Dominque Rooster very lethargic

[WasatchChicks]

He's been sick for a few days now. He hangs his head toward the ground, his tail is nearly dragging on the ground and his feathers are always ruffled. Moves very slowly and hangs around the coop while his hens range all over. His comb seems darker than normal, I haven't noticed any diarrhea or discharge from his nostrils. He seems to have lost his appetite, but he will eat out of my hand (normally he would not let me that close).

One potential cause is that my wife used weed killer in the area, but you would think that other chickens would be effected as well. I have a relatively new set up (last October), and the chickens free range over a four-acre area. Anyone have any ideas? This if the first time in 25 years that I have owned chickens, I use to raise them as a teenager and I've never had any diseases in my flocks.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=436699&p=1
Here is a similar thread- in it the questions are raised to check for mites/lice and to check the diet of the roo.

Also you can send a fecal to a vet to check for worms if needed.

How old is your roo? Is he receiving a poultry ration? Has your flock been wormed or checked for mites/lice?

Sorry I have no advice to give. I hope others can help.

(His comb being darker might mean low oxygenation in my opinion- he could be anemic from mites or worms, or he could have another problem.)

 

[WasatchChicks]

Quote:
He's just under a year old and fed Purina Layena crumbles with the hens, along with tons of grass, bugs, etc. I have never wormed the chickens or checked them for mites/lice etc. I have had these birds since they were three months old and they have not had contact with any other chickens. I'm trying to figure out where they would have picked up anything. They have had access to a horse and cow pasture since I have had them, could they have picked up worms from a horse or a cow?

I'm thinking he could have been poisoned by the weed killer? He has been like this for about five days now and its been about 10 days since the weed killer was sprayed on a few locations around the property.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
He's just under a year old and fed Purina Layena crumbles with the hens, along with tons of grass, bugs, etc. I have never wormed the chickens or checked them for mites/lice etc. I have had these birds since they were three months old and they have not had contact with any other chickens. I'm trying to figure out where they would have picked up anything. They have had access to a horse and cow pasture since I have had them, could they have picked up worms from a horse or a cow?

I'm thinking he could have been poisoned by the weed killer? He has been like this for about five days now and its been about 10 days since the weed killer was sprayed on a few locations around the property.

It is possible he was poisoned- unfortunately I wouldn't know the signs of that.

They get worms from the soil. They don't need to contact other farm animals for that. Mites and lice come in on the songbirds.

Hopefully others will chime in with advice.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

How is your rooster now?