My Rooster died, how will my hens feel?

[Bridgetandthechicks]

my gorgeous little rooster unfortunately died this morning suddenly and I’ve read about hens being very depressed when the rooster of the flock is gone. I want to know if I need to look out for any behaviours

On another note, I don’t know what killed my roo. He was very healthy and had no complications all through his life, and he was 3 years old. We suspect it was heart failure as we read that can kill roosters suddenly, yet could it be something else?

 

[AGeese]

Sorry to hear, what breed what was your Roo? I would look to raise up a new one or look for a rescue.

 

[SkyAJK]

I am very sorry that your sweet rooster had pass away. It is very sad.

About the reason of his passing, I am not experience. Here are some of the BYC Educators might be able to assist you.
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

Did you show your flock your rooster body so they can say goodbye?
You will see how each hen reacts when she notices that him not moving.
Your hens will be very sad, and might have some disharmonious in the flock, until a new leader takes over. The rooster is the leader of the flock so without one, a hen might step up to the job.

 

[aart]

They may be a bit confused for a few days, then there might be some squabbling if/as a new flock leader develops.
But overall, it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[16 and me]

I'm sorry about the loss of your roo. I too, lost my 3 year old rooster suddenly last fall.(He's on my profile pic still). I suspect my hens had the opportunity to say goodbye so-to-speak, because I found him dead in the pen at the end of the work day. There was a mild adjustment period where I noticed they stayed close to the pen when let out to free-range, but really not much difference. The silence every morning was hard on me though. My little cockerel has now grown up some (7 months old) and now the hens move about with him more freely.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. There will be some rearranging of the pecking order since he is gone. They will miss him, especially the ones close to him. If you have his body and keep it cold, but not frozen, you could take it or send it to your state vet lab for a necropsy to find a cause of death. They might be closed for holiday on Monday. The sooner after death the necropsy is done, the better the chances for a diagnosis. Here is a list of state vet labs:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...7IOlHOhP-eD8qMtZ70RNq6BMO9kVUn3x6so7q0Z_JgEr8

 

[Bridgetandthechicks]

Sorry to hear, what breed what was your Roo? I would look to raise up a new one or look for a rescue.

Smudge was a white sussex rooster.
unfortunately in the area I live in we don’t have many chickens for sale. The man we bought all of our chickens (except 2 which we bred) doesn’t own chickens and has sold them all. We aren’t honestly thinking about adopting a new rooster and just keeping our hens. Thanks for the recommendation though !

 

[Bridgetandthechicks]

I am very sorry that your sweet rooster had pass away. It is very sad.

About the reason of his passing, I am not experience. Here are some of the BYC Educators might be able to assist you.
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

Did you show your flock your rooster body so they can say goodbye?
You will see how each hen reacts when she notices that him not moving.
Your hens will be very sad, and might have some disharmonious in the flock, until a new leader takes over. The rooster is the leader of the flock so without one, a hen might step up to the job.

Thanks for your consideration
My dad was the one who discovered him and we buried him, but he had been lying in the coop. My hens seem to be okay this morning when I went to feed them. They are feisty hens so I’d say one of them would step up.

 

[Bridgetandthechicks]

They may be a bit confused for a few days, then there might be some squabbling if/as a new flock leader develops.
But overall, it shouldn't be a big deal.

I’d say my hens would squabble. All of them are feisty and would want to lead. They seem to be okay at the moment.

 

[Bridgetandthechicks]

I'm sorry about the loss of your roo. I too, lost my 3 year old rooster suddenly last fall.(He's on my profile pic still). I suspect my hens had the opportunity to say goodbye so-to-speak, because I found him dead in the pen at the end of the work day. There was a mild adjustment period where I noticed they stayed close to the pen when let out to free-range, but really not much difference. The silence every morning was hard on me though. My little cockerel has now grown up some (7 months old) and now the hens move about with him more freely.

Thank you and may your roo rest in peace as well . My hens do seem to stay quite close to the coop though. Smudge was our only rooster. When we adopted our chickens almost 4 years ago, he was a chick. We got a hen (still alive and well) and 8 chicks. 5 of which ended up being roosters. We had the decision to keep one of the four healthy roosters we had. I picked Smudge as he was a much kinder roo and I was very attached to him. His sisters and mother are still alive. We bred a few chicks and kept two.