No symptoms, no strange behavior, no fighting.

[LucindaD]

When I went out to my coop this morning to let my babies out one of my roosters was dead. Must have died early in the evening because he was very stiff this morning. He was not picked on by the other roosters and I hadn’t seen any strange behavior or coughing or sneezing or anything before putting them to bed. None of my other roosters show any symptoms of anything. After closer examination his rectum was bleeding a bit. I’m wondering if he ate something poisonous. I will be cleaning out and disinfecting the coop today but so far all of my other birds look healthy and happy. Any advice you all would like to give me I will be more than happy to take it.

 

[coach723]

How old was he? Are all the others the same age? How many birds, all roosters? Does the vent look like it was pecked (this will sometimes happen by the other birds when one dies)?
If it's bloody droppings instead that would be more concerning and could indicate coccidiosis. Can you send him off for necropsy? That would be the best way to know for sure what happened.

 

[LucindaD]

He was born April 6. And the other birds weren’t picking on him that I can tell I haven’t seen any bloody droppings only saw a little bit of blood on his tail feathers and I’ve been treating my other flock for coccidiosis. I’ve also been recently diagnosed with histoplasmosis and was taking extra precautions. But this happened so suddenly he was perfect yesterday and all of a sudden within hours he was gone. I think I will send him off for a necropsy.