Unexplained Chicken Deaths

[atief1253]

Today we lost our sweet handsome rooster. He would have been two in July. There was nothing wrong with him, he was out in the yard all day (we do not use any pesticides, etc.,), around 6:00 my husband saw him with the hens, turned around for maybe a minute, turned back and our rooster was dead. We are so upset over this, as Goliath was our buddy - such a sweet guy. Last year two hens just died for no reason. Do hens/roosters just die without there being a cause? In all cases, they were not sick before. I keep thinking I could have done something to prevent these deaths but there was absolutely no clue of illness before they died. Any comments? Thanks.

 

[dollysgirls]

I

...

Today we lost our sweet handsome rooster.  He would have been two in July.  There was nothing wrong with him, he was out in the yard all day (we do not use any pesticides, etc.,), around 6:00 my husband saw him with the hens, turned around for maybe a minute, turned back and our rooster was dead.  We are so upset over this, as Goliath was our buddy - such a sweet guy.  Last year two hens just died for no reason.  Do hens/roosters just die without there being a cause?  In all cases, they were not sick before.  I keep thinking I could have done something to prevent these deaths but there was absolutely no clue of illness before they died.  Any comments?  Thanks.

 

[dollysgirls]

I

...

I

Today we lost our sweet handsome rooster.  He would have been two in July.  There was nothing wrong with him, he was out in the yard all day (we do not use any pesticides, etc.,), around 6:00 my husband saw him with the hens, turned around for maybe a minute, turned back and our rooster was dead.  We are so upset over this, as Goliath was our buddy - such a sweet guy.  Last year two hens just died for no reason.  Do hens/roosters just die without there being a cause?  In all cases, they were not sick before.  I keep thinking I could have done something to prevent these deaths but there was absolutely no clue of illness before they died.  Any comments?  Thanks.

just went out this evening and found our year old hen dead. The other five seem to be fine ?????

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry for your losses. Chickens will act healthy until they are so ill they just can't any more, so not realizing that there's a problem is not unusual. Having a post mortem exam is the only way to determine the cause of death, unless it's something like an obvious predator attack. Some birds may have an acute 'heart attack', but generally it's something else. Dip the body in cold water to chill it faster, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate, so a good PM can be done. Mary

 

[Motts]

Sorry for your loss. What state are you in? Often for small flocks the state will do a free necropsy (technical term for autopsy on a person). That is the best way to find out if it was infectious, Mareks, cancer, etc to help with future planning.

Marci