I have a young rooster, almost two years old. A week ago I noticed him sneezing several times, as well as a few other members of our flock. I attributed it to possibly dust inhalation, as we'd been doing some work in the barn that kicked up some dust. The flock has stopped sneezing, but yesterday this rooster (BlackJack) was very lame, and lethargic, and when I caught him I noticed he has a slight rale. It is not very severe. I hospitalized him and started him on baby aspirin twice a day, and high potency poultry vitamin, and a heat light. He did seem to improve, ate pretty well, is mostly just interested in escape. Can stand ok and walk a little. When I caught him, his tail was all the way down to the ground, but now he has raised it a bit. I can't tell for sure, but it seems like there is heat in his legs. He does not favor one over the other, he seems to limp on both, alternately. They are touchy, but again, this might just be because he's not particularly tame and dislikes being handled. I haven't noticed any significant swelling. He also seems somewhat underweight, but this may be because he has not been able to eat well due to his becoming ill and lame over the past few days. We've had problems with what is probably Marek's in the past year. So I'm totally undecided about what this is. The flock is on Denagard for one week every other month, as a preventative, and they just finished the last dose November 2. The only reason i thought it might be MS is because of the rale in his breathing. So, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Marek's? MS? Sprain? Something else? Should I try treating him with Oxytet, and at what dosage?
