10wk old cockerel falling asleep standing up!

[Mganson99]

My cockerel (possibly blue copper maran) has started falling asleep constantly. He’s still active, gets up to eat and drink but then stands there and falls asleep standing up. He’s dozing off constantly. Otherwise he seems totally fine and his comb is bright red. It has been a bit warmer than usual the past 2 days but nothing scorching. He also has had issues early on where he wasn’t walking normally but the vet said likely just growing pains because he couldn’t identify any illness. Last night I went to make sure they were all in their coop and he was out in the run totally asleep (& my buff Orpington wouldn’t leave his side). I gave him a dose of nutridrench & rooster booster last night and just added some electrolyte water for everyone. Anyone experience this before?

 

[azygous]

He's not merely falling asleep. It's a significant symptom of something making him not feel well. It could be related to his previous bouts of imbalance. Let's not rule that out even though the vet wasn't much concerned about it.

There are two ways to examine this. He could be having neurological issues or he could have an infection. The first could be caused by nutritional deficiencies or an avian virus or exposure to insecticides. The second could be caused by coccidiosis or intestinal bacteria such as botulism toxin or salmonella or E.coli.

This is where you need to think hard about which of those seems most likely. What does his poop look like? Is he losing weight? Does he seem to be feverish? A cherry red comb as compared to the normal dusky red color of most combs can mean high body temperature.

Is there a compost pile with rotting stuff in it? Is there any chance he could have found some rodent bait or drunk from a puddle of water near where you treated for garden insects? Has there been a lot of wet weather? What conditions preceded his initial symptoms of imbalance? Has he been vaccinated for Marek's?

 

[Mganson99]

He's not merely falling asleep. It's a significant symptom of something making him not feel well. It could be related to his previous bouts of imbalance. Let's not rule that out even though the vet wasn't much concerned about it.

There are two ways to examine this. He could be having neurological issues or he could have an infection. The first could be caused by nutritional deficiencies or an avian virus or exposure to insecticides. The second could be caused by coccidiosis or intestinal bacteria such as botulism toxin or salmonella or E.coli.

This is where you need to think hard about which of those seems most likely. What does his poop look like? Is he losing weight? Does he seem to be feverish? A cherry red comb as compared to the normal dusky red color of most combs can mean high body temperature.

Is there a compost pile with rotting stuff in it? Is there any chance he could have found some rodent bait or drunk from a puddle of water near where you treated for garden insects? Has there been a lot of wet weather? What conditions preceded his initial symptoms of imbalance? Has he been vaccinated for Marek's?

Thank you, this is very helpful! Yes he was vaccinated for Mareks. No there wasn’t anything near the coop or run that would have made him sick, just grass and dirt (no pesticides) and the weather has been normal besides being a bit hotter then normal the last 2 days. One thing I completely forgot to note in this post is that we added one new hen to the flock on Sunday.. which leads me to think this may be coccidiosis, though I’m still not sure. Now that I’ve separated him I can see his poop is green and watery (see pic) which I’ve never seen before from any of them.

 

[azygous]

Yes, the new hen may have brought coccidia into the flock and her poop exposed them to a strain that they have no resistance to. Start the whole flock on Corid.

 

[Mganson99]

Thank you! That’s exactly what I’m doing