Help! Sick Rooster, not crowing, comb fading, runny poop, barely eating or drinking

[elcgoodman]

Hello! Sorry to join bearing bad news, but I'm in a panic about my rooster who seems to be on death's door

He is an 8-month old Araucana and such a sweetie, I'll be sad to lose him.

He hasn't crowed for the last week and his comb has been losing color. We thought maybe this was due to colder weather and lots of the hens are molting so we thought he might be preparing for the same, but his feathers are looking beautiful as ever (except his tail feathers are a little floppier). I realize now that we may have waited way too long to treat him. Today we brought him in and put him in a wire cage near the woodstove so he could recuperate in a warm and quiet space. He is still able to walk and trot, but he's much slower that usual. Still, he was difficult to catch to bring in.

Since he's been in I've noticed these symptoms:
-He is very thin, I can feel his breastbone jutting out
-His crop seems very hard and full
-His comb is faded to a dusty pink, even a little purple tipped. Reddening up slightly after being indoors for 6 hours.
-His poop is runny and green/ mucusy looking
-While I was holding him he opened his mouth upon inhalation, in his cage his breathing seems normal
-He is able to make a rare chicken-y noise, doesn't sound gurgly or anything, just little coos
-He is still not sitting down after being inside all morning/ afternoon, seems to prefer standing.
-He's barely drinking anything (I made an electrolyte drink of: water, sugar, baking soda, and salt). He ate some grains we sprinkled in and a whole scrambled egg. I just made him another egg for lunch but he's not touching it.

If anyone has any thoughts about anything I can do for him or what his diagnosis might be that would be much appreciated. I'm not going to rack up a large vet bill but I'm all about home remedies and taking the time to help him to recovery.

Look forward to 'talking' again on a not so grave topic!

Thanks and Peace

 

[ytqm]

I am in the same boat, exactly same symptoms. Hopefully someone will come to our rescue. I am going to try calling the local 4H tomorrow.

 

[Eggcessive]

He should be immune to coccidiosis by now, at least the strain on your property, but if you have any new birds from elsewhere he could have been exposed to a new strain. Lethargy, puffing up, poor appetite, ruffled feathers, and diarrhea are the signs. Corid/amprollium is the treatment for 5 days. From your description, he could have impacted crop. I would give him water to drink with a little yogurt or probiotics, then check his crop early morning to see if it has emptied. For impacted crop give him a tespoonful of vegetable oil, and then massage his crop in a downward motion several times daily. Here is more info: http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

 

[elcgoodman]

Thank you Eggcessive! Yes, I've deduced impacted crop as well and have found a lot of valuable information out there in the vast expanse of internet. I massaged it and tried to use the dripping oil/ electrolyte water on the beak technique (though he hardly consumed any) to get it loosened up. It's getting late now and he's sleepy so I'm giving him a rest. Tomorrow we'll see if his crop is still full and if his open beak is smelly (indicating sour crop) and proceed once we've discovered that...
Adventures in chickenland, what fun.

ytqm: I wish you luck!!

 

[elcgoodman]

The latest news:

This morning his crop was (not surprisingly) still full feeling after no food all night. Today he ate some scrambled eggs & yogurt as well as some lentils & oatmeal drizzled in olive oil. He's still hardly drinking, so my sister and I were able to give him a couple small syringes worth of electrolyte water. Now he seems to hate the syringe and won't let us give him much coconut oil. During this oil-feeding my husband was massaging his crop, which up until now has only felt squishy but very gritty, "like a hacky sack" my sister said. But this time my husband located a very large hard object. Probably about 2 inches long and maybe an inch in diameter; we can't tell what it is. Maybe a large bolt? Or a rock or bone? It does not seem like something that will be able to pass through his system, is it possible to help him throw it up? We were thinking of lubing up his system by feeding him oil, and massaging it up and out. Sounds terrible, but it seems like it could be the cause of his impacted crop. I can't tell what all the gritty feeling stuff is. A friend of mine who has raised birds for decades stopped by today and said it felt like grain in his crop and that he needs some grit. I bought some laying hen grit and sprinkled some on the floor and in his food but he's hardly touched it.

Any thoughts on our expelling plan are much appreciated! I really don't want to take him in for surgery...

 

[casportpony]

Fluids are key... if he were mine I would tube lots of fluids to him, that should help his crop clear. FYI, a sick bird needs 30ml/kg of fluids every 6-8 hours, that's 30ml per 2.2 pounds.

Two great threads on how to tube feed:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-visuals-very-detailed-post#post_11652991

Crop feeding videos

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.

This one uses a tube like I use

​

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I'm available by phone if needed.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

The latest news:

This morning his crop was (not surprisingly) still full feeling after no food all night. Today he ate some scrambled eggs & yogurt as well as some lentils & oatmeal drizzled in olive oil. He's still hardly drinking, so my sister and I were able to give him a couple small syringes worth of electrolyte water. Now he seems to hate the syringe and won't let us give him much coconut oil. During this oil-feeding my husband was massaging his crop, which up until now has only felt squishy but very gritty, "like a hacky sack" my sister said. But this time my husband located a very large hard object. Probably about 2 inches long and maybe an inch in diameter; we can't tell what it is. Maybe a large bolt? Or a rock or bone? It does not seem like something that will be able to pass through his system, is it possible to help him throw it up? We were thinking of lubing up his system by feeding him oil, and massaging it up and out. Sounds terrible, but it seems like it could be the cause of his impacted crop. I can't tell what all the gritty feeling stuff is. A friend of mine who has raised birds for decades stopped by today and said it felt like grain in his crop and that he needs some grit. I bought some laying hen grit and sprinkled some on the floor and in his food but he's hardly touched it.

Any thoughts on our expelling plan are much appreciated! I really don't want to take him in for surgery...

It is possible to do this, and that's what I would try, massage it up and out, but without the oil because accidental aspiration oil of could cause lipoid pneumonia.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Update?

-Kathy