This was weird, I let them out of their coop this morning, the usual rush- the rooster looked fine and was doing his hen dance. I went into the barn to get some scratch and by the time I went back out, there he was on his back. At first I thought he was dust bathing (odd), but then he twitched and his eyes closed- all the other chickens were looking at him, they knew something was wrong. :sad: I'm guessing heart attack- no other signs or symptoms. I knew the cornish cross did this, but a 6 month old dark cornish? Is a bad heart prevalent in the pure breed? Are they not a long lived breed? I'm very sad about this, but I'm grateful that I didn't hatch out any chicks from him. Interestingly he was the smallest and lightest of the roosters and actually a poor representative of the breed. But he was gorgeous all the same.
![rip :rip:](./images/smilies/rip.gif)
Slim .
On the plus side the hens will probably be happier with just the Buckeye rooster, as will the Buckeye rooster.
![rooster171 :rooster-171:](./images/smilies/rooster-171.gif)