- Mar 9, 2017
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Help. Our eight month old cockerel started with a swollen infected eye on Tuesday December, 19. We treated it with an antibiotic eye cream and gave Tylan orally. The next morning it seemed to be improved but by evening it was swollen again. (There was mud on his head so we assumed he was trying to scratch it because it bothered him.) We cleaned it again and reapplied tetrimyacin ointment.
Later that evening my husband went to the coop and check on him and his head was hanging down laying on the floor. He thought he was just sleeping, but the cockerel couldn’t lift his head up past a couple of inches. He brought him in the house and put him in a large cage.
By the next morning he could not lift his head. He would stand with his butt in the air but his head was hanging near the ground upside down. We were able to get an appointment with a supposed avian vet. She debried his eye, gave us drops, an antibiotic pill, and an anti-inflammatory pill.
we asked her why he can’t raise his head and she said, “Thats weird! Be prepared that you might loose him.” She had no other suggestions. I asked about a vitamin deficiency. She acted like she didn’t know. I asked about Marecs, and she didn’t seem to think that was it. She had no idea about avian flu, but he’s in an enclosed coop and run. She offered to do close to $1000 worth of X-rays, blood tests, tube feedings, but that’s financially impossible. She sent us home with EmmerAid IC which we have been syringe feeding every two to three hours since Wednesday. We’ve been supplementing the feed with vitamin E and B complex And some raw egg white.
Weve seen him peck and eat his food but we’ve not observed him drinking any water. He can’t lift his head to swallow so we’ve been syringing water every time we feed him. He’s pooping.
He’s still very strong. Refuses to sit when I hold him for his feedings. Fights when we try to open his beak. He’s around 10 lb Marans.
Can anyone help us figure out what is happening? He seems strong and normal except his head is hanging upside down in a C shape. It’s pathetic. We bought him about six weeks ago from a very reputable breeder. He’s been strong, breeding the hens we bought with him. He’s been with no other chickens and we moved him into a clean fallow coop. We bought him as our breeding male to rebuild our flock. Did we do something wrong? We’ve had chickens of manybreeds over many years. Had a wry neck pullet many years ago but she had other issues and died. Very few health issues with our birds.thank you in advance for any help.
Later that evening my husband went to the coop and check on him and his head was hanging down laying on the floor. He thought he was just sleeping, but the cockerel couldn’t lift his head up past a couple of inches. He brought him in the house and put him in a large cage.
By the next morning he could not lift his head. He would stand with his butt in the air but his head was hanging near the ground upside down. We were able to get an appointment with a supposed avian vet. She debried his eye, gave us drops, an antibiotic pill, and an anti-inflammatory pill.
we asked her why he can’t raise his head and she said, “Thats weird! Be prepared that you might loose him.” She had no other suggestions. I asked about a vitamin deficiency. She acted like she didn’t know. I asked about Marecs, and she didn’t seem to think that was it. She had no idea about avian flu, but he’s in an enclosed coop and run. She offered to do close to $1000 worth of X-rays, blood tests, tube feedings, but that’s financially impossible. She sent us home with EmmerAid IC which we have been syringe feeding every two to three hours since Wednesday. We’ve been supplementing the feed with vitamin E and B complex And some raw egg white.
Weve seen him peck and eat his food but we’ve not observed him drinking any water. He can’t lift his head to swallow so we’ve been syringing water every time we feed him. He’s pooping.
He’s still very strong. Refuses to sit when I hold him for his feedings. Fights when we try to open his beak. He’s around 10 lb Marans.
Can anyone help us figure out what is happening? He seems strong and normal except his head is hanging upside down in a C shape. It’s pathetic. We bought him about six weeks ago from a very reputable breeder. He’s been strong, breeding the hens we bought with him. He’s been with no other chickens and we moved him into a clean fallow coop. We bought him as our breeding male to rebuild our flock. Did we do something wrong? We’ve had chickens of manybreeds over many years. Had a wry neck pullet many years ago but she had other issues and died. Very few health issues with our birds.thank you in advance for any help.
