My roosters passed after having a odd limp.

[Hyland 79]

My rooster who was just shy of 1 year old and very healthy started limping one day. He was favoring his leg for a couple days then seemed to be a little better. On the 3rd night I was putting them to bed, when I noticed he was hunkered down on the floor instead of the roost. He seemed to be in pain so we let him be. The next day we decided to put him in a cage so he wouldn't try to move around. By night fall he had passed. He didn't appear to have mites or grout. I later learned that my cousin has lost 2 chickens with very similar issues. What may have caused this? I originally thought maybe internal bleeding, amd thought maybe he got worse trying to fly up on his coop and fell making his injury worse but now I'm not sure.. any thoughts??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

By night fall he had passed. He didn't appear to have mites or grout.

Did you mean gout?
There are so many things that can kill quickly that the only way to know for sure is with a necropsy and lab work at your state poultry diagnostic lab. What state are you in?
I've had several roosters necropsied that died quickly, most turned out to be heart attacks.
The limp beforehand concerns me. Did you check his feet for bumblefoot?
When did he die?
What type of feed has he been fed since he matured? Calcium and protein %?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My rooster who was just shy of 1 year old and very healthy started limping one day. He was favoring his leg for a couple days then seemed to be a little better. On the 3rd night I was putting them to bed, when I noticed he was hunkered down on the floor instead of the roost. He seemed to be in pain so we let him be. The next day we decided to put him in a cage so he wouldn't try to move around. By night fall he had passed. He didn't appear to have mites or grout. I later learned that my cousin has lost 2 chickens with very similar issues. What may have caused this? I originally thought maybe internal bleeding, amd thought maybe he got worse trying to fly up on his coop and fell making his injury worse but now I'm not sure.. any thoughts??

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry for your loss

Unfortunately, there is no way to know what happened unless you still have the body and can send it to your state lab for testing.

http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Hyland 79]

Did you mean gout?
There are so many things that can kill quickly that the only way to know for sure is with a necropsy and lab work at your state poultry diagnostic lab. What state are you in?
I've had several roosters necropsied that died quickly, most turned out to be heart attacks.
The limp beforehand concerns me. Did you check his feet for bumblefoot?
When did he die?
What type of feed has he been fed since he matured? Calcium and protein %?

I did mean gout. Lol he didn't appear to have bumbled foot. They were free range and we feed the dumor poultry16% layer feed crumble. and they get meal warms for treats. Veggies scraps(when they are not being fussy)

 

[Hyland 79]

I did mean gout. Lol he didn't appear to have bumbled foot. They were free range and we feed the dumor poultry16% layer feed crumble. and they get meal warms for treats. Veggies scraps(when they are not being fussy)

And we live in Maine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I did mean gout. Lol he didn't appear to have bumbled foot. They were free range and we feed the dumor poultry16% layer feed crumble. and they get meal warms for treats. Veggies scraps(when they are not being fussy)

I'm sorry you lost a bird. I've lost lots of roosters. But one thing many backyard poultry keepers don't think about is that layer feed is for layers. Birds not actively building egg shells are not layers. Roosters, chicks, molting hens, retired hens and even hens taking a winter break are NOT layers. Hence, layer feed is not for them. They shouldn't be consuming 4% calcium in their diet. It will damage the kidneys. Once they are down to their last of the six kidney segments, they can die quickly with no symptoms.
I'm not saying that is the problem. It is just one of the possible concerns.
Without a necropsy, there is still no way of knowing. One can perform their own necropsy but without good knowledge of organs, lab work is needed.

Here's the UofMaine health lab.
https://extension.umaine.edu/veterinarylab/