Gasping, Lethargic Rooster

[member 593900]

I have a roughly 10 month old Easter egger rooster who’s exhibiting strange symptoms. I let my flock out of the run for the first time in a few days, and one of my roosters only got about 20ft before I found him laying down. I took him to drink from the hose, which seemed to help some, but he remains lethargic and doesn’t flap his wings or catch himself when I let him go from my arms. He’s now standing, a bit fluffed up and with his tailfeathers limp, and slowly opening and closing his mouth, almost like a yawn. He also seems to smell a bit, but I’m not sure if that’s related.

Physical examination was unremarkable. Some odd, almost bruise-like coloring on a small part of his tongue, and a few scrapes on his feet, but nothing else out of the ordinary. There have been no recent changes in the environment or the flock, and no one has been outside the run for 4 days.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos of tongue?

Check to make sure his crop is emptying overnight.
You mention an odor - you may want to investigate where that's coming from - beak, vent, somewhere on the body - maybe an injury hidden under feathers.

His crop look prominent in the photos. Any chance he ate something moldy? Feed can mold quickly (overnight in some cases).

 

[member 593900]

Photos of tongue?

Check to make sure his crop is emptying overnight.
You mention an odor - you may want to investigate where that's coming from - beak, vent, somewhere on the body - maybe an injury hidden under feathers.

His crop look prominent in the photos. Any chance he ate something moldy? Feed can mold quickly (overnight in some cases).

I’ll grab a photo of his tongue in the morning.

His crop is completely empty as of this evening - I’ll spare you the details, but he was deteriorating fast and a lot of things came up (literally) when I had to clear his airway. I now suspect this is at least partially due to gapeworm.

Eating mold is also a definite possibility - unlikely from their feed, but sometimes when my flock free ranges, they go into our orchard and munch on the windfall.

 

[dawg53]

Mold can take a bird down quickly.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’ll grab a photo of his tongue in the morning.

His crop is completely empty as of this evening - I’ll spare you the details, but he was deteriorating fast and a lot of things came up (literally) when I had to clear his airway. I now suspect this is at least partially due to gapeworm.

Eating mold is also a definite possibility - unlikely from their feed, but sometimes when my flock free ranges, they go into our orchard and munch on the windfall.

If he had a lot a material come out of the crop, then he may be suffering from an impacted crop or sour crop.
It may not be a bad idea to work on hydrating him and begin treat as if the crop is sour.

Crop issues can take a bird down pretty quickly, so can eating something moldy.

Still interested as to what you see on the tongue.

I would give a lot of fluids.

 

[member 593900]

An update: this rooster died within 48 hours of the first symptoms. I sent him off to my local extension office for a necropsy, but they’re backed up and I still don’t have a final report with the lab results that might give me answers.

An hour ago, I found a second rooster with the exact same symptoms. I quarantined him immediately but with no answers from my first go at this, I’m very worried he’s going to die, too. I have no idea what this is or how to stop it from spreading to the rest of my flock, but I’ll keep posting updates here in hopes that it’ll help someone else.

 

[member 593900]

A second update: the necropsy came back positive for infectious bronchitis.

I lost another rooster this evening. I just quarantined a hen who’s mouth-breathing. My vet suspects it’s been incubating in the flock for a few months, which explains why I’ve no eggs since June. Some of my hen’s ovaries could be permanently damaged. There’s no cure, only supportive treatment, and vaccines are ineffective against active infection even if you manage to vaccinate against the correct strain.

It’s horrible to watch your flock go through this and know there’s not much to do but hope. I really encourage everyone to find out what infectious bronchitis serotypes are active in their area and vaccinate their chicks appropriately, because this was very likely avoidable. I hope this proves useful for someone in the future.