What's wrong with my rooster?

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RoosterRiot

RoosterRiot

In the Brooder
5 Years
Jan 8, 2015
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400


I have a 3.5-4 year old Black Copper Marans rooster that was the head honcho for a long time. About a month ago a much smaller and younger leghorn started chasing him off. Around this time I noticed he had lost a lot of weight in the chest and was acting uncoordinated. I found him just sitting around a lot during the day and roosting weird places. I put him in a large cage about a week ago with constant water and food so he would not bave to fight the leghorn. Now he barely stands. We does does he walks around like he's drunk and stumbles. His head is frequently cocked over at a weird angle and he spastically shakes it around. Even eating food out of a bole seems to require more coordination that he can manage. Any ideas? I have a video but it won't let me post it.
 
I forgot to add that the rest of the flock seems fine. No new birds have been added in several months.
 
He probably has wry neck, a symptom of brain inflammation. His brain could have been injured when he was being chased off by the leghorn. Another possibility is that he could have a disease causing his wry neck and incoordination, such as Mareks disease. Toxins he ate could also be a possibility. I would try making him a chicken chair with food and water close to him. That would get him up off the ground and let him eat. Put some poultry vitamins in his water just in case he may have a vitamin deficiency, and to treat the wry neck. He also needs selenium including vitamin E, and you can feed him some egg, tuna, sunflower seeds for selenium daily. Here is some reading about Mareks disease and wry neck:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf

Here are some pictures of homemade chicken chairs:

October-2015-467.jpg
LL
59765_pp.jpg
47386_dixie_slung_09-19-2010_2.jpg
 
I had no idea there were chicken chairs. Thanks for the tip. I'll look in it the vitamins, foods, and Marecks.
 
RoosterRiot said:
400


I have a 3.5-4 year old Black Copper Marans rooster that was the head honcho for a long time. About a month ago a much smaller and younger leghorn started chasing him off. Around this time I noticed he had lost a lot of weight in the chest and was acting uncoordinated. I found him just sitting around a lot during the day and roosting weird places. I put him in a large cage about a week ago with constant water and food so he would not bave to fight the leghorn. Now he barely stands. We does does he walks around like he's drunk and stumbles. His head is frequently cocked over at a weird angle and he spastically shakes it around. Even eating food out of a bole seems to require more coordination that he can manage. Any ideas? I have a video but it won't let me post it.
Click to expand...
 
How is your Marans doing now? I have one that has very similar symptoms. He's perfectly fine except that he cannot walk without stumbling around. He seems to favor one leg. He eats and drinks and doesn't have any other problems. I took mine to the vet and he wasn't sure what it is either he's going to do some research. I'm now wondering if it's something that is a regular problem with the breed.
 
Last edited:
krb2460 said:
How is your Marans doing now? I have one that has very similar symptoms. He's perfectly fine except that he cannot walk without stumbling around. He seems to favor one leg. He eats and drinks and doesn't have any other problems. I took mine to the vet and he wasn't sure what it is either he's going to do some research. I'm now wondering if it's something that is a regular problem with the breed.
Click to expand...
He has wry neck probably, a neurological symptom. That and the uncoordination, weight loss, and lameness in one leg sound a bit like Mareks disease, but hopefully not. Do you know if he was vaccinated? He could instead be injured or bullied by the leghorn, but I would start him on poultry vitamins in his water including thiamine, vitamin E, and feed him a little egg or tuna daily which contain selenium. Those are for wry neck. Have you added any new birds in the last couple of months, and if so, where did they come from? Here is some reading about wry neck and Mareks disease:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/mareks-disease/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
 

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