him die, I'd check the organs. If they look good, I'd process him. Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. They aren't built very durable.
 
How old are they? Cornish cross are prone to heart conditions. Sounds like a heart attack. If he was healthy and you saw him die, I'd check the organs. If they look good, I'd process him. Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. They aren't built very durable.
If I’m remembering correctly they are about 5-6 weeks old.
 
He was panting real hard with his mouth open and now my other Cornish cross rooster is acting the same way.
5-6 weeks old
Can you get some photos of the one that is acting the same way - him, his poop and how he's housed?
A video of actions may also be helpful -upload to youtube and provide a link.

What are you feeding?

I'm sorry that you lost one.
 
It's always a bummer to lose an animal. Even when you were planning on butchering them anyway. :(

I wonder about the heat issue as well. I have Cornish X and it's been over 90 degrees F every day for the past week.
The birds look miserable in the day. They have shade, water and I occasionally mist them down but nothing will stop their constant panting.

Does anyone here have experience with birds dying from heatstroke? If so...is it seizure-like as described in the thread above or is it different? I know humans can experience seizures in heatstroke scenarios due to the brain shutting down. So...I wonder.

I am debating processing my birds this week. They are all 8-9 lbs currently and the next 2 weeks are supposed to be pushing 100 degrees F every day. Waiting the extra 2 weeks for heavier birds might not be worth it if I lose a few.
 
It's always a bummer to lose an animal. Even when you were planning on butchering them anyway. :(

I wonder about the heat issue as well. I have Cornish X and it's been over 90 degrees F every day for the past week.
The birds look miserable in the day. They have shade, water and I occasionally mist them down but nothing will stop their constant panting.

Does anyone here have experience with birds dying from heatstroke? If so...is it seizure-like as described in the thread above or is it different? I know humans can experience seizures in heatstroke scenarios due to the brain shutting down. So...I wonder.

I am debating processing my birds this week. They are all 8-9 lbs currently and the next 2 weeks are supposed to be pushing 100 degrees F every day. Waiting the extra 2 weeks for heavier birds might not be worth it if I lose a few.
Heat stroke could cause seizures.

No judgement here - just asking - how crowded are they? If you have a large number together, splitting them up may help - all that body heat together...
Those temps are brutal on any breed.
 
We just lost a Cornish cross hen tonight. She was our biggest and grew much faster than the other three. We got them all March 31st. . They have been on organic start and grow feed and have been getting amprolium in their water. Our big girl was super active up until about 3 days again she just quit walking and stranding. He legs were like tree trunks so I do not believe her weight had anything to do with it. We moved food and water close to her since she was not moving..she was eating so we kept her out side two days before we noticed she had stopped eating. Once she stopped eating we brought her inside. We started using a dropper to give her water and tried our best to get food in her.. crumble, Broccoli, meal worms..she was so weak she would fall asleep with her beak in her water..she would not move at all just hardly lift her head and didn't keep her eyes open long at all. He poo was mostly clear..when she was outside it was mucus mostly. We moved her to change the bedding under her and then sat her back down and tried giving her water tonight and it seemed like she had a seizure. All of our other chickens are fine.. could she have had a heart problem? Did she maybe have a heat stroke outside? It was pretty hot a few days before close to 90.. the way she grew kind of makes me think maybe her heart.. but I'm not sure...we are new to this.
 

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