My rooster died overnight....Help!

[Crysmunoz]

My son went to go pick up the eggs this morning and he came dinning in crying that our Roo was laying with his feet in the air dead! He was a little bloody on one of his wings. My question is did the hens kill him or did something else? We have 9 girls is that too many for one rooster? We are new chicken owners so any help is appreciated. We've had the rooster for almost a year but just got the girls this weekend.

 

[colebarnhart]

No that is not too many hens for 1 roo, and he probably was trying to defend them from something else and gave his life doing it. Do you have any pics?

 

[Uzuri]

If you just put them together it certainly is possible that the hens could have killed him. Generally you want to introduce slowly. How closely did you check him out? "A little bloody on one of his wings" doesn't sound like much physical damage to be going on.

 

[Crysmunoz]

I didn't really check him out well since my son was right there and Billy was his favorite pet. He was crying and I dint want to upset him more so I just put Billy in a trash bag and told him we can bury him when he gets home. He is at school now so I can get a better look. You think I should post pictures? I didn't want to gross any one out.

 

[Judy]

There's a good chance he just died, maybe of a heart or liver problem, and the others pecked the body.

 

[Crysmunoz]

That's what I thought, maybe he was so happy to have so many lovely ladies around he just couldnt handle it? Just yesterday I sat outside watching them for about 20 minutes and he got romantic with 3 of them, in 20 minutes I thought that was too much for such a short time. So now what is the best way to get a new rooster and introduce them?

 

[foxypoproxy]

I think you should check him out or post pictures.
Its possible it could have been an illness you weren't aware about if you didn't see any injury.
I think its important to rule out illness to you know whether your other chickens are at risk of catching it and dieing to.
But there is a high possibility he was defending the hens and got attacked.
Only looking at the body will let you have a better idea.

 

[bobbi-j]

Weasels will make a bite under the wing or on the neck and lap up the blood. The only mark they make is little bite marks in the "wing pit" or on the neck. I had one wipe out a dozen or so 6-week old chcks one time, and that was the only evidence that was left.

 

[Crysmunoz]

I checked Billy out and there is no bites of any kind. There is a little dried blood but like someone said it does look like he was pecked a bit by the girls. I have no idea what happened but the girls are acting like normal. Is there something I should look for that might mean they are sick? Y'all are so helpful!