Rooster is sick

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PlaidBattleAxe

PlaidBattleAxe

Chirping
6 Years
Jan 2, 2014
377
25
88
Pennsylvania/New York Border
My buff orp roo is sick, I think. He didn't crow this am, and the coop was very quiet. My girls were all awake and chattering when I let them out, but normally Roady will crow and be the first one rushing out the door. He was the last. No noise and no chasing the girls around to make sure the run was safe first (he always dances about). I just went out the add more water to the run and I found him in a sunny corner with his eyes closed and seemed like he was sleeping. He wandered over to the other hens but wouldn't eat. Won't drink. I put treats out and he didn't do anything. He won't stray from the hens, but he won't partake and seems very lethargic.
Back info: I've had him about 4 weeks, and since I've had them he has always done this neck stretch thing with a yawn almost. Not a gag. He has always had a voracious appetite and everytime I put food and water out or replaced he is the first one to dig in and very vocal. Today no vocal and no eating or drinking. The inside of his beak seems wet almost, but he isn't wheezing and doesn't gurgle like in respiratory distress. But he is stretching his neck out more frequently today than normal (it was only every few days I noticed it before and had assumed he had pigged out on the bread or treats and was working them down to his crop, before... but now I'm not sure). Could something be stuck? Or his crop too full? I'm brand new to chickens and have no idea what is wrong with him. My hens are all fine.
 
Thank you.. He is outside (he had been sleeping in a nesting box for about an hour) and all of my hens are clustered around him, under his wings and under his chin and he is completely encapsulated with birds. They must know he is not well. He shows interest in food but wont actually try and eat anything.
 
Update: I felt around and found his crop and it was hard. I had to pick up a few other chickens to compare them and theirs were malleable. His was like a hockey puck. I tried massaging it but it didn't do anything, and after 15 minutes I let the poor guy go. DH got home from work and we got 10cc of olive oil down him over a 5 minute period, and I massaged his crop. Within minutes it became softer. We then were able to get him to swallow some water (about 10cc). I put him down and he actually got up and attempted to scratch around a little bit (first real sign of life at all today). He is now laying down again, like he had been all day, but his head is up and he is watching the hens. I figure he is so weak from lack of food/water today that he is going to need some time to recover. I'm going to wait about an hour and then I'll administer some more fluids to him. I don't know if it was impacted crop or what, but I'm hoping he pulls out of this and that I've done the right thing.
 
Another update: Just for the sake of chronicaling what is going on with my situation, incase anyone else has something similar and wonders the outcome... Today the coop was silent when I went to let them out. He was the last one out of the coop. He's been laying around a bit, but mostly standing with the girls. Won't eat still, seems very weak. But he is drinking and I was able to coax a small nibble of egg into him. IDK what will happen, but he is much more alert, and I've been unable to catch him to assess his crop (I'm taking that as a good thing, since yesterday he was unable to avoid me at all and let me manhandle him to no end).
 
I was hoping your roo would feel much better by now.

Okay, I give this to my chickens when I notice anyone just isn't right and need to make sure they eat plus stay hydrated even if they won't drink much. No chicken can resist my scramble mix, lol.

I also give them this as an occasional treat, and they all go crazy for this-, so it is easy to get them to eat when needed, and it's soft- not hard on the digestion.

I take a few eggs and some water (or Buttermilk).
Add 4 Tablespoons Instant Oatmeal. (Or thereabouts)
2 Tablespoons chopped fine Wild Alaskan Salmon, or tuna in water. Leave some of the Salmon juice to mix in.

Scramble. Cook, cool in water until cool. Drain.

1 Tablespoon applesauce.
Then, mix equal parts water/ Buttermilk/ so the egg scramble is wet.

It is messy when they eat it, but there is everything they love in it, and they are eating protein/ carbs, a bit of fruit to help digestion, and hydrating at the same time.

Just try one egg and small proportions to start with. See how he reacts. He may have the runs from a temp. soft diet, but maybe that will help his golf ball?

Good luck! and keep posting on his progress. Maybe someone else will chime in with more ideas.
 
Thank you very much for the recipe and the instructions. He tried to eat today but was too weak to actually peck at anything. He tried, but it fell out of his beak like he was unable to "chew" (for lack of a better word) and he tried scratching but was only able to drink water. I was afraid he was getting too weak, so I tried canned pumpkin. He ate it. I wasn't sure what to do for a protein because scrambled eggs seemed to tough for him, but your recipe looks perfect. Messy is okay, because the girls will take care of any leftovers. I'll make it for them for breakfast when I let them out into the run in the morning. Again, thank you, I appreciate the help!!
 
Is his crop still full and hard? It sounds very much like an impacted crop. I haven't treated it but the most improtant thing to give him is water (and since he is weak maybe some electrolytes), and massage in a downward motion several times a day. He really could use a vet to do crop surgery if you can get it to go down. Do you have any colace stool softener capsules around? You could give him 2 of those, and keep pushing the water, and no food. If it goes down, then continue the water, massage, and then add some applesauce and watery feed. Impacted crop can progress to sour crop which is hard to treat. Don't give him more oil, but keep giving water, and a little yogurt or buttermilk on the second day would give him probiotics that will help. There are many opinions on treating crop problems and some conflicting advice. Here is some reading for help:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/ImpactedCrop_OldWay.html
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/green-muzings/2208-chicken-impacted-crop-or-sour-crop.html
 
Last edited:
Eggcessive said:
Is his crop still full and hard? It sounds very much like an impacted crop. I haven't treated it but the most improtant thing to give him is water (and since he is weak maybe some electrolytes), and massage in a downward motion several times a day. He really could use a vet to do crop surgery if you can get it to go down. Do you have any colace stool softener capsules around? You could give him 2 of those, and keep pushing the water, and no food. If it goes down, then continue the water, massage, and then add some applesauce and watery feed. Impacted crop can progress to sour crop which is hard to treat. Don't give him more oil, but keep giving water, and a little yogurt or buttermilk on the second day would give him probiotics that will help. There are many opinions on treating crop problems and some conflicting advice. Here is some reading for help:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/ImpactedCrop_OldWay.html
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/green-muzings/2208-chicken-impacted-crop-or-sour-crop.html
Click to expand...

His crop is completely empty. I picked him up about an hour before he went in to the coop to roost, and I could barely feel it at all. He is drinking water, but still doing that neck extending motion he was doing yesterday. Should I still give him stool softeners? So massage still tomorrow and make sure he continues to drink and stick with watery food? I
 

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