Help!!!! I think my rooster is sick

Here pics of a health rooster, just a month ago

And now sick rooster.


Never mind the mud, everywhere you look there's mud. My rooster isn't acting himself or looking like his proud self. He's just lathargic, not moving around the as he normally does and girl are just acting less respectful toward and around him. Can anyone tell if he sick or just tired of the snow, the wetness and the cold? Lol.

He might be sick, and in that case I am clueless besides from the regulars like coccidiosis. He looks like he may have had a bad molt or something and is defiantly seeming cold/wet,

He's definitely sick. Look at his comb. He may have a heart or lung problem causing him difficulty in getting enough oxygen. It could be anything from a mild infection to tumors on his organs. His tail held low may indicate he's in pain. The hens know he's sick so that's why they're acting that way.

Best thing for you to do is take some pictures of his poop, closeup pictures of his head (what's that on his comb - mud or lesions?) Go to the Emergencies forum and answer all the questions up top about his condition. Then post it all there. A lot more people knowledgeable in chicken illness will be able to help diagnose him.

Thanks for the info and yes it's mud on his comb and head. He just looks really sad, he came to the fence and let me touch him, which for him is not normal. I recently lost one of my bantam roosters. He also started to act abnormal and he came up to me in the coop and let me touch his feet, then next morning he was sitting out in the run with his eyes closed. I went to check on him, didn't even move when I walked up to him so I picked him up, that got a bit of a reaction but nothing like it should have. Got him in the house, I thought possibly he got to cold so I got a warm towel, set him on it then got my stethoscope out to listen to his breath sounds, heart rate and possible digestion sounds. I only heart the heart beat but it was slow and breathing shallow. He died that day, unfortunately his male offspring died last of exposure and he only 5 months. So I hope I don't lose another rooster, plus this one that's sick is my only large rooster all other roosters are bantam.

If he's still out in the coop (and mud), I'd bring him in if you haven't already and set him up with a heat source, food and water. If he's separated, it'll be much easier for you to keep an eye on his poops and any changes. He definitely appears to not be feeling well, poor guy.

The disclosure that you recently had another chicken die is alarming. It would seem you have a possibly contagious disease in your flock. This fellow is definitely sick, and you may lose him soon. You can try antibiotics, but there are viruses that wouldn't be affected by that treatment. The best and most certain method of diagnosing what is making these chickens sick is to have a necropsy done when/if this one dies.

It's smart to get proactive on this and call your local university extension and ask for the address and phone number of an agricultural lab that will do this test. They can also advise you on how to handle and ship the body or where to take it. This test only takes a short amount of time and you can have results often the same day. The test is not expensive. But the body needs to be handled properly so you will need to know what's required.

You can try to treat your rooster, give him a round of a broad spectrum antibiotic, Poultry Nutri-drench to increase his nutritional levels, and hope he gets better. If he doesn't, then you know you are probably dealing with a virus. If you have an avian vet, it would be a good idea to have this rooster looked at.

Get him in out of the cold, wet and mud. Clean him up as best you can, check him all over for body condition, lumps, bumps, swellings. Keep him warm, see if he'll eat/drink and what his droppings look like. Other then that my first question would be, have they ever been wormed? This could be a million different things but that's one of the most common problems. And yes, if he dies, do try to get a necropsy done, preferably by your states poultry pathology lab.

My poor rooster, does anyone know what is wrong with him