Cock stumbles backwards, holds head cocked to one side.

[Barbs Organic Garden]

Many thanks for all the suggestions. I tried some of the remedies, but the following day he looked better in the morning but quickly deteriorated. I spoke to one of the farm animals vets at our local practice and she said she would examine him, euthanize him(instead of wringing his neck, because, she said, she's a wimp), and send him to Cornell for a "visual necropsy" for $30. She said that one time she didn't specify the "visual", and they did several hundred dollars worth of tests on the dead chicken, and still never could tell her anything definitive (the poor farmer had to pay, and was not pleased). So at least I may find out if I have some serious problem and have to sterilize my coop, or if it's just an abnormality some of them develop. She did say it was a problem with his inner ear, not likely to be fungal, more likely bacterial, but not necessarily contagious even then. She said treatments with antibiotics hadn't been very successful, but she wasn't even sure that's what he had. She said he wouldn't be able to eat or drink properly and would slowly decline. She said I shouldn't wait to send him down to Ithaca until he was really in bad shape, because by then he would have been vulnerable to all kinds of secondary problems, and it would be harder for them to see what was wrong. I'm making an effort not to make pets out of these birds because I know they are destined for soup, but I'm kind of bummed out about this fellow who was so cocky and beautiful just a few days ago. I guess that's what happens when you stop growing vegetables and add animals.

 

[ruth]

If you have not already done so, please do not euthanize him just yet.

I believe, because he got better by morning with a little rest and food that he can recover. Of course he was better by morning but then got weaker but that's because he was so weak to begin with - he really needs a few days to try and regain health.

Do you have a dog kennel you could use - our vet will loan us extras when we need them. Put him in isolation with lots of good nutrition - dice up lunch meats, scrambled eggs, veggies and give him some Poly-Vi-Sol drops directly in his beak (not down his throat). Crush up a B complex vitamin and add it to his food.

When they freerange, as mine do, they don't always get all the nutrition they need - some are not good foragers or the area has been picked clean or they are low on the totem pole of chickendom and get chased away from food and water. I had my oldest, nicest roo get nearly killed by a bunch of young ones. After that he took to hiding all the time and nearly died from lack of proper nutrition until I found him and put him in a kennel and nursed him back to health. He's still "lost his mojo" as I call it and won't return to the flock so he gets to hang out in my back yard with "Blackie" my oldest, and pet Black Sex Link hen.

I had another roo that got jumped so bad, he couldn't walk so again, the kennel treatment and he's good as new.

Roos have a hard life especially if there are other roos around.

 

[ivan3]

If the poor guy expires, please post the necroscopy results. They might well help keep another roo alive.

Take care, and better luck to you

 

[threehorses]

I'm sorry that you might lose this bird. It sounds like a dreadful experience.

Just to give you some information that might make what they're telling you more clear, and a little information I hope you don't have to use but you might have to, here's a little info about what happens if your bird dies.

First, if he dies at home, and you want to still get the necropsy, there's a way to prepare him so that when they look at him the body is in the best shape to make sure they get the best info from their examination. Again - I apologize for this info, but it really might end up being very important to you. (I'd really rather just give you a lot of hugs - but I needed this info once and someone gave it to me, thankfully, so I pass it on as a chicken-friend to you.)

First, cool the body in water. If there's anything on the outside of the bird (lesions, poop, etc) leave that on there. You simply want to cool the body temperature down. Pat the bird dry and wrap in paper towels. Then place the wrapped bird in an appropriately sized plastic bag (or two) and refrigerate. Never freeze them as it distorts cells and changes the organs. You want to keep them cool, not frozen, so that you retard decomposition.

You'd want to get the bird in to your vet as early as possible, within 24 hours certainly.

Vets do two things: necropsies, and histopathologies. A necropsy is visual. The vet does an 'autopsy' of sorts on the bird, examining its exterior for signs of illness and absnormalities, and then examining the organs for the same. Lots can be deteremined from this on a non-microscopic level. (Organ damage, changes in color or abilities of the organs to function, laying issues, etc.).

Sometimes vets opt to do a histopathology which is really just a microscopic examination of the bird on a cellular level. THis is often done when a visual necropsy is not enough. The vet will take samples of all the birds' major organs and send them to a histopathology lab where specialists examine the samples. If you ever have this done, have your vet take double samples just in case. It costs no more and could prove useful should your samples get lost in transit or tainted for some reason.

Again I'm sorry for this information, but it's the information I'd give to a friend and so I give it to you.

I wish you luck with your decision as to whether or not to put him to sleep. If it were me, I'd try strong vitamin E supplementation in case it's simply neurological. Vitamins A, D, E degrade from food relatively easily. I'd make sure he's in a smallish place where he can easily get to food and water, and see what happens. Then if you feel his quality of life isn't good enough, you could make the other decision.

 

[ivan3]

If you can get it (close) a vet school will do a complete necroscopy. Will look something like this:

http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c331/IvanIvanovich/Boris/

Seven inches of rain in less than a week before sudden death (without necroscopy would never have found out why).