One of our favorite Roos dead this afternoon - heatstroke?

[LA~Poulet]

He was about 2 years old, and I found him laying in the back of the chicken tractor, with his favorite hen standing guard next to his body

My kids are so sad. Normally we try to have the tractors in the shade on hot days, but today it was in the sun (although covered & completely self-shaded). I could find no sign of trauma to his body anywhere, today's high was 97 degrees. Do you think that was it? We have friends with many chickens in tractors that are always in the full sun-but I'm rethinking ever having them in the sun during the summer again. The grass in our shaded area is limited, which is the reason we had pulled them out to fresh pasture.

 

[LA~Poulet]

I guess I should add that we have had no illness in our flock, I use DE regularly and have seen no sign of lice or mites (and we inspect them regularly) and we haven't added any new birds... basically nothing has changed except for the weather.

 

[boogiedog]

I am so sorry for your loss. It is so hard to lose a beloved pet. It could possibly be the heat, but sometimes chickens just die. Birds are interesting beings; although many ailments do show physical symptoms, sometimes they just die without warning. Many veterinarians do not work on birds of any kind for this reason - they can shock, fail and die for any number of reasons. During the super hot days you may want to get your tractor into more shade, but don't beat yourself up on this one. It is hard to know what the real cause of death is. My condolences. Sounds like he had a fantastic life and was well-loved.