Help! Rooster - Thick mucus in mouth, twisted neck, dropped wings

[ivyyoon]

1) What type of bird , age and weight: 7mth old 4lb rooster

2) What is the behavior, exactly: Presently he has thick mucus in mouth, twisted neck, dropped wings, eyes closing, drunken walk

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms:

Sneezing and coughing started around 12/15/10.
Took him to avian vet in nyc, was given baytril, flagyl, and calcium supplement after bloodwork.
Got better. Stopped meds.
Then sneezing coughing started up again in a week.
Gave rest of meds and then ran out.
Order of Tylan 50 injectable came and gave orally .35ml for 3 days, then he started having twisted neck.
Stopped Tylan and treated for "wry neck" with polyvisol, vitamin e oil, electrolytes.
It has been 1 week with the above wry neck treatment with no improvement, although he still trys to eat vigorously.


4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms: His two hens are not showing symptoms although they are eating less, not laying, and seem depressed...He has been isolated for about 2 weeks.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma: No, however he was severly attacked during Thanksgiving possibly by a turkey he was housed with (turkey got mad during TG?! : ) He fully recovered although this could be when he caught something from other birds...

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: Possible contamination from other flock as described above.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: Raw beef (b/f idea to cut it to look like worms), sweetcorn, bread, pasta, tuna.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny?: Runny light yellow beige, sometimes greenish,

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?: Described above on #3

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?

Will try anything, but there is almost too much info on the internet. I want to figure out what those symptoms combined is pointing towards. Is it coryza, EE, mareks, pastuerella??? Does he need more baytril? Continue Tylan50? Sulmet? Terramycine? Continue vitamins? They are my first chickens. Please help me. He looks like he's barely hanging on (until he sees the raw beef) dont want him to suffer but also want to try our best to save him. He is our adored pet.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help: Will post when I figure out how.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use:

Outdoor coop in yard is a large 5ftx10ft dog run with roof and insulated. Hay, dirt, stone on floor. Usually out in the yard free-ranging. Cleaned daily.
We bring the 3 of them indoors at night due to neighbor complaint of rooster (he hasnt crowed in a while since he got sick)
Indoors we use XL dog kennels with newspaper, perches, hay. New newspaper over poop so they dont walk on it.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Ivyyoon - I wish I knew the answer for you, but I do not. (no help I know)

Sneezing/coughing - I am just guessing - but sounds like MG or coryza.



I am sorry.


ETA: What did the vet say?

 

[4-H chicken mom]

It sounds like Newcastle Disease:

Symptoms: Wheezing, breathing difficulty, nasal discharge, cloudy eyes, laying stops, paralysis of legs, wings, twisted heads, necks

How contracted: Viral disease; highly contagious; contracted through infected chickens and wild birds and is also carried on shoes, clothes, and surfaces.

Treatment: None. Birds under 6 months usually die; older birds can recover. Recovered birds are not carriers.

Vaccine available: Yes, but the U.S. is working to eradicate the disease.

Good luck.

 

[ivyyoon]

His symptoms seems like newcastle, but I thought it wasn't in the US? If so, would antibiotics help and which one? Thank you so much for your replies.
Also the vet did a swab but lab results couldnt find anything. Only his bloodwork indicated low calcium levels...

 

[4-H chicken mom]

There has been Newcastle disease in Florida, Minnesota and I think it was Louisiana, so it is out there. I believe there are two kinds of Newcastle. You might want to contact the vet you took him too and tell the doc the roo started to get better, but had a relaspe. Maybe another dose of the antibotics will do the trick. Since he was just at the vet a couple months back, is it possible he ate something that is what made him sick?

 

[cobrien]

No idea but I noticed in #3 that you stopped meds once he looked better - with antibiotics it is important to give the full prescription until it runs out, otherwise you can create resistant bacteria. So if you give antibiotics again make sure to give the full course. good luck.

 

[ivyyoon]

I should have finished the meds, you're right.
I usually steer clear of meds/chemicals and probably compromised his health : (

Well, I just ordered Baytril 10% liquid online b/c I don't think i can afford to go back to that posh vet.
I hope it will work just as well as the mixture (brown, thick) they made for us.
Cost me over $500 that day and I dont think they'll give me more meds w/out examination first...

Could he have had a reaction to the Tylan50 b/c I didn't inject it and gave it orally?
Also, the polyvisol and liquid calcium seem so syrupy. Could it be causing the mucus?
I'm worried that he is already dehydrated from twisted neck cant drink for himself and that I'm dropping syrupy vitamins into him.

I'm just trying to sort things out and hoping its not a fatal disease...
Thank you for your time and replies.


This was when he was a healthy roo...

 

[ivyyoon]

He is not sitting up, lying down stretched out with head on the ground.
His eyelids look swollen and bluish.
He is still breathing, no mucus anymore, and has yellow green diarrhea.
Any advice?

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

I hate to sound fatalistic, but whenever I have had chickens expressing those symptoms, they have passed away. I have only been raising chickens for a year and a half, but I have taken many rescues and am studying veterinary medicine. I don't know too much more about chickens than what I have learned from directly interacting with my chickens, but I have seen this quite a lot, especially with the sick chickens I have taken on. I have even had the twisty-necked ones that will eat, but they still pass within a day or three. One took about a week.

I certainly hope someone on here is able to help you and has more experience than I do! However, if no one gets to you, just make sure you sit with him and love him. I have only had three chickens pass away when I wasn't with them - they seem to find it more comfortable when their person is near, especially if their person spends as much time with them as it sounds like you do. I had one chicken who passed recently who has been very sick for a long time, and I was never able to figure out what was wrong - and even when taking him to vets, the vets would say "He looks normal, maybe it's just his personality." He would get sick whenever I wasn't spending one-on-one time with him. He never had a twisty neck, though, so I don't know what to say other than to make sure you spend time with your boy and make sure he knows he's loved.

If he begins gaping, as if gasping for air, that is called "post-mortem breathing". There is nothing that can be done at that point but to keep him comfortable. Most of the animals I have been with while dying have only done that "breathing" for about thirty seconds - but I had one hold out for about an hour. They will go entirely limp when they're gone - but they are not gone before this point, so keep talking. I usually wrap mine in a towel, because their bodies will begin to have difficulty maintaining temperature, then I lie on my back and place them on my chest, and hold them, pet them, and talk to them until they're gone. Then I weep for them - every single one. Just know that you loved him, and he certainly knew that.

 

[Miss Lydia]