I wonder if this is what the problem is with our flock. We had one old roo (well, pretty old) 7 year old Silkie...he was weak and lethargic, no breast muscle, very thin, some problem swallowing.. We treated him unsuccessfully for about ten days and he died. Couldn't tell about his comb color, since he always had a dark purple comb anyway consistent with his breed. then my pet rooster Doodle, developed dark maroon comb and wattles. He sometimes had problem swallowing. He did not lose weight at all, he gained weight actually. Felt funny though, sort of like accumulated fluid in his body cavity, but not real mushy...hard to describe. He fought very hard to stay alive, crowing up til the day before he died. We thought he might have had heart or organ failure. He was six years old. Next, we had a pullet just four months old. Quick weight loss and subsequent lethargy. She died before we really even had a chance to treat her for much. NONE of these birds had any respiratory symptoms at all, except the Silkie, the day before he died. I have no idea if they all had the same problem but I feel terrible that we were unable to save any of them. No one seemed to know what to do. We tried deworming, cocci treatment, checked for canker, vitamins for healthy heart & liver, lastly antibiotics for the Silkie. Everything we could think of, nothing worked. Oh, also, we had an older Delaware hen die suddenly, she was six years old too, but she had no symptoms at all and I really feel she had a heart attack, she was happy and running around the day before I found her dead.
I feel bad that I could not save my old friends and the pullet. I will look more seriously into the crop fungus thing if we have another incident like this. WE had a hard winter and a very wet, cold spring.
Thank you.
I feel bad that I could not save my old friends and the pullet. I will look more seriously into the crop fungus thing if we have another incident like this. WE had a hard winter and a very wet, cold spring.
Thank you.
