Sudden death

[Zoeyschicks]

Today my poor little rooster died.
He was about 8 weeks old and was perfectly fine this morning. Was eating food, drank his water, and running around with Moana (the pullet who hatched at the same time as him).
An hour later I went out and found him on his back dead
What could have happened? Should I be worried about my pullet who was with him? He was perfectly lively an hour prior.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry that you lost him. If you still have his body, place it in a cooler on ice. Contact your state vet in the morning to get a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Zoeyschicks]

So sorry that you lost him. If you still have his body, place it in a cooler on ice. Contact your state vet in the morning to get a necropsy. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

We buried him in our garden and I planted some flowers over him this morning. Also I'm in Canada But thank you for the link.

 

[FuzzyOwlFeet]

I'm so sorry you lost your little guy. Have you noticed any weird poop in the brooder? A common, fast killer of chicks is coccidiosis.
Did you notice your rooster was thin at all when you buried him? How does Moana feel when you feel on her keel and breastbone?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure that was devastating. Hopefully your pullet is OK. There are so many things that could have happened. I know that you're uneasy now with him seeming perfectly fine one minute and dead the next. What are you feeding them (feed and treats included)? Are they with other poultry? Did you hatch them? Do you own the parents to them? What about weather? Goodness, there are so many possibilities that it is probably impossible to get all of the information for one of our very knowledgeable members (at least one of these members was your first reply on this thread) to study over and offer a good idea as to what happened. If I were you, I'd make sure that the pullet is fed a fresh complete diet (cut out any treats for now), has fresh clean water at all times, is safe from older birds and predators, has an empty crop first thing in the morning before she has access to any food or water, check her over really well for lice and mites, and get some pictures of her poop (of possible collect a sample and have a fecal float ran). I'm not sure what else you can do as far as prevention goes. That would be MY plan for right now. I wish you the best with whatever you end up doing. Does your pullet have another pullet or flockmate to keep her company?

 

[Zoeyschicks]

The 2 of them were from my first ever hatch. He had a hard time getting out of the egg and I had to help him but since then he had been getting stronger. He had no weird poops and was acting normal. Him and Moana were going on regular "field trips" to the yard but came back in to our little area for them as they weren't quite fully feathered yet. Nobody had weird poop and I clean their waterer out twice a day so it's always fresh. Their bedding is straw which i just cleaned out. Temperature in their enclosure stays Around 65° right now and there is a heat lamp at one end so if it gets chilly at night they have a warmer spot. They are on medicated chick starter that I get from my local feed store plus whatever they manage to scratch up on their field trips outside. They both had blueberries this morning as a treat. No lice or mites to be found. I checked his body and I checked Moana.

I'm worried about Moana now because it was just her and HeiHei. I have my 5 hens in their run outside (they are 1 year old) that Moana has interacted with on her field trips. So far they have only had supervised outdoor time in the yard not in the run and I'm scared that the year old hens will hurt her if I throw her in with them right now. But I also don't want her to be lonely in the small run inside.