Rooster not acting normal for about a week. Lethargic, fluffed, away from flock, stands still, or just lays down. Bubblefoot??? Please help!

[ChickenTender1203]

When you get a chance, get some photos of that foot again.

If possible, try to open his beak and get photos of the inside of that too.

Let me ask you this. Your hands reeked of yeast but you were feeling of his breast/crop. Are his feathers wet in that area? Can you spread the feathers apart and look at his skin around his breast and his crop - is there any leaking, pus or wounds on his skin?

Wash your hands really well with warm soapy water. If the odor lingers, then you use a little vinegar or lemon juice to wash your hands in to take out the odor.

As for antibiotics, I do see where Carol (@azygous ) has suggested those on your other thread. It would not be a bad idea to have some on hand. The dilemma is which antibiotic would be best to use.
I also understand you are running out of time and that funds are tight. We live in a very tough time right now and I think all of us are feeling it. The LA200 may be o.k. to use if that's all you can get. I know TSC also has Penicillin G. BOTH of these are injectable, so you would have to give him an injection just so you know. Hopefully Carol can chime in with her thoughts on this.

I so very much wish I had answers for you and that he gets better. I know it's very distressing for you to see him like this and I hope you know you are doing your best to take care of him and doing a good job. Talk to your Mom and see if she can help you with washing him up and accessing his crop too.

His feathers were still a little wet from when I tried to give him some water. My sister was cranky and wouldn't help me so I had to try to open his beak and hold him and give him the water. Not fun. While I was feeling for his crop I was also checking for trying to anything else. I didn't really notice anything and I'm still confused on where his crop is or if it had anything in it. Do you mean you want her to help clean his vent and look for his crop? I would have to wait till tomorrow after school most likely. She works nights and goes straight to bed after helping my little brother make his lunch. If he doesn't seem to have vent gleet then why could his vent be bulging a little? It stinks, but it doesn't quite smell like yeast. His vent area keeps getting covered in more poop. Any tips on trying to find his crop?

 

[ChickenTender1203]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous So I turned him on his back to search for his crop, which I still couldn't find and I don't know if it's just because there is nothing in it or what. He wouldn't est at all this morning, we gave him some water and the cream. Anyways when I turned him on his back I realized that he might actually have ascites. That bulge on his vent also goes towards his keel bone. I thought it had just been because of vent gleet. But I remembered reading an article about ascites some weeks ago. I think it is usually caused from a worse underlying condition. We couldn't really get him to stand all this morning. And he didn't even try to take a bite of food at all. I took a picture. My hand is around the bulge.

 

[azygous]

He's very weak. Needs food. When a chicken gets to this point where they are too weak to eat, I tube a slurry of slightly warmed yogurt and raw egg into the crop. You can try to do it with just a syringe, but it will take forever, and syringing a lot risks aspiration if not done correctly. Here's a diagram that shows where to insert either a syringe or a tube to feed a weak chicken.

Ascites will present as a large hanging bulge between the legs and slightly in front of them as the chicken is standing. Usually, when a chicken walks that has ascites, their legs are far apart and this causes a "penguin waddle".

 

[ChickenTender1203]

He's very weak. Needs food. When a chicken gets to this point where they are too weak to eat, I tube a slurry of slightly warmed yogurt and raw egg into the crop. You can try to do it with just a syringe, but it will take forever, and syringing a lot risks aspiration if not done correctly. Here's a diagram that shows where to insert either a syringe or a tube to feed a weak chicken.View attachment 3302094Ascites will present as a large hanging bulge between the legs and slightly in front of them as the chicken is standing. Usually, when a chicken walks that has ascites, their legs are far apart and this causes a "penguin waddle".

How do I tube things, and with what? When he stands, his legs are far apart like he's about to dot he splits or something. It seems to be causing him to slip on the floor which is probably why he bbn is curling his toes. He does have bumblefoot so I'm not sure if his waddle is because of that. From the picture does it look like it might be ascites? I can't really get him to walk at all or stand. What kind of yogurt? We have some flavored yogurts, will that work?

 

[ChickenTender1203]

In that picture, he is on his back and you can see his leg on the left.

 

[azygous]

You can offer him the flavored yogurt for now, but get some plain Greek yogurt specially for him.

If you can find oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing, a ten inch piece will work. Or you can stop by your vet if you have one that sees other pets of yours and ask for a tube feeding kit for a small animal. I got mine for just $3 from my vet several years ago.

Tubing and syringe feeding is the same, except the tube only needs to be inserted once while syringe feeding has to be reinserted each time you load the syringe. That's why tubing is easier on both you and the chicken.

See the photo above to see where the syringe or tubing is inserted. That hole on the far right of the chicken's throat is the esophagus and it leads straight into the crop, avoiding the airway in the center.

 

[ChickenTender1203]

You can offer him the flavored yogurt for now, but get some plain Greek yogurt specially for him.

If you can find oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing, a ten inch piece will work. Or you can stop by your vet if you have one that sees other pets of yours and ask for a tube feeding kit for a small animal. I got mine for just $3 from my vet several years ago.

Tubing and syringe feeding is the same, except the tube only needs to be inserted once while syringe feeding has to be reinserted each time you load the syringe. That's why tubing is easier on both you and the chicken.

See the photo above to see where the syringe or tubing is inserted. That hole on the far right of the chicken's throat is the esophagus and it leads straight into the crop, avoiding the airway in the center.

So I should still keep the all flock crumbles with him but only tube feed or syringe him the yogurt/egg, correct? I haven't tried offering him egg so I can boil some form our hens and see if he will eat it on his own. That bulge is very concerning to me. I'm praying it isn't ascites but I don't know what else it could be if you're not sure it is vent gleet.

 

[ChickenTender1203]

I can try to give him some of this for now. My mom said she will gr some Greek yogurt next time she goes to the store.

 

[ChickenTender1203]

I didn't even need to try and syringe it. He is trying to drink it on his own. It seems like he is strong enough to eat, he just doesn't want to maybe.

 

[azygous]

That's a good sign that it's not a strength issue but an appetite issue. That yogurt has sugar in it which is actually beneficial to him for right now. It will elevate his glucose which feeds all of his systems and will bounce him back onto his scaly little feet more quickly. But sugar beyond that can present a problem for his crop and liver. So that's why the plain Greek yogurt (has live microbes) is better for him.

Make his crumbles available even though he's not craving them at the moment. He'll eat them when he's ready. Meanwhile, any high energy, high protein food will get his systems working again. Offer cooked egg, however he likes egg best, boiled rice, tofu, unsweetened applesauce, raw squash, grated raw carrot. These things will awaken his appetite and give him strength and that will nudge his appetite and get him back to eating normally.

Here's a tip. Get some probiotic tablets, preferably acidolphillus. This will expedite his system returning to normal and greatly improve his poop. It's hard to say whether he had ascites. If he does have it, it's not treatable anyway. It's a symptom of liver disease. It may be this can improve with a little special care. If you can pick up some milk thistle capsules from the vitamin aisle, one capsule a day, whole, directly into his beak can improve liver function.