Help rooster is losing weight

[noodles17]

I noticed my chickens had lice and I treated with sevin dust last week. Today will be day 10 and I'm dusting them again after work. I've noticed my roo has been vomiting recently. Its not very often. I assumed he was just drinking to much as it seemed to only be after he drank. Picked him up yesterday and he feels very thin. How should I go about getting him to put on weight??

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry your roo is having trouble.

How old is he and what do you feed? Have you seen any of his poos? How is the rest of his behavior? Any way to check for worms?

I would offer scrambled egg. And if feeding layer switch to a flock raiser with higher protein and less calcium, offering oyster shell on the side for the girls.

Also depending on age, might be growing through a little bit of molt.

 

[noodles17]

They were all born in April of this year. I feed normal layer from Agway. In July he was attacked by a fisher cat and I believe he has nerve damage to one leg. He gets on just fine now. His poops look like everyone else's and he's as fiesty as ever. I know they all have lice and I've been treating for it but its been raining all week and I feel my treatment hasnt gotten its full affect. His comb is good and red also

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It's been raining like crazy on us to. Stinks that it's interrupting your treatment

Extra protein would be my best suggestion without him showing signs of illness. And switching to flock raiser would probably help. Offering oyster shell on the side. Too much calcium as in Layer can cause long term side effects including diminishing growth and kidney issues.

So flock raiser has 20% protein and 1% calcium verses Layer which is usually 16% protein and 4% calcium. The extra protein helps build muscle and grow feathers. And the layers will be fine as long as there is oyster shell on the side. Those who aren't laying simply won't consume it, everybody wins.

The puking is odd though. Chickens don't actually have a gag reflex so they shake their head to get stuff out of their throat. I know they burp a lot though so maybe he is burping stuff up? Wonder if it's a side effect of the powder?

Also, what treats are giving?

 

[casportpony]

They were all born in April of this year. I feed normal layer from Agway. In July he was attacked by a fisher cat and I believe he has nerve damage to one leg. He gets on just fine now. His poops look like everyone else's and he's as fiesty as ever. I know they all have lice and I've been treating for it but its been raining all week and I feel my treatment hasnt gotten its full affect. His comb is good and red also

Welcome to BYC!

For lice, go buy some permethrin spray and treat the birds and their coops and that will solve that problem. As a rooster he doesn't need the excess calcium in layer feed, so you might want to get him one thing else. If you haven't de-wormed him properly, that's something else you could try.

-Kathy
'

 

[noodles17]

I normally crush egg shells for my 3 girls. Guy I know said to do that and skip the oyster shell. We live off the grid and are working to live off the land so the more natural and easy to obtain the better. I have not wormed anyone all year though. I have a large flock of wild turkey that come through sometimes. Maybe they brought something into my lawn?

In regard to the "vomit" I think you are right, eggsighted4life, about the burping but its always after he drinks and its only water that comes up. Again it doesn't happen, that I see, every day.

I do still have grower crumb from my guinea hens. I'll give them all that and some scrambled egg for my roo. They get quite a bit of garden scrap like tomatoes, squash, zucchini. My fiancé works at a little bakery and sometimes brings them home breads and bagles. I give them that sparingly though.

 

[noodles17]

Welcome to BYC!

For lice, go buy some permethrin spray and treat the birds and their coops and that will solve that problem. As a rooster he doesn't need the excess calcium in layer feed, so you might want to get him one thing else. If you haven't de-wormed him properly, that's something else you could try.

-Kathy
'

Would rainy weather bother this spray? Supposed to be rain/snow all week.

 

[casportpony]

I normally crush egg shells for my 3 girls. Guy I know said to do that and skip the oyster shell. We live off the grid and are working to live off the land so the more natural and easy to obtain the better. I have not wormed anyone all year though. I have a large flock of wild turkey that come through sometimes. Maybe they brought something into my lawn?

In regard to the "vomit" I think you are right, eggsighted4life, about the burping but its always after he drinks and its only water that comes up. Again it doesn't happen, that I see, every day.

I do still have grower crumb from my guinea hens. I'll give them all that and some scrambled egg for my roo. They get quite a bit of garden scrap like tomatoes, squash, zucchini. My fiancé works at a little bakery and sometimes brings them home breads and bagles. I give them that sparingly though.

Did you know that even "certified organic" are sometimes treated with ivermectin or fenbendazole wormers? Your rooster is losing weight and might die if you don't address the issue promptly.

Eggs are actually lower in protein than chich starter, so think about that.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC!

For lice, go buy some permethrin spray and treat the birds and their coops and that will solve that problem. As a rooster he doesn't need the excess calcium in layer feed, so you might want to get him one thing else. If you haven't de-wormed him properly, that's something else you could try.

-Kathy
'

Would rainy weather bother this spray? Supposed to be rain/snow all week.

Does it rain in your coop? If your birds have lice/mite they need to be treated ASAP.

-Kathy

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The guy you know is wrong.

I can appreciate living sustainably. And I do feed my egg shells back to the girls. But it's not enough to sustain them long term. Although layer feed does have a lot of calcium usually. Still not good for the roo. So are they free ranging? If you have snow there isn't much opportunity to get bugs and greens forage.

I think that spray is waterproof once it's dried on, but doing it while wet may decrease it's effectiveness. The one I bought to keep mosquitoes off my goats is actually called horse fly spray, same active ingredient.

You can use starter instead of raiser or layer. But I think you do need to up the protein.

Just the stress of lice could be making him skinny, but as suggested worming could be important.