Gurgling cemani roo

[fer9us]

Hi BYC peeps,
I have what appears to be a fluey juvenile (4m) cemani rooster raised from chick age.
He's been isolated now from rest of flock - found him to be v underweight on Friday while dusting the flock for mites.
He has very distinct rattle/gurgle now - get the impression he's on the way out. Head is slightly tilted.
We gave him some water soluble vitamins today but he's gone off the corn that we give the flock usually.
Still seems to like bread and rice.
Any ideas? Would be sad to lose him. Of the 2 dozen or more cemani chicks Id bought earlier this year I think I'm down to about 4 or five now, though one has laid and hatched five chicks so not all bad.
They do seem a fairly weak breed compared to the rest of flock - a mix of ayam kampung, 'Bangkok' chickens, Arabs and mixed breeds.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

HI @fer9us Does he have any discharge from the nostrils (mucous), sneezing, etc. that would indicate respiratory disease?

Is his crop emptying overnight?
Did the other ones you lost have similar symptoms?

You could try treating with antibiotics to see if there is any improvement. What kind do you have available?

In the meantime - do the best you can to see that he is drinking and eating well. He may benefit from some extra protein like eggs, fish, meat. If you have poultry vitamins, add those to his water. Watch to see that his crop is emptying completely overnight - sometimes a boggy or slow crop can cause some gurgling if liquids are being aspirated.

Keep us posted.

 

[fer9us]

@Wyorp Rock, thanks for this - we've varied up his diet and he seems to be eating now, but tilting his head to one side a bit, which is slightly weird. Pretty sure he has a bit of discharge/mucous.
Don't have antibiotics on hand - local remedy has been to give powdered psuedoephidrine, which has had some success tho sometimes not too.
One of our hens had something like this about 6 months ago - tilting head etc - and a bunch of the flock died - but she survived, as well as her dynasty. Took her some time to recover though - was very slow for quite some time, but now she's fine and has produced several healthy hens that look almost identical to her...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Tilting the head could be Wry Neck which is a neurological symptom of vitamin/nutritional deficiency, head injury/trauma and certain diseases like Marek's and Newcastles.

Sometimes these symptoms will respond to vitamin therapy - specifically Vitamin E along with Vitamin B1 and the mineral Selenium. You can offer 400UI daily of Vitamin E and crush 1/2 tablet of human B-Complex vitamins and add it to his feed. Selenium helps with the uptake of E and is found in eggs, tuna and nuts.

It's good that he is eating, watch to see that he is drinking well. I find it interesting about the psuedoephidrine, if it seems to help and this is commonly used, then I would be inclined to continue to see if it helps along with the added vitamins.

I hope he recovers for you - keep us posted.

 

[newchickiemom48]

I had a chicken with sneeze and gurgling. I got her all better by using Nutri-Drench 1 ml oral syringe daily and Vet rx under the wings. I can't say enough good about Nutri-Drench. Many chickens have bounced back with this vitamin.

 

[fer9us]

Alas looks like we were too late with treatments - looks very bad this morning. Not expecting him to last much longer.
Lying down in cage

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Alas looks like we were too late with treatments - looks very bad this morning. Not expecting him to last much longer.
Lying down in cage

I'm sorry to hear he is not doing well.

 

[fer9us]

Bit of a disaster this morning.
6 dead hens in the coop.

Don't know if this related to sick rooster but am guessing so.
May also have been second dusting of Sevin in a week.




Those were after two deaths day before.

Think this is not over yet.
Many looking subdued today.

As for Mr Black, he seems to have been eating but there's something affecting his nervous system.
Went to refill his water this morning and his head curled around almost 360 degrees and now he's contorted on the ground.
Hoping he'll get back up on his feet.

Remember last time I saw something like this the first bird affected ended up pulling through.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

The head curling does sound neurological like Wry Neck, which is a symptom of vitamin/nutritional deficiency, head trauma/injury and certain diseases like Marek's, Newcastles and others. Unfortunately - since you are having troubles with more than one bird, I fear you're dealing with a contagious disease.
Separate the sick from the healthy if you can. Treat this like a contagious disease that can be transmitted through shared housing/contact, water and food bowls, dust, dander, poop and feathers - so if possible clean out the housing, remove excess droppings and wash/sanitize the food/water bowls.

I wish I had better answers for you - I can't imagine how heartbreaking this must be. Thank you for the update, please keep us posted.

 

[fer9us]

I'm sorry for your loss.

The head curling does sound neurological like Wry Neck, which is a symptom of vitamin/nutritional deficiency, head trauma/injury and certain diseases like Marek's, Newcastles and others. Unfortunately - since you are having troubles with more than one bird, I fear you're dealing with a contagious disease.
Separate the sick from the healthy if you can. Treat this like a contagious disease that can be transmitted through shared housing/contact, water and food bowls, dust, dander, poop and feathers - so if possible clean out the housing, remove excess droppings and wash/sanitize the food/water bowls.

I wish I had better answers for you - I can't imagine how heartbreaking this must be. Thank you for the update, please keep us posted.

Thanks for the advice.

Nine dead all up today.

Yeah really sad. I spoke to local poultry supply store and they recommended a vaccine that I hadn't realised was available - for Newcastle disease. Needs to be refrigerated apparently - then one drop per bird every three months.

Will treat remaining birds tomorrow - hope it's not too late.