Kicked my Rooster! And now he is dead!

[Carters Chick House]

Yeah that sounds like a definite possibility and my conclusion as well.

I'll tell you what, I will never kick one again. I typically don't get too attached to the roosters, but this one has me in the dumps today - unexpectedly. He was a fun little guy.

I'm sorry to hear this. I too have kicked at my roo to keep him off me and it never seemed to help much. Now I just pick up my broom and they run away from it. No more flogging.

 

[Henschickspups]

Yeah, that’s what I want to know too. I go out and check on my chickens every night after they go to bed, with a flashlight. Not once has anyone died from me doing that. I’ve startled them, of course, and made them make noise, but never killed any of them. I’m gonna be petrified every time I go out there at night now…

Well... guess I'll just make sure to not aim the light at them I only do a thorough check if I hear something odd.

 

[coach723]

how on earth did he scare them to death with a flashlight?

That was the headline of the article. He apparently went into the barn that held them at night with the flashlight (obviously a large barn due to the number of birds), panic ensued, they all ran and piled on top of each other in a corner or against a wall, many were crushed or suffocated. The article said he did it twice, two nights, so it was very intentional.
If you've ever truly startled your birds, or seen a predator attack, you can understand the level of panic and how they react. One bird panics, alerts, it spreads instantly. They don't think, they just react.
If I go out, after dark in particular, my birds will alert, particularly the roo's. I usually just talk softly, they hear my voice, know who it is, and they settle back down.
I actually do the same when approaching my pasture, even the big animals can react badly if startled. Donkeys don't miss much of anything, but I startled mine once. I guess the dandilions were so tasty he didn't hear me coming, I scared the crap out of him. He wouldn't go near me for an hour, he was really bent about it.

 

[Henschickspups]

Ok, so just don't trap a bunch of chickens in a small spot and then scare them. That makes sense. I never startle mine at night, I don't know how. They just kind of sleepy chirp and then the hens stare at me with death glares.

I do, however, routinely scare the bejeezus out of all of them in the day, even if I make a bunch of noise first. They jump and squawk, I jump and squawk, and we all stare at each other trying to figure out what happened.