Cockerel off feed

[chiknGeek]

Evening status report.

He ate his full ration of feed today. He drank water.

I looked in his mouth and didn't see anything that looked like a canker or yellow pasty stuff. I looked at pictures on google for reference.
No lice or mites under his wings, around his vent, or near his eyes.
Eyes were clear and normal.
A little bit of dampness around the nostrils. Much less than this morning.
Crop felt empty.
He'd just had a cecal poop.

I tried to take a picture inside his mouth, but its pretty blurry.

 

[chiknGeek]

I have the chicken health handbook by Damerow. Aside from not seeing anything in the throat, canker seems to be the closest match.

I'm just so confused. None of the symptoms that would make a diagnosis obvious seem to be there.

 

[chiknGeek]

I am probably just being confusing. His most recent poop last night had been a cecal one...you know how pungent they are.

He had at least 2 other normal poops over night. Maybe he'd eaten early enough that it had moved through his crop already? I check him before and after work.

I did a general check of his body last night. He didn't seem swollen or tender anywhere.

No mucous this morning. He was breathing with his mouth open occasionally. Do you think he just has cankers further down his throat where I can't see them?

I have another flock of hens who are 2 years old. I mention this only so I can mention that I do look at them for comparison purposes. They don't have actual contact with the young ones, but the coops are within 5 feet of one another. The hospital coop is about 600 feet from the two regular coops.

I've never had a sick chicken before though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If he had canker you should be able to see it and his breath would smell really bad.

The crop was empty this morning?

 

[chiknGeek]

Yes, it was empty. He does not have bad breath.

 

[chiknGeek]

Well, today he has the yellow patches. One in each corner of his mouth. He's also got mucous again.

Poop is still normal and he's eating and drinking.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is vet care an option?

 

[chiknGeek]

No chicken vets around here. No bird vets at all. It looks like Metronidazole is the treatment of choice. I think I can get the fish meds.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No chicken vets around here. No bird vets at all. It looks like Metronidazole is the treatment of choice. I think I can get the fish meds.

What are you going to treat?
Do you see canker inside his beak?
That's what metronidazole is used for.

 

[chiknGeek]

Yes. You can now see yellow patches inside of his beak.