Ameraucana giving up on life it seems

iamlegion

In the Brooder
Oct 12, 2021
10
3
44
Rawdon QC
Hi there, I'm so grateful to follow this forum and learn so much about taking care of chickens. :)
I usually read and not post, but today, I need help.
BTW : I'm don't speak fluent english, so I may do mistakes, sorry about that.

It's been since June I have 13 chickens. 2 of them were eaten by racoons. 2 of them died for unknown reasons.
And today, I see the only rooster I have, on the side, shaking and very weak.
I panicked a little bit, took him to my house, in the bathroom. And as I saw his face covered in mud and dirt, I gave him a bath and cleaned his face.

This was after that, that I saw this post :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-supportive-care-updated-01-17-2021.1048620/
(and that I shouldn't have give him a bath :rolleyes:)

Well guys I need your help. I don't want anymore of my chickens to die without me doing nothing about it.
As I want to follow the forum's rule, here are my answer to every questions I should ask :

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Rooster, about 9 months old

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
I saw it walk and heared it yell when it was picked by the others (it often is a victim to some other chickens in the coop).
Then a few seconds after I saw it lying on his side on the floor. It seemed week and one eye was closed.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
I saw it do that when I opened the coop 30 min ago.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Yes. I found a blue feather stuck around its tall sickle (i don't know if I use the right word tho).
I removed it.
I also found some weird skin coloration in that area (see picture enclosed)
And he has one eye quite red with bubbles in it.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I haven't been regular in cleaning the coop. Their spot where they sleep is dirty and I added some straw on top of it twice.
Also they don't have a sand box to clean themselves.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Drinking water and apple cider vinegar
Eating regular bio brooding mix and dried black soldier fly larvae.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
I compared poop. I didn't check for worms but it seemed ok.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
None, just eating and drinking on the bath.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I want to treat him completely by myself.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Enclosed.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
It's an old shed that I converted as a coop. I'll make pictures to send it to you in a moment.

IMG-20211227-121953.jpg
Its correct side, eye is ok. It just has food in its beak.

IMG-20211227-121944.jpg

Bad side. Eye is red, often closed and bubbles in it, do you see it?

IMG-20211227-121559.jpg

Tail coverts. Seem like a parasite?

Thank you guys a lot for help.:love
 
The swollen eye and bubbles could be MG (Mycoplasma gallisepticum), treatment may help with symptoms, but the birds remain carriers, if that is what it is. You would need lab testing to confirm or rule out.
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/def... Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) Infecti....pdf
Where on the tail is that spot in your picture? Is it the uropygial gland, also called preen gland? Use some warm, wet compresses to try to loosen up the gunk and clean it off, gently. Try not to damage tissue under it. Picture of where the gland is below.
1640642781785.png
 
Hi coach
Thanks a lot for your help :)
About MG, I just red a lot about it. It may be that indeed. I also found that it could be coryza. Not sure yet. I hope it's something else than MG, I don't want to kill it :(

About the picture, yes it is the uropygial gland.
You can see it there :
Sans-titre-1.jpg


I also found that white and dry stuff in several areas of its skin (see enclosed).
I wonder what that is. A parasite?

Thanks a lot
 

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  • IMG_20211227_132051.jpg
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This will help with lice/mite identification:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
I can't see well enough in the pictures to say for sure. I would try to use compresses to clean off the gland, make sure it's healthy looking. If it's lice or mites, then treatment options are in the link above. If it's lice you will see them crawling on the bird and lice nits in bunches at the base of feathers. If it's mites, they may be hiding in the coop and feeding on the birds at night. I would check all your birds. You will need to clean out and treat the coop also, usually at least 3 times at weekly intervals. They will often infest a bird that is weakened by something else. They can also severely weaken a bird.
 
Hi there, I'm so grateful to follow this forum and learn so much about taking care of chickens. :)
I usually read and not post, but today, I need help.
BTW : I'm don't speak fluent english, so I may do mistakes, sorry about that.

It's been since June I have 13 chickens. 2 of them were eaten by racoons. 2 of them died for unknown reasons.
And today, I see the only rooster I have, on the side, shaking and very weak.
I panicked a little bit, took him to my house, in the bathroom. And as I saw his face covered in mud and dirt, I gave him a bath and cleaned his face.

This was after that, that I saw this post :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-supportive-care-updated-01-17-2021.1048620/
(and that I shouldn't have give him a bath :rolleyes:)

Well guys I need your help. I don't want anymore of my chickens to die without me doing nothing about it.
As I want to follow the forum's rule, here are my answer to every questions I should ask :

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Rooster, about 9 months old

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
I saw it walk and heared it yell when it was picked by the others (it often is a victim to some other chickens in the coop).
Then a few seconds after I saw it lying on his side on the floor. It seemed week and one eye was closed.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
I saw it do that when I opened the coop 30 min ago.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Yes. I found a blue feather stuck around its tall sickle (i don't know if I use the right word tho).
I removed it.
I also found some weird skin coloration in that area (see picture enclosed)
And he has one eye quite red with bubbles in it.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I haven't been regular in cleaning the coop. Their spot where they sleep is dirty and I added some straw on top of it twice.
Also they don't have a sand box to clean themselves.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
Drinking water and apple cider vinegar
Eating regular bio brooding mix and dried black soldier fly larvae.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
I compared poop. I didn't check for worms but it seemed ok.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
None, just eating and drinking on the bath.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I want to treat him completely by myself.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Enclosed.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
It's an old shed that I converted as a coop. I'll make pictures to send it to you in a moment.

IMG-20211227-121953.jpg
Its correct side, eye is ok. It just has food in its beak.

IMG-20211227-121944.jpg

Bad side. Eye is red, often closed and bubbles in it, do you see it?

IMG-20211227-121559.jpg

Tail coverts. Seem like a parasite?

Thank you guys a lot for help.:love
Your bird definitely has lice and possibly mites that's why he is acting week if you fix this he will perk up not sure about the eye tho
 
Hi coach, Hi Lenny!
First thing first : thank you so much for your help. I care a lot about my chicks/roosters :love

This morning, Amerau (that's the name I gave him) had his eye wide open, pink-ish instead of red and bubbles are gone.
I gave him some essential oils yesterday (following some aromatherapy for chickens receipe). It seems to help him a lot.

Thanks to you guys, I found out that it and 2 others have northern fowl mites.
So I bought Diatomaceaous Earth and will apply it to everyone every day for 5 days.
I also will clean the coop entirely.

Thanks so much guys. I was afraid that they would die or that I would have to kill it.
But I won't need it seems. It's recovering :)
 
Hi coach, Hi Lenny!
First thing first : thank you so much for your help. I care a lot about my chicks/roosters :love

This morning, Amerau (that's the name I gave him) had his eye wide open, pink-ish instead of red and bubbles are gone.
I gave him some essential oils yesterday (following some aromatherapy for chickens receipe). It seems to help him a lot.

Thanks to you guys, I found out that it and 2 others have northern fowl mites.
So I bought Diatomaceaous Earth and will apply it to everyone every day for 5 days.
I also will clean the coop entirely.

Thanks so much guys. I was afraid that they would die or that I would have to kill it.
But I won't need it seems. It's recovering :)
Diatomaceous Earth is helpful but many have found it does not work the best. The most recommended lice spray on here is Permethrin for poultry. I have never used it before because it is a little expensive and I never had that many chickens with lice. While using DE or Permethrin or whatever you use, it is also helpful to put garlic in your chickens water.
 
Oh that's good to know. I'll look for Permethrin. I live in Canada so we don't have the same products as in US. :)

Very nice idea to add garlic in the water. I'll do that tomorrow for sure.
I used to apply it to some infested plants so why not into chickens water?

Thanks a lot.
 

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