HELP -- Sick, Sad, or Depressed Rooster

[jennifer63]

I have a 21 week old Dominique Rooster. Up until 2 weeks ago I thought he was a pullet. At that time I also had another rooster, a Cuckoo Maran, that was very dominant and ran the show. The Cuckoo Maran was sometimes mean to the Dominique, chasing him back to the hen house, or away from the hens. Two weeks ago, the Dominique rooster bred one of the hens, which is when I realized she was a he. Because I felt sorry for the Dominique, we butchered the Cuckoo Maran a week ago. Since then, the Dominique has been acting very sad or depressed. He doesn't hold up his tail, he is very slow to come off the roost in the morning and is the first to go on the roost at night. He has never crowed, because the other rooster did, but the Dominique has not started crowing yet. He eats, but not alot, and he is not at all aggressive to the pullets. I have not seen him breed at all this week. I even think his comb is shrinking. I picked him off the roost last night and he is very small under all the feathers. One thing that seems odd is that he 'peeps' or 'pips' occasionally and when he is on the roost he shakes his head several times in a row.

He did have a touch of diarrea but that is gone now.

Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong with him?

 

[chickenzoo]

When was he last wormed. If he is losing weight, pale and lethargic he could have worms or lice/mites. Scramble some eggs and feed him, put some vitamins in his water and listen to his chest too. If his eyes look clear, no bubbling, mucus etc, if his nostrils are clean, and have no smell and there is no wheezing in his lungs, worms would be my main thought.

 

[obe10]

awwwwwww poor little roo i feel sorry for him :cry worms is my guess

 

[jennifer63]

We wormed all of the chicks when they were about 8 weeks old but haven't since. This boy doesn't have any of the issues that you mentioned. Do you think I should worm just him or all of them again? If I worm just him, do you mean put the wormer in the scrambled eggs?

 

[chickenzoo]

What type did you worm them with before? I was just saying to give SEggs to keep his strength up and perhaps get his appetite going.

 

[jennifer63]

We used the granule ivermectin in their water. What about yogurt? Should I give him some plain yogurt along with the wormer? What kind of wormer do you recommend? How soon after he gets wormed will he feel better?

 

[chickenzoo]

Ivomectrin is a very good wormer. I rotate between Ivomec and Safeguard. If you see any worms in his poo then Wazine normally takes care of those. How long ago did you worm(months, weeks) Sorry I don't remember his age? Coccidia can also be a cause, where you would dose with Corid or Sulmet. I asked about the Poo Chart on this thread and someone gave the link. Take a look at it and see if anything looks familiar. Yogurt after worming is good to help bring back the beneficial bacteria in the gut.