1) What type of bird , age and weight: Bantam cochin cockeral, 12 weeks?, unknown weight but definitely underweight and scrawny.
2) What is the behavior, exactly: normal yesterday, or so I thought, but very mopey this morning and when I picked him up I realized about the major weight loss.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms: <24 hrs
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms: no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma: no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: maybe parasites but haven't seen any
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: starter/grower and water. May have snuck a few laying pellets from the hen he's with.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc: normal but it was pasted up his rear.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far: bath to remove poop, dusted with poultry powder to remove creepy crawlies.
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: home treatment.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: 4X6 coop with 4X8 run with only him and another bantam cochin hen as residents.
I got little Bam Bam a month or so ago with 5 of his brothers in the hopes of picking out the most suitable to breed with my cochin hen. He was the most personable and closest to the SOP, so he stayed and the others went to new homes. He's always been pretty docile, as cochins normally are, but I guess I should have noticed that he's never been playful like a normal young cockeral. Up until last night he seemed to be eating well and drinking, but I guess I have been neglectful because I haven't picked him up in a couple of weeks. Just did the whole "refill the feed, water, and talk to them, clean out the coop, but give them their space" thing. The hen he is housed with has no symptoms that anything is wrong, and she does not pick on him at all: in fact they dust bathe a lot together and sleep side by side. When I found him today, he was lying down like dust bathing but something seemed "off". Very sleepy acting. So, I reached in and plucked him up. He barely fought the contact. His crop is nearly empty, he can stand but doesn't move around much. No drainage from anywhere, no coughing sneezing or wheezing. Just a perfectly healthy bird one day, I thought, and now a boy about to give up the fight to live. I feel bad because I didn't notice the weight loss until he is almost skin and bones. No fat whatsoever. This has evidently been coming on a while but since there were no obvious symptoms, I missed it somehow. Please help. My next idea is to worm him, but would that throw him over the edge since he is already so wasted?
2) What is the behavior, exactly: normal yesterday, or so I thought, but very mopey this morning and when I picked him up I realized about the major weight loss.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms: <24 hrs
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms: no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma: no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: maybe parasites but haven't seen any
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: starter/grower and water. May have snuck a few laying pellets from the hen he's with.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc: normal but it was pasted up his rear.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far: bath to remove poop, dusted with poultry powder to remove creepy crawlies.
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: home treatment.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: 4X6 coop with 4X8 run with only him and another bantam cochin hen as residents.
I got little Bam Bam a month or so ago with 5 of his brothers in the hopes of picking out the most suitable to breed with my cochin hen. He was the most personable and closest to the SOP, so he stayed and the others went to new homes. He's always been pretty docile, as cochins normally are, but I guess I should have noticed that he's never been playful like a normal young cockeral. Up until last night he seemed to be eating well and drinking, but I guess I have been neglectful because I haven't picked him up in a couple of weeks. Just did the whole "refill the feed, water, and talk to them, clean out the coop, but give them their space" thing. The hen he is housed with has no symptoms that anything is wrong, and she does not pick on him at all: in fact they dust bathe a lot together and sleep side by side. When I found him today, he was lying down like dust bathing but something seemed "off". Very sleepy acting. So, I reached in and plucked him up. He barely fought the contact. His crop is nearly empty, he can stand but doesn't move around much. No drainage from anywhere, no coughing sneezing or wheezing. Just a perfectly healthy bird one day, I thought, and now a boy about to give up the fight to live. I feel bad because I didn't notice the weight loss until he is almost skin and bones. No fat whatsoever. This has evidently been coming on a while but since there were no obvious symptoms, I missed it somehow. Please help. My next idea is to worm him, but would that throw him over the edge since he is already so wasted?
