Cochin Roo, 3 years old, lethargic, drooping wings, etc

[granolamom2001]

I have a 3+ year old Cochin roo. 2 days ago I noticed he was not quite as perky as his other 2 buddies and 2 hens. He was eating just fine. Doesn't seem as interested in drinking, but I'm not sure on that. Today I went out and checked on him and he was down, under the ramp to the roost and I thought he was dead. But he lifted his head when I spoke to him so I hauled him out by the scruff and stood him in the yard. He wobbled a good bit but immediately was interested in eating grass went about eating and scratching. He's out there free-ranging, but every now and then I see he's down on his belly, not rolled over, and his one claw is sticking out weird from behind him. So I go out and stand him back up and he goes about his business again, pecking and eating and scratching. He preens his feathers too. Sees to be in no distress at all. No rapid breathing. No cough, no discharge. His eyes are fully opened and clear. His comb is red, but here's the confusing thing. I had always thought him to be a roo, but this morning I turned him over to look at his bottom cuz I noticed that his comb is tiny, the same size as the hens so I wondered if all this time I was mistaken and he's a she! Sure enough, there's 2, um, exits, so to speak. Both seemed clean and fine. I had wondered if he is a she, and if she's actually egg-bound or something. The only other thing i noticed today is that one of the other roos is making green manure rather than the usual brown with white cap. It's not diarrhea but is somewhat soft and is dark greenish. Now my husband had forgotten to fill their feed containers this weekend when I went out Monday to feed them I noticed this and wondered if this is just because of a day or two with no food and only eating bugs they could scratch up. So, anyone have any suggestions?

 

[granolamom2001]

Just checked on him/her again. Lightning is it's name btw. It seems to be doing ok. It was down again but picked it up again. This time I held it looking to see if there was any reason for the leg to be giving him trouble getting up. The leg that seems to be bothering him is also very warm, where the other one is cool. There's no streaking like with an infection and no obvious wound. It does seem thicker than the other foot but not sure which one is the "normal" one. Both are greyish white. Does that matter? He seems very willing to let me help him. He doesn't fight me. He's not "floppy" at all and keeps tilting his head to look at me when I talk to him. Oh, I did give him some garlic clove in hopes that it would help if it's some sort of infection. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[granolamom2001]

ok, so haven't heard anything from anyone yet. Hope to soon. Just wanted to update you....is it possible this could have been a snake bite that is causing him/her to act like this? I wonder because we just discovered we have a black snake of some sort in the vicinity. It crawled right through the house that Lightning lives in so I wonder....?

 

[warmfuzzies]

As far as I know the black snake is probably a rat snack, harmless. I don't think there are any poisonous black snakes in the US. Not sure though.

I have no idea what would be wrong with your roo, but probably not a snake bite. I hope you get some help soon. Have you checked for mites? Mites on cochin can be BAD. I lost three one year to mites before I figured out what was up. They have so many feathers that the little buggers can get thick and not be obvious.

 

[granolamom2001]

that is a possibility, they all seem to be what I thought was preening their feathers, perhaps its mites? How do you deal with it?

 

[warmfuzzies]

I used permethrin (sp?) dust. I turned them upside down and sprinkled it all over them until they were covered. Turning them upside down gets it in between the feathers.

I don't know if this is the best thing to use, I used it because I was loosing chickens and I wanted it fixed as soon as possible and it was what I had on hand. I have heard of people using Seven dust too, but I don't know if that is for the birds or the coop. I would recommend asking what is best in the Predators and Pests section, I think that is where it would go. Or simply search for lice or mite treatments.

 

[granolamom2001]

Thanks so much! Now that you mention the permethrin I do recall that. Have a great weekend!