Advice needed-Cockerel suddenly sleeping on the floor and not leaving the coop in the day time.

[invisibledoctor]

Looking for some advice for our cockerel and his behaviour/what could be wrong?

We believe he is a Brahma, but could be a mix. Not 100% on the age as he was a rescue, but roughly around 4-5 judging where he came from. He hasn't lost any weight as far as we can tell.

He has very suddenly (3 days) stopped sitting on the perch at night and has made himself a nest on the floor. We tried putting him on the perch one night, but he immediately went to the ground. He was a bit wobbly on the perch, but not sure if that was sleepiness or a symptom. He's suddenly very docile (usually doesn't like being handled, but now doesn't stop us picking him up). He also doesn't leave the coop in the day unless we bring a treat to the coop.

None of the others chickens are exhibiting anything similar or behaving strangely.

We initially checked his feet, which look completely fine, no bumble foot or obvious injuries. No signs of mites on him or the girls. However, he does look to be walking a little gingerly on them from time to time.

His comb is fine, nice colour. We also checked his behind and nothing amiss there. He's also eating normally and drinking.

We've washed his feet (mild washing up liquid) and applied vetricyn plus just in case on both feet so far.

The nearest vet that will look at poultry is over an hour away so any help we could action ourselves would be great.

Thanks for any help!

 

[invisibledoctor]

No good news today. Checked his feet again but no sign of anything obvious. Still very docile. I had hold of him trying to feed him (he ate and drank a little but not much). He seems to be sitting oddly, butt slightly in the air, but nothing around his butt that looks bad from the outside, poop looks normal. He's also very unsteady, when I let him go, he sort of fell forward.

 

[invisibledoctor]

Bad news Mash died this morning, very quickly. He seemed to be much better, even earlier this morning he was out and about reunited with his girls. An hour later I've checked on him again to find he's passed away

 

[LaFleche]

the age as he was a rescue, but roughly around 4-5 judging where he came from.

Would that be months or years?

What I noticed with my chicken is that this year they started to molt very early which can leave them a little more tired/lethargic and even more so during the actual heat wave. Some prefer not to sleep on the roost during molt although they could use the ladder to get there.
Check your boy for pin feathers which will be uncomfortable or even painful when getting in contact with others. This could well be the reason he prefers to stay on the floor by himself.

When did you last deworm him?

 

[invisibledoctor]

Would that be months or years?

What I noticed with my chicken is that this year they started to molt very early which can leave them a little more tired/lethargic and even more so during the actual heat wave. Some prefer not to sleep on the roost during molt although they could use the ladder to get there.
Check your boy for pin feathers which will be uncomfortable or even painful when getting in contact with others. This could well be the reason he prefers to stay on the floor by himself.

When did you last deworm him?

Hi there,

That's years! Sorry!

I will check for pin Feathers when I come home good shout!

We finished the deworming treatment about 2 weeks ago. They have the Heygates layer pellets with flubenvet.

 

[LaFleche]

At 3.8 % it is ok for females but contains too much calcium for male birds.

Let us know if he enjoyed his special eggs.

 

[invisibledoctor]

It continues to sound like he has what mine has/had. If so, it will get worse before it gets better. Here's some photos of what you could face. If you've got something like the Sainsbury's trug, some dirt in the bottom works well as easy to clean/change bedding and keeps the trug upright even when the bird is leaning on one side for support; though during the period he couldn't do anything but lay on his side I found a towel on the floor worked best. Keeping his bum clean was difficult then too as he had foul diarrhoea.

Ooof I might bring him into the house so we can keep a better eye on him. My husband works from home so at least he can try feeding at regular intervals.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

Is he the only male? Is your coop covered? Have any of the other birds been picking on him? Owl? Snake?

 

[Kearaaaa23]

Would that be months or years?

What I noticed with my chicken is that this year they started to molt very early which can leave them a little more tired/lethargic and even more so during the actual heat wave. Some prefer not to sleep on the roost during molt although they could use the ladder to get there.
Check your boy for pin feathers which will be uncomfortable or even painful when getting in contact with others. This could well be the reason he prefers to stay on the floor by himself.

When did you last deworm him?

Yeah I agree with you, could just be a molt but that wouldn't explain him not minding being picked up, wouldn't that just hurt him more? I'm sure the owners would've noticed if he was going into molt?

 

[Kearaaaa23]

Hi there,

That's years! Sorry!

I will check for pin Feathers when I come home good shout!

We finished the deworming treatment about 2 weeks ago. They have the Heygates layer pellets with flubenvet.

Yes then its probably just the age getting to him. Roosters after 2-3yrs are out of their "primal age" he'll just be more tired/less active but I'd still keep an eye on him amd give vitamin supplements etc..