EMERGENCY: My rooster won't eat or drink. I have to give him water either with a syringe or small cup for over 7 days now!

[vlc1618]

Just want to mention first that I live on the gulf coast in south MS and I'm new to raising chickens.
My rooster David is about 8 months old and absolutely beautiful! He was fine last Tuesday 3/17/20 and on Wednesday my husband noticed that he wasn't out when he left for work around 7am. When he got home around 4pm he was still in the coop. Not sure if he came out or not during the day. He came out when he fed him but he didn't really eat much he stood where he could see the hens for a while then when he crowed he sounded like he was gurgling water. He then went back to the coop and laid down. We closed the coop and watched him over night.

Thursday: He looked a little worse than the day before. His head started to droop down to the left a little and his crow still had the gurgling sound but it was much shorter this time and by this point he wasn't eating at all. I called my vet and she was in surgery so I called Tractor Supply and the guy there raises chickens himself, he said it sounded like a respiratory infection and I need to separate him from the rest of the chickens. He recommended that we give him some apple cider vinegar and it should help or I could call a vet and get some antibiotics if the expense was worth it to me and said unfortunately a lot of people don't take that expense. We put him in a kennel and got in touch with a vet locally (not my usual vet) that had Baytril injections. We were able to give him the first injection that evening as well as the apple cider vinegar.

Friday: He still attempted to crow very short with a little gurgling that I noticed but his head was hanging a lot more and kinda moving from side to side very slowly, still not eating and now not drinking on his own so we started giving him water with a syringe I added vitamins and electrolytes to the water.

Saturday: In the morning he looked the same and his crow didn't seem to have the gurgling. That evening we skipped the injection because I found this website and started to think that maybe he had coccidiosis and that we should give corid. I wasn't sure if I should continue with the antibiotics so we skipped it and gave him some corid no water added (don't remember the dosage, my husband has it written down, it was a small amount) then gave him water along with the vitamins and electrolytes. We tried giving him water out of a cup close to his face and he drank it so we stopped using the syringe. He looked at me and made some grunting/crow type sounds like he was talking to me. I tried giving him some food I liquified in a cup but he wouldn't really take it.

Sunday: I noticed that he didn't crow at all and wasn't being vocal at all. His head is hanging down all the time now and to the left, he has lost so much weight because he's not eating and now he won't drink much water like he was. I am offering it more often now and he takes smaller sips instead.

Monday: Today, he is the same. I was able to get about 0.4 ml of liquid food in a syringe down this morning.

FYI: Oh, his droppings were yellow and watery in the beginning but I haven't been able to see what it looks like now. I only see smearing on the side of the box which looks like it is greenish now.

I'm so sad for him and I hate to see him suffer but I also don't want to give up if there is hope. He's seems to still be hanging on he moves around and stands from time to time but his eyes are shut more often now. I just don't know what else to do or if I'm missing something. I'm sorry this is so long, I just wanted to explain as much of the situation day by day to eliminate any questions anyone may have. If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

How does his crop feel—empty and flat, full, puffy, hard, or doughy? Sometimes crop disorders can cause gurgling if food comes back up in the throat. Do you see any watery or bubbly eye, sneeze or cough, wheeze or other signs of a respiratory disease? Did you get him from a hatchery, feed store, or a breeder? Do you have some Poultry NutriDrench or electrolytes with vitamins that you can give him orally? If he has some unknown disease other than a crop disorder or respiratory disease, there may not be much you can do for him, but I would continue the Baytril since you have it. What strength is it—10% and what is the dosage? You can give Baytril orally as well as by injection, and that might be easier. Was he vaccinated for Mareks disease?

Tube feeding could be something you could try to get him over the rough patch. Hydrating him with fluids should be done first, before food is given. Your vet could sell you a feeding tube and syringe, or you can make one out of aquarium air tubing or oxygen tubing. Here is a thread how to learn tube feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/go-team-tube-feeding-updated-12-29-2019.805728/

 

[vlc1618]

Thank you so much for responding!!
1. His crop feels puffy.
2. No watery or bubbly eye, sneeze, cough or wheeze. The only sign I had was the gurgling when he crowed but he isn't crowing now so I'm not sure. He had some bubbles from his beak as I was giving him water in a cup, so I stopped to give him a break. That was about 45 mins ago.
3. I got him from Tractor Supply in July 2019. (4 chicks at the same time, so far the other 3 are okay)
4. I have “Rooster Booster & Hydro Hen”
5. I have Baytril injections (4 left of 7) but my husband said he just doesn’t think he has enough “meaty” area to give it. I found and ordered Baytril 10% it’s an Oral Solution online from “All Bird Products” and I just got it Saturday but I haven’t tried it yet. I’m not sure how much to give him. Do you happen to know?
6. No he wasn’t vaccinated. I didn’t know I needed to until now. I asked when I got them if I needed to do anything specific, they said no.

thanks again for responding!

 

[Eggcessive]

Some people order their chicks vaccinated for Mareks, while others do not want vaccinated chicks. Most feed store chicks come without vaccines. I asked about that because Mareks can cause poor immunity and many other issues in young chickens.

If you use the 10% baytril liquid, dosage is 0.05 ml per pound given orally twice a day for 5 days. That would be 0.25 ml or 1/4 ml for a 5 pound chicken, 0.35 ml for a 7 pound chicken, and so on. Getting a free 1 ml syringe for giving babies oral medicines at your local pharmacy or Walmart is easy by asking a clerk.

Since his crop if puffy, that could be a crop disorder or slow crop. Smell his beak for a bad or sour odor. Sour crop can be from a fungal infection or long term impacted crop. Sour crop cannbe treated with antifungal powder Medistatin (nystatin) or some otc creams such as monistat/miconazole or clotrimazole/lotrimin given orally twice a day. Here is a good article about crop disorders:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[vlc1618]

I’m sorry! I was talking about his comb. His crop feels empty and flat.

 

[pinknblackchaos]

I hope he gets better. He looks a lot like my pretty boy. It sounds like you are taking great care of him.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well, that is good that he doesn’t have sour crop. Here is a good link about giving oral medication to birds:
https://unitedpeafowlassociation.org/articles/oral-medication-dosing-of-peafowl/
Here is some more tube feeding info:

In the picture is where to put the tube—in the chickens right throat to avoid the airway at the base of the tongue:

 

[vlc1618]

Well, that is good that he doesn’t have sour crop. Here is a good link about giving oral medication to birds:
https://unitedpeafowlassociation.org/articles/oral-medication-dosing-of-peafowl/
Here is some more tube feeding info:

In the picture is where to put the tube—in the chickens right throat to avoid the airway at the base of the tongue:

Thank you so much for your help. Apparently I don't know how to use this site either. I think I started more threads instead of replying directly to your message. Ugh... I’m sorry about that. I’m kinda stressed at the moment.
Well FINGERS CROSSED!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you so much for your help. Apparently I don't know how to use this site either. I think I started more threads instead of replying directly to your message. Ugh... I’m sorry about that. I’m kinda stressed at the moment.
Well FINGERS CROSSED!!

No you have only the one thread with 9 posts so far. If you can get him relax and sip from a small bowl or cup held up to his beak, that would be good. My sick chickens will usually eat some very water chicken feed and scrambled egg from a cereal bowl.

 

[vlc1618]

I really appreciate all your advice. I was able to give him the Baytril orally. He was NOT happy and I swear I thought he was going to die at one point! He looked like he turned purple for a minute. I was so upset then his color came back and he calmed down took a few minutes but felt like forever! I think he was just upset that I was trying to get his beak open and he panicked... so then I panicked and then he almost fell out of my arms. Crazy part is I had him in my arms and I was sitting next to the kennel with my arms resting on the top. I guess when I wrapped him up with the towel I didn’t have a good hold on his feet.

We waited about an hour before we gave him the vitamins and electrolytes in a cup he drank a little but seemed pretty worn out still from earlier. I did notice some feces stuck on his backside in his feathers but he turned away from me when I tried to get a better look so I didn’t want to get him worked up again. I figured I’d wait until the morning. Hopefully he makes it through the night.

Holy cow! Talk about do me in! Today was ROUGH. I can’t thank you enough for your help. I’ve been so upset about this whole thing.