What Killed My Roo??

[jaku]

So yesterday, I weighed my BIGGEST, FATTEST Cornish X rooster. They will all be 8 weeks old this monday, and I'm going to process the roos this weekend, as this guy was hitting 10 lbs. It seemed like the weighing stressed him a bit, and it hit almost 90 degrees yesterday. When I came home, he was dead. Now I'm paranoid about the rest of them (and really bummed that the biggest guy died before I could butcher him!) So, is it most likely the stress, the heat, a combination, or something else that got him? They have shade and water, but they were all panting yesterday. I've lost a couple of birds, but nothing for several weeks.

 

[Riparian]

Flip over disease.

My guess is a heart attack. I lost 2 7 lb cornish x's this way.

 

[MissPrissy]

The heat, the stress, their size - it all combines to make their lives shorter. I only raise these birds in the cool weather of mid to late fall.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Yeah, I took your advice on that and pushed my next batch back until fall. I figured I'd be ok getting these in April. I'm butchering this weekend though, hopefully the rest can hold out.