Sudden Rooster Death

[2150MormonRd]

Hello All,

I am heartbroken. This morning, my 8 month old Shetland roo came out of the run just fine. He was eating scratch like the others on this frosty cold morning. He has been perfectly healthy, eating, mating, being a sweet boy. He crowed this morning same as usual. But I noticed he had a little squeak a few times, the way the hens will squeak when they have something in their crop askew. He was eating no problem and active. Ten minutes later, he was down in the sun with the girls, and i see this flopping. I ran down and he was rolling around and then by the time, I touched him he was gone. Did he have a heart attack? What happened??? He was warm, active...I'm so heartbroken.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So sorry. It can be hard to say why he died. Usually when it's quick like at it's a heart attack, fatty liver, choking, or a broken neck.

Do you feed a lot of scratch? Fatty treats can lead to fatty liver. I found out the hard way feeding too many black oil sunflower seeds as a treat.