- Jul 28, 2012
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Hey all, new to the site, and new to chicken care. My sister bought chickens back during Easter both as a present for her kids, and because she's been wanting to have chickens for awhile now. Every things been fine until a few weeks ago when we found one of the chickens, a rooster, hadn't made it to the coop one night, I assume either I or one of my nieces or nephews miscounted when putting them away.
My sister and brother in law fed the chicken before letting out the rest of the coop. Immediately the main three roosters began to attack this rooster and pretty much pummeled him to the ground. My brother in law and sister chased off the three, and placed this rooster in his own coop away from the others for his own protection. Few days later my sister discovered worms crawling through the roosters feathers, and as she and my oldest niece were cleaning him discovered he was literally covered in these worms, and no more than 5 minutes later the rooster dropped dead.
So, we realized the three roosters that attacked this one were actually doing their job in protecting the hens, and most likely kicked this sick rooster out of the coop to begin with. We cleaned the coop, and two weeks later moved it to a fresh spot. Problem with moving it obviously the chickens had no idea where their home suddenly went, so that night I took each of the chickens back home one by one, even counted them as I did. Next morning I came out to discover another rooster hadn't made it into the coop, I thought I may have miscounted but as I observed this rooster every so often he'd just sit down like he was tired, or ready to take a nap. He had plenty of energy because he was able to avoid being grabbed by me and easily stayed a good four feet ahead of me during my attempts to capture him and show him where home was. Sadly this rooster vanished about midday, only to return less than an hour ago and is currently not moving and showing the same signs from the roosters, and severe lethargy. I honestly thought he was dead when I went out to look at him just now, until he looked up at me. He's currently in a separate cage away from the others, we think its the same thing.
Apologies for the huge explanation, just want to know whats going on and providing as much facts as I could remember. I've googled the death of the last chicken, and what I do read about worms doesn't say anything about the chickens dying being covered in worms. Is this still worms? Or is this something more severe?
My sister and brother in law fed the chicken before letting out the rest of the coop. Immediately the main three roosters began to attack this rooster and pretty much pummeled him to the ground. My brother in law and sister chased off the three, and placed this rooster in his own coop away from the others for his own protection. Few days later my sister discovered worms crawling through the roosters feathers, and as she and my oldest niece were cleaning him discovered he was literally covered in these worms, and no more than 5 minutes later the rooster dropped dead.
So, we realized the three roosters that attacked this one were actually doing their job in protecting the hens, and most likely kicked this sick rooster out of the coop to begin with. We cleaned the coop, and two weeks later moved it to a fresh spot. Problem with moving it obviously the chickens had no idea where their home suddenly went, so that night I took each of the chickens back home one by one, even counted them as I did. Next morning I came out to discover another rooster hadn't made it into the coop, I thought I may have miscounted but as I observed this rooster every so often he'd just sit down like he was tired, or ready to take a nap. He had plenty of energy because he was able to avoid being grabbed by me and easily stayed a good four feet ahead of me during my attempts to capture him and show him where home was. Sadly this rooster vanished about midday, only to return less than an hour ago and is currently not moving and showing the same signs from the roosters, and severe lethargy. I honestly thought he was dead when I went out to look at him just now, until he looked up at me. He's currently in a separate cage away from the others, we think its the same thing.
Apologies for the huge explanation, just want to know whats going on and providing as much facts as I could remember. I've googled the death of the last chicken, and what I do read about worms doesn't say anything about the chickens dying being covered in worms. Is this still worms? Or is this something more severe?
