Help! Rooster has a throat problem!

[tjo804]

What did the vet think it was? Why antibiotics? Viral?
Is it contagious?
do you see signs in anyone else?

 

[Amelia Egghart]

The vet thought it could be something had damaged his throat, or he could have an infection. He saw what could be a slight swelling in the x ray and that's why he decided on antibiotics. He didn't test feces. No sign of illness in the rest of the flock. The Jersey was a-ok yesterday though.

 

[tjo804]

Sounds like you are doing every thing you can.
if you think he is in pain you can give him a 325mg aspirin crushed and mixed in 1gal of water.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens can gape with respiratory infections such as ILT, MG, and others, but gapeworm and a stuck foreign object in the throat can also cause gaping. Chickens with gapeworm cannot eat or drink due to the difficulty breathing. But gapeworm is fairly rare. The sneezing kind of makes it more likely to have a respiratory infection. Do you see any nasal drainage, watery eyes, rattles or wheezes? What antibiotic did the vet decide on? Let us know how is getting along, and I would probably worm him with some Safeguard liquid goat wormer 1/4 ml per pound for 3 days in a row, given orally. That would treat gapeworm.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

If he makes it to Monday, the feed store has that, I think.

No nasal discharge, eyes are clear but look pained.

Vet gave me metronidazole and a vitamin (pet tinic)

 

[tjo804]

Sometimes in our excitement to fix things we can overdoit.
I would say let him rest and heal

 

[Amelia Egghart]

I agree. I really hope he's just a big, blubbery baby and he'll heal. I'm a big, blubbery baby when any animal is in pain! I'll post his progress. Thank you, everyone, for your help. This is a learning adventure for me, for sure.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

This is horrible. He's been standing in his crate for hours now with his eyes closed, head up, just making that awful oooooo sound with every exhale. Like he's howling. Poor baby. I have no idea what could have happened.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

The volume of his moaning increased at 0100 so I turned on the lights to check on him. He ended up having a syringe of water and a tablespoon of wheat that he picked out from the mix of feed and wheat i offered him. Brat. The moaning continued the entire time (yes, with his beak full of wheat) so I picked him up and set him on my chest where he's been for almost two hours now, and he's actually, finally sleeping. I can hear a click when he breathes but I'm thinking that's normal? Like his trach and esophagus positioning?

He's a hand raised chick so sleeping on my chest is nothing new for him. He's always been a baby about being away from the others so holding him has helped.makes sense it would help now. But it's not helping me get any sleep!

 

[tjo804]

What a good chicken mama you are