HELP!!! My rooster is dying...

[MeTxLady]

Found him this morning just laying kinda sideways with head down. I got him out and he's just limp. I sat him in my lap and he has his head facing straight up. My husband felt his craw this morning and said it was empty but I feel something there. But he said it's the bone and I've never raised chickens like he did years ago so I'm not sure. I hadn't notice but hubby said he doesn't think he's been eating. I have fed a little tiny bit of grass daily but thought as a treat. Now wondering if he has impacted craw or is starving to death??? I thought he had been drinking but now not sure...we've had him isolated cause he was sick about a week and a half ago and when we put him back they attacked him. I didn't know then that you couldn't just put him back in there - and he's a bantam. I feel horrible because of my lack of knowledge and that I may have caused this. I love this little guy. I can't even get his beak open. His eyes are closed and he just shaked a few times. He feels cold so I put him in my housecoat up against me...trying to warm him. We've had him in a closed pen with light and pine straw, a towel and food and water....

 

[LipsChicks]

Can you use a syringe ( no needle) and put a little honey or karo syrup in his mouth? I would put electrolytes like Sav A Chick in his water. I feel bad for you and your little guy. I'm sure a lot of people will have suggestions for you. When our yellow lab was on deaths door, the vet told us to rub karo syrup on his gums. We did and he pulled through..

 

[Outpost JWB]

So sorry to hear of your sick rooster

I would tube him some water asap. I will try to send you the link to tube feeding that @casportpony sent another member the other day. Be careful when tube feeding that you get the right spot. There are 2 openings in their mouth and the wrong one will kill him. If the crop is impacted you will feel a huge hard ball. If it is sour crop, his crawl will feel like a water balloon. It sounds to me as if he may not have been eating. What other types of food do you feed them besides grass?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Found him this morning just laying kinda sideways with head down. I got him out and he's just limp. I sat him in my lap and he has his head facing straight up. My husband felt his craw this morning and said it was empty but I feel something there. But he said it's the bone and I've never raised chickens like he did years ago so I'm not sure. I hadn't notice but hubby said he doesn't think he's been eating. I have fed a little tiny bit of grass daily but thought as a treat. Now wondering if he has impacted craw or is starving to death??? I thought he had been drinking but now not sure...we've had him isolated cause he was sick about a week and a half ago and when we put him back they attacked him. I didn't know then that you couldn't just put him back in there - and he's a bantam. I feel horrible because of my lack of knowledge and that I may have caused this. I love this little guy. I can't even get his beak open. His eyes are closed and he just shaked a few times. He feels cold so I put him in my housecoat up against me...trying to warm him. We've had him in a closed pen with light and pine straw, a towel and food and water....

Welcome to BYC - I am so sorry you have come to us under this circumstance.

A little more information may help us - how old is this bird? You mentioned he had been sick previously - what were his symptoms at that time, what treatment did you give and how did you establish that his health had fully recovered? Being in isolation makes it easier to monitor feed and water intake - were you seeing the food and water levels change during the time he was isolated? This will help you know that he was or wasn't eating or drinking. An empty crop in the morning is not in itself alarming as that would be expected in a healthy bird (they fill up before roosting for the night and digest through the night) - but the rest of what you are seeing in him clearly is not.
At this point all you can do is offer good supportive care (warmth, hydration, quiet) while you sort out what is going on - or, if you truly feel he has passed the point of brining him back, offer a humane passing.

 

[MeTxLady]

I have a syringe that I put some Gatorade in and dropped on his beak, I didn't force it in his mouth but think he may have suck it in wrong when breathing cause now sometimes when he breathes he makes a congested (like we sound with mucus in our noses) sound. OH MY GOODNESS - I'm a terrible mom. In tears here. should I try to rub karo on his mouth but make sure it's just rubbed on and not able to be inhaled?

 

[Outpost JWB]

Website for proper tubing: http://www.lafebervet.com/avian-medicine-2/avian-nutrition/tube-feeding/

Don't beat yourself up about it. Chickens are a huge learning tool for all of us. Sometimes lessons are hard though. So sorry you are going through this.

 

[MeTxLady]

Not sure of his age. We got them from my father-in-law - someone had given them to him with their house and so we took them. We had planned to get chickens. After a couple days, he was standing by himself away from the other birds. He wasn't moving much - just not acting right but not like this. We put him in isolation in a house with a light (been cold here), food (maybe chicken scratch...it has seeds and broken corn) and he was ok after about a week so put him back in pen then he got attacked and I didn't know it....when I found him several hours later he was laying in the pen and I thought he was dead but he wasn't. Didn't have bad injuries....just some feathers pulled out on back of his neck that I didn't even notice at first and a few minor pecks to his comb which I cleaned and doctored and was fine. I brought him in house and tried to comfort him but figured I may have been stressing him out...so I put him in his isolated house again and he perked back up in about an hour...that was about a week ago and he has been doing fine even crowing...but I noticed yesterday his food level didn't look like it was going down. However, his water did go down (unless he somehow spilled it without me being able to tell) but I refilled water yesterday and I don't think he's drank any of it since then or eating the scratch. I have given him grass every day but not a whole lot....just a little and he ate it and ate the little I gave him yesterday. I thought hubby had been feeding every day but he said the roo hasn't eating in a couple days that he could tell.

 

[MeTxLady]

Ok, I've watched the video of tube feeding...I don't have the long thing to stick down his throat..I just have an eye dropper. I smelled his beak - possibly smelled a little sour
He has his beak pointing straight up...and what if I treat for an impacted craw if it's not impacted? Will that hurt him? I'm at a loss and scared to do anything - especially put a dropper down his throat but I don't want to lose him so will do whatever I have to. Can someone here tell me what to mix up for impacted craw?

 

[axle]

Before placing anything else in his beak you need to watch his breathing. If he's having difficulty breathing, or is breathing rapidly, then he will most likely aspirate any liquids you place in his beak. Without any type of IV hydration or antibiotics the most you can do is try the karo or some type of syrup and just place a small dab on his tongue, then keep him warm and comfortable.....or as mentioned above, offer a humane passing.
I doubt he has an impacted crop since you would be able to feel the mass.

 

[chris jackson]

To me it sounds like the rooster has got the scratch grain into the crawl and has not had nothing like small grit to go along with the food. I had one do the same thing that you are talking
about but keep giving him Vitamins & Electrolytes Plus. Also the vet had us give our rooster shots every other day and also in his water we had to put Duramycin-10 put in the water. After a day of giving him the shot you should start seeing some improvement. When the rooster gets just corn and scratch grain the grain can start to grow into there crawl. Maybe this will help you