sudden lethargy, rooster unwell...what is wrong??? please help!

[chickchickie]

Hi, a little new to this website but thanks so much to anyone who can help!

I have a rooster around 5 years old. Last Friday I noticed he was acting funny, sort of huddled and droopy and not really active like he was sick and had a fever or something (he kept wanting to stand under the sun) but he was eating and sort of walked around and drinking a tooon of water. The few days before, we had a lot of rain and it got kind of cold so I thought he might have caught a cold or something. No runny nose, normal breathing, but was very thin. I dusted him for mites and put him in a cage somewhere warm with food and water and after a few days he was getting better and getting restless in the cage so I let him back in the coop where he seemed to be doing fine. He was never quite as springy as he used to be, though he was getting heavier and stronger every day and got quite close to normal conditions.

Today, (Thursday) just an hour or two ago, I was feeding him and my hen. He seemed fine when I first brought him food (hopping around the coop, etc.) and he started eating fine also. I turned around for a second and I turned back and he was lying on the ground but eating the food that was around him. I thought he may have fell and twisted his leg or something so I lifted him back up, but he stopped eating and just stood, not moving and started getting really droopy and puffing up his feathers. I didn't know what was going on or what to do but I put him back in the cage somewhere a little warmer.

He didn't touch the food and water I put with him but instead started getting droopier and droopier and now is literally lying on the ground with his eyes closed, looks really bad and sick. He is still breathing and moves his head a little and every once in a while shifts his body slightly, but that's it.

This all happened in a span of maybe 30 minutes or less.

It's not particularly cold today (low 70's right now) and it rained a little bit (but not hard) and it's a little windy. He's indoors in the cage now. I put little aspirin in his water because I was getting desperate and thought it may at least help with pain relief or reduce his fever if he had one, but he hasn't drank any of it. In the last few days, I've fed him and the hen rice (which they've been eating as a major part of their diet for years), vegetables, and the occasional leftover meat etc. I've put some diatomaceous earth in their food and water (something I do every once in a while to deworm them) and the two of them found a roach nest the other day and ate them all up

I did notice, in the first few days where he was in the cage, he pooped less frequently than I expected him too and it either came out in little pellets or once, after he ate a lot of cabbage, as a big runny heap.

Does anyone know what is going on?? Or what might be wrong with him?? Or if there's anything I can do?? Any help is appreciated thank you so much!

 

[MrsBrooke]

Welcome to BYC.

It sounds like your boy has worms or Coccidiosis. The increase of water intake can be a symptom of a chicken with Cocci.

I'd grab some Corid from Tractor Supply, your local feed store, or online.

Dose:

1.5 teaspoons (NO LESS) of the 20% powder per gallon of water
OR
2 teaspoons of the 9.6% powder per gallon of water

Mix fresh at least once a day, treat for 5-7 days... make sure it's the only water they can access during this time. Treat the ENTIRE flock at the same time with the same dosage.

If he's too weak to eat or drink on his own, you may need to tube him liquid to keep him alive long enough for the Corid to work... This is a great thread on tubing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

Keep us posted!

MrsB

 

[chickchickie]

Thanks for the advice!

This morning he's up and about like again like nothing ever happened? and very hungry, though still kind of weak. His droppings looked normal, no blood, and there's plenty of it this time too.

I've put him back in the coop and ordered the Corid but unfortunately it won't get here for about a week, so I've added raw garlic to his diet since it's supposed to be a natural antibiotic. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

 

[MrsBrooke]

Corid isn't an antibiotic... it's an amprolium. But that's splitting hairs.

The healing properties of garlic simply cannot be denied. I hope that gives him a little boost!

I read that his poops are normal... But have you ever seen him passing any runny, all-white, liquid poops?

MrsB

 

[chickchickie]

The poops are black with white tips. He's still same old same old as we wait for the Corid to arrive, but hasn't had another collapse yet so I guess that's a good sign...

 

[chickchickie]

Wondering, other than the medication, is there anything else I need to do to make sure he does not have a relapse after he is cured? I've washed out the coop today, but since the run is made of dirt which they poop and dig in, I can't think of a way to get rid of any Coccidiosis oocytes in the dirt.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I would, in addition to treating your *entire* flock for Coccidiosis, worm them.

You can use Valbazen liquid goat wormer at .5ml/cc per standard, adult chicken (.25ml/cc for bantams, pullets/cockerels). Treat again in 10 days to get any eggs that may have survived and hatched. Give orally, undiluted, with a syringe.

You can get Valbazen from Tractor Supply and online.

Safeguard paste can also be used if you can't find Valbazen, but there's a different dosage.

Hope he continues to recover!!

MrsB

 

[chickchickie]

Update - little Freckles was getting better by himself, and was pretty much back to normal by the time the Corid arrived. I treated the whole flock for 5 days anyway as a precaution and things were seeming fine. Today, it's been 4 days since the last dose of Corid, and I noticed Freckles seemed unwell again, very weak and falling over as he ran the length of the coop.

He's extremely thin. I am wondering, since the Corid didn't seem to have an effect and his symptoms are recurring seemingly without any trend, could the weakness be from malnutrition? He's blind in one eye and never managed to get as much food as the hen does, but he always seemed to be able to get enough to stay healthy anyway and never had a problem keeping on weight until now. Could what's happening now be the result of years of not quite getting enough nutrition?

 

[chickchickie]

Upon further inspection, his face is very dirty (mud all over his beak, etc.) his comb is limp, thin, pinkish (not bright red like usual) and has what might be a healing sore on it? He has a clogged nare which has been clogged for a while (I tried several times but never managed to fully unclog it as it is stuck very tightly and he will not hold still and tries to eat anything I put near his face. Any progress I do make quickly gets reclogged after a few days...) and he would not let me open his mouth, but from the glimpse that I got before he freaked out, the inside of his mouth has some mud in it too. He always seems hungry, but eats extremely slowly. What could this be? (And also, do you have any suggestions on how to get the nostril unclogged once and for all?)

 

[junebuggena]

What do you feed, layer or something else? If he's been eating layer most of his life, it could be that his kidneys are starting to fail. Layer feed has too much calcium for birds that don't lay, and that excess calcium doesn't just pass through. It builds up in the kidneys, until the bird eventually develops kidney failure. By that point, it's too late to do anything.