I got a young Silkie roo 4 weeks ago, he’s 8 months old now, his name is Danny, and he’s been light since I got him. Originally I figured it was just because he’s still a “teenager,” and so I simply monitored him. He was quarantined in a pen on the porch for 2 weeks, and I didn’t really see him eat as much as I thought he should. He’d show interest when I put his feed down but would very quickly stop paying attention to his food when he’d hear my girls in the yard. He started feeling skinnier, and I thought he was too focused on being with everyone else. He showed no sign of illness, so I dewormed him with praziquantel (Zimecterin Gold) on 9/22 and also treated him with Selamectin (Revolution) topically for any possible external parasite infestation (I didn’t see anything but brought mites into my flock once before so now I don’t take the chance), and I put him out with my flock.
He’s been out with them ever since. My established roo is a Satin Silkie named Kurtis, he’s very accepting and after the first few minutes, Kurtis was fine with Danny. There doesn’t seem to be any stress in the flock, the pecking order is Sylvia Rae at the highest, Kurtis, then Danny. Danny is extremely inquisitive and protective. He’ll check me out and will even try to nip at me when I enter their pen, but he’s fine when I pick him up. I’m afraid he’s ignoring food due to his interest in protecting the girls, but I’m not sure if there could be an illness involved instead, and I really don’t know what to do to get him to put on weight. He keeps getting skinnier. He’s super skinny now, I can feel his entire keel bone and a divot at his thoracic inlet. I’m so worried about him. I did notice last week that his stills looked runny so I did a course of Corid in the water for everybody, his poops are normal now but he’s skinnier.
So my questions are, does this sound behavioral or could there be some illness that I’m not thinking of? If so, what kind of testing would I do to check? And lastly, I have a 2x4x2’ bird cage I could put him in and bring him inside to try to separate him from hearing the girls at all, see if he’ll put on weight—would that be appropriate?
I am a veterinary technician so I have access to a lot of health care if need be, however my boss doesn’t like birds so it’s not like I could bring Danny in for an X-ray, but I could get medicines.
Their coop is 4x6, there’s 9 birds total but only 8 sleep in the coop. Their pen is 20x30’. Their feed is NatureWise All Flock crumbles, plus veggies daily, sometimes fruit, and leftovers.
Thank you all for your help in advance!
He’s been out with them ever since. My established roo is a Satin Silkie named Kurtis, he’s very accepting and after the first few minutes, Kurtis was fine with Danny. There doesn’t seem to be any stress in the flock, the pecking order is Sylvia Rae at the highest, Kurtis, then Danny. Danny is extremely inquisitive and protective. He’ll check me out and will even try to nip at me when I enter their pen, but he’s fine when I pick him up. I’m afraid he’s ignoring food due to his interest in protecting the girls, but I’m not sure if there could be an illness involved instead, and I really don’t know what to do to get him to put on weight. He keeps getting skinnier. He’s super skinny now, I can feel his entire keel bone and a divot at his thoracic inlet. I’m so worried about him. I did notice last week that his stills looked runny so I did a course of Corid in the water for everybody, his poops are normal now but he’s skinnier.
So my questions are, does this sound behavioral or could there be some illness that I’m not thinking of? If so, what kind of testing would I do to check? And lastly, I have a 2x4x2’ bird cage I could put him in and bring him inside to try to separate him from hearing the girls at all, see if he’ll put on weight—would that be appropriate?
I am a veterinary technician so I have access to a lot of health care if need be, however my boss doesn’t like birds so it’s not like I could bring Danny in for an X-ray, but I could get medicines.
Their coop is 4x6, there’s 9 birds total but only 8 sleep in the coop. Their pen is 20x30’. Their feed is NatureWise All Flock crumbles, plus veggies daily, sometimes fruit, and leftovers.
Thank you all for your help in advance!