Rooster died suddenly, need help to find a reason if there is one

[bills_m]

Hi, only had chickens for 6 months and lost my first one on sunday which was a light sussex rooster, he wasnt a fully grown, prob about 7-8 months. anyway he was always getting picked on by the hens and in the last couple of days wasnt eating properly either and had lost a bit of weight. his poops were green and not very solid at all. he fell on his side on saturday, which for some reason made the hens start pecking at him (maybe cause they sensed he was ill or something). had to put him separately and he died in the night sometime, not sure whether it was the cold or anything. cos im new to this, any ideas what it could be?

thx in advance for any help

 

[astylishgirl]

I don't know what to tell you... but the exact same thing happened to me. Except this was a strong rooster who was not getting bullied. He just up and died and I don't know why.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
I can't help you about why your chicken got sick or whatever, but as for the actions of the rest of the flock, it unfortunately is "normal".

Chickens will peck on any chicken that is down which is one reason why you separate a wounded or sick chicken from the others, eventually they will kill it.

Tell me what were you feeding your flock? For example that rooster should not get layer pellets, mash, or crumbles. The calcium in commercial layer feed will decimate their kidneys leading to death.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
This is contradictory to what I've been told. I posted a thread a couple of months ago when I first got my roo asking what I should feed him, and if the Layena that I was feeding my hens would be okay. The masses all agreed that this was fine and that they do the same. Just no oyster shell for the boy.

Who told you this about feeding roos? And do you have any advice then on how to seperate your birds when feeding then? That doesn't seem very probable to me.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
This is contradictory to what I've been told. I posted a thread a couple of months ago when I first got my roo asking what I should feed him, and if the Layena that I was feeding my hens would be okay. The masses all agreed that this was fine and that they do the same. Just no oyster shell for the boy.

Who told you this about feeding roos? And do you have any advice then on how to seperate your birds when feeding then? That doesn't seem very probable to me.

If you are feeding a mixed roo, hen flock you do not feed commercial layer anything, you feed regular high protein feed with oyster shell in a separate feeder, the roos won't bother with it.

 

[bills_m]

we were feeding it mixed corn along with scraps, thou it seemed last in the pecking order so anytime it tried to eat with the hens around, it would get pecked at. it could be my fault as the cage i put it in maybe didnt provide enough warmth through the night, and it was a winter night as well.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Where are you bills_m, a lot of chickens can stand a bit of cold (some of them a lot) without adverse effects.

The problem with birds is that there are a lot of things that can cause trouble and sometimes it is a case of several hitting at the same time.

 

[snowflake]

I did not know you could not feed layer mash to roo's what kind of high protein feed do you get? something for game birds? I have read that is a high protein?? I have had chicks for 10 months I do feed layer mash,scratch feed, sunflower seed scraps from the kitchen. they free range , but do not like Mich. weather and do not come out of the coop much in the snow and cold.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
snowflake, the words are should not , not could not, you can feed it to the roos it just isn't in their best interest.

Flock raiser or start and grow in the purina line there are others in the line, the thing is to not overload a roos kidneys and the calcium levels in most layer feed are too high.

Chickens are really good at balancing their requirements so the hens will partake of the oyster shell in larger amounts, while the roos will not.

I don't currently raise roosters but of course wound up with one with the last batch of birds, he was a good roo, rather laid back. I didn't want to bother the neighbors so he ended up at freezer camp on day two of finding his voice. Still feel bad about it.

I did my research on these critters and talked to some folks that have been raising chickens for over 40 years, they warned me about roos and calcium issues. I also did a bit of reading and the general gist I got was for a long life roos and calcium fortified layer feed don't mix. Unlike in a hen the calcium has little choice but to get flushed by the roos kidneys, after all that roo will never lay a single egg, rubber or otherwise.

Now everybody can do as they wish. I try to err on the side of caution when it comes to my animals. Some things you can't do much about but what you feed them you can do a lot about.

 

[snowflake]

Fox, thank you I can get the flock feed, I'm glad I read this thread! I agree I would rather be safe than sorry.