Help! sick rooster

[MelissaRose]

Hello
I have a three year old silkie rooster who I thought had worms so I treated with safeguard... don't think that's whats wrong. I posted a different thread about the dosage but I need more help with him so I'm posting this.
I gave him the five doses but something else seems to be wrong. He appeared to be getting better after I started treating him, he gained a little weight and was a bit more active but now I think hes worse then when I started. Also his crop was not empty this morning, its very full and hard but he was hungry and he ate and drank. He was with about twenty other chickens so there's always a big crowd around the food and scratch in the morning since hes sick I dont think he got much I grabbed him less then a minute after he went out to eat so he could not have eaten enough to make his crop hard. I have him by himself now and he ate and drank and then I came to write this. I have not seen him poop but hes been with the others so its hard to tell. I will be able to see now that hes by himself though. he does have poop on some of his butt feathers it looks white and green. He also seems dizzy sometimes when he walks he will stumble or lean sideways a little. He doesn't do that all the time just most of the time.
I dont know what I should do...I really dont want to loose him he was my first silkie and hes very nice. What should I do?
Please help!
Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not give them scratch grains for a meal. Those do not have enough protein or nutrition for your chickens, and only should be given as a treat occasionally in small amounts or not at all. Yes, they love it, but it is like eating dessert.

He should not be eating whole grains anyway with his crop problem. Mushy feed with a lot of water, scrambled egg, a tsp of plain yogurt would be all I fed him. Do you have granite grit available to help them digest grains and grass an other foods?

He could be wobbly from his crop problem or dehydration, but it could be something more serious like Mareks, but hopefully not. I would try feeding him a couple of drops of Poultry NutriDrench daily for vitamins and electrolytes for the next 5 days. Note any symptoms such as weakness in a leg or neck problems. I would separate him to eat and drink just to see that he is getting enough, and make sure he can get to water, adding more waterers if necessary.

I will post some crop articles next.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you can take a tsp of coconut oil, cool it in the fridge, and chop it into small pieces for him to peck, that would be helpful to treat his crop impaction. Feel of his crop first thing in the morning before he eats to check if his crop is emptying. An impacted crop is firm or doughy. Taking plenty of water is very important to help move it along. Here are two good articles about crop problems:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[MelissaRose]

I would not give them scratch grains for a meal. Those do not have enough protein or nutrition for your chickens, and only should be given as a treat occasionally in small amounts or not at all. Yes, they love it, but it is like eating dessert.

He should not be eating whole grains anyway with his crop problem. Mushy feed with a lot of water, scrambled egg, a tsp of plain yogurt would be all I fed him. Do you have granite grit available to help them digest grains and grass an other foods?

He could be wobbly from his crop problem or dehydration, but it could be something more serious like Mareks, but hopefully not. I would try feeding him a couple of drops of Poultry NutriDrench daily for vitamins and electrolytes for the next 5 days. Note any symptoms such as weakness in a leg or neck problems. I would separate him to eat and drink just to see that he is getting enough, and make sure he can get to water, adding more waterers if necessary.

I will post some crop articles next.

They get grain, like normal poultry food and then a little scratch so its not their main meal, I can stop giving it to them or only give it to them once a week or something though. I can make him some mushy food and an eggs. And some yogurt. I dont have granite grit but they eat a lot of little rocks and things. I can find some to give him. I dont have nutridrench but I can make some electrolytes. He is separated now.
Thanks for the reply!

 

[MelissaRose]

If you can take a tsp of coconut oil, cool it in the fridge, and chop it into small pieces for him to peck, that would be helpful to treat his crop impaction. Feel of his crop first thing in the morning before he eats to check if his crop is emptying. An impacted crop is firm or doughy. Taking plenty of water is very important to help move it along. Here are two good articles about crop problems:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thanks for the links. Should I give him the coconut oil now? His crop is very firm like a very full crop. He has plenty of water but I can encourage him to drink more. Should I try to limit the amount of food he eats so as not to fill his crop more? or should he be able to eat as much as he wants?

 

[MelissaRose]

In the first article its says the intestines blocked by worms is a very common cause of an impacted crop? Do you think this is whats happening? I though he had worms so I treated him. Would worms in his intestines cause weight loss? Or does he just have a crop problem and thats whats causing his weight loss?

 

[MelissaRose]

I put coconut oil in the fridge and then chopped it up small. I'll go see if he eats them. If he doesn't should I force him to eat a couple?

 

[Eggcessive]

If he won’t peck at the coconut oil, you can always mix some in his food. Yes worms can cause blockages in the digestive system, but the only way to know if that is a problem is to get some fresh droppings checked by a vet for worms eggs in there. I would give him some mushy food and egg, but not let him eat a ton today. Massage his crop several times a day, and encourage the fluids.

How much Safeguard did you give him, and how many treatments? You can treat for roundworms by treating once and again in 10 days to get the eggs, or treat for 5 days in a row for the more serious worms, such as capillary worms. Dosage is 1/4 ml per pound.

 

[MelissaRose]

He ate the coconut oil and appeared to enjoy it. I gave him a small pea sized amount for five days in a row. Thats the dose ive used before and its always worked

 

[Eggcessive]

Giving 1/4 ml per pound is more accurate since peas can be different sizes, and might not be enough. Let us know how he gets along. The crop should be mostly empty by early morning, so I would do the crop massage and adjust his diet to more liquids if not.