bird flu?

[HenelaT]

I went to check on my birds before a rainstorm today and found my 4 month old rooster laying in the ground looking dead. I seriously thought he was dead due to the position he was in. I went closer to examine him and I could hear him making a wheezing sound as he breathed. He was not injured and looked just fine when I examined him. At this point he sat up and just looked at me. I have him quarantined now because I've never had a chicken act like this before. He seems totally fine now and isn't making any strange breathing noises and is sitting up, scratching, etc. Should I be worried about bird flu?? I've heard some chickens have narcolepsy but I'm fairly new to raising backyard chickens and want to handle this properly. How long do I keep him away from the others? Has anyone ever experienced this before?

I included a picture of him from a week ago... he is such a pretty bird.

 

[QueenMisha]

Avian influenza is pretty rare, especially in backyard flocks. It's also extremely deadly. If your flock had it, you'd probably have a few days of symptoms followed by most everybody dropping dead.

Could be a respiratory disease, but sounds like some kind of trauma. If he doesn't show any more symptoms there's not much to be done, but if other birds begin wheezing, coughing, rattling, sneezing, gurgling, or show wet/frothy/swollen eyes or nasal discharge, or other serious similar symptoms, you should look into getting your flock blood tested.