Rooster found dead???

[Heron's Nest Farm]

So Tuesday As I headed out towards the coop to shut the pen door I heard a commotion in the hen house. I was about 100 feet from the house so I called my dog as he will run down a predator if there is one.

My dog found nothing as I approached. Upon entering the hen house I found my prized blue orpington rooster dead on the floor. He was very warm and I believe he had just died.

There were no signs of injury on him. Not a scratch and I looked! I even looked at him again in the morning as I took him to the house and kept him for burial the next day.

Any thoughts? Should I be worried about the rest of my flock? Everyone is eating, although the hen who had hatched his chicks suddenly gave up mothering them a few days after. (They were kinda co-parenting. The chicks slept under HIM at night!)

So sad. I really loved him and he was an amazing specimen. He was extremely large, about 15lbs. Maybe his heart?

 

[ivan3]

Sorry you lost the big guy.

Yes, probably cardiac. If so inclined, before you bury the fella, perform a gross necroscopy, check for occlusion of trachea by foreign object/matter, & focus on obvious distentions/discoloration/etc (particularly the heart - cardiac arrest often leaves portion of the muscle discolored). Knowing might provide a little solace.

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

So sorry for your loss

It's so hard losing a precious baby. I don't have any advice but I didn't want to read and run.