Why did my rooster die?

[mconnolly002]

I bought 6 chicks last March (2 Buff Orphingtons; 2 RI reds; 2 Isa browns). 1 of the buffs turned out to be a rooster. We live in Michigan. today its about 84degres and sunny out. My husband just let them out of their caged area, which we do most days. The rooster went below some of our pine trees where there are a lot of burdocks. We saw him flop around a couple times and then just dropped. My husband pulled him out and he is dead. There are no marks on him that we can tell. We didn't see any animals around him. We have no idea of why or how he died. I was thinking a poison, but I don't know where it would have come from and he appeared fine in the caged area just minutes before. Last week I started adding calcium to their food. Any ideas of why he died? He has been and looks very healthy.

 

[WingItRanch]

Poor little guy. Sorry you lost him.

You mention adding calcium to their food. What do you mean by this? What exactly are you adding?

 

[21hens-incharge]

So sorry you lost him especially in such a confusing way.

It could have been any number of things that took your boy down.

While calcium build up in birds not needing it CAN kill them it takes a long time of over consuming it.
Calcium for the flock is best put in a separate container and those who need a boost will naturally consume it while those not needing it will ignore it.
The calcium used for hens looks like crumbled drywall...small white "pebbles" in appearance. It's sold as "Oyster Shell".

 

[BDutch]

Hard to say without actually seeing him.
Sorry for your loss.

Extra Calcium for a rooster is not good at all. If you give too much for a long time it can cause kidney problems. If it was a consumable Calcium and you gave it just one week it wasn’t the cause of his dead.
Maybe a nerve disease, bird flu, a stroke or a hearth attack ?? To be honest, I have no idea.

 

[BoundlessLove]

Did you have a bad storm?
We had a hen that had a sudden heart attack during a heavy thunderstorm. She was perfectly healthy but scared to death.
No predator.
Have you had hot temps? Possibly could be heat/dehydration.

 

[mconnolly002]

Poor little guy. Sorry you lost him.

You mention adding calcium to their food. What do you mean by this? What exactly are you adding?

Oyster shell

 

[WingItRanch]

Oyster shell

Oh gotcha. I personally wouldn't add oyster shell to the food. Just provide it in a small dish aside from the food.

I don't think that's what killed him, though. Calcium would take a lot longer to do harm to a rooster. More likely something else was going on. Chickens are really good at hiding illness.