Help with Dominique Rooster

[Tiffany24]

Hi, When I came home from work this evening I went out to feed and water the chickens. Its our routine. Every morning and evening I go out to check them ext. This time I noticed one of our roosters acting lethargic, wings drooping, fluffed up, and not walking. I brought him into the house to watch him closer as well as warm him up. Its been almost 2 hours and he hasn't moved. Now I noticed his head shaking/twitching/jerking. Eye's and Nostrils are both clear. Breathing looks normal at this point also. Has anyone seen this before? All other hens and roosters are fine.

 

[azygous]

I'd love to watch your video, but I do not do Facebook. Not for anyone or any reason, including family. So please post your video to You Tube, copy the link after it posts, and paste the link in a comment window below. It will embed like magic and we'll all be able to watch it right here on BYC.

That said, it sounds like your rooster could have been exposed to a neuro toxin from your description of his symptoms. Has he been scratching in a compost pile? Could he have been in contact with insecticide or petroleum distillates? How about moldy food?

How about his crop? Have you felt it for lumps and fullness? Or is it completely empty?

How old is he? Has he always been in your flock or is he a recent addition?

Have any of your chickens died of mysterious causes including "old age"?

 

[Tiffany24]

I was finally able to upload the video using youtube. Here is another link. After uploading the rooster got up and walked for a minute then began stuffing his face full of food. He's still not right but at least he ate. Now that you mention it he was free ranging 2 days ago and they all went over to the pile where I dump all their old bedding. They were scratching and eating in the pile. I assumed they were eating bugs that were possibly in the mix.

Also yes. I lost 4 Banty Cockerel chicks out of the blue! Fine the night before. I found all 4 that morning dead in the coop. 2 in the nest box and 2 in the run. No signs of other animals or holes anywhere near the coop. They were 2 months old. They were not in the same coop as the Dominique. They were in a coop with their parents.

 

[azygous]

Were those banty cockerels scratching around and eating bugs from that compost where you dump the soiled bedding? How deep is it? Is it turned to aerate it or is it left to develop an anaerobic layer at the bottom? You would know it's anaerobic if it smells bad and is slimy.

There are insects that live in this anaerobic layer of soil. Usually, it's so deep that chickens won't dig down that far. But when they do, they can consume the insects that live there. These insects can be infected with a botulism toxin. Yes, it's the same toxin that develops in contaminated canned food and gives us food poisoning. It can kill a chicken if they eat some of these insects.

I had this happen in my flock several years ago. I lost one hen within 24 hours of the first symptoms, which were similar to what your rooster has. A week later, another hen came down with the same symptoms, and I recognized it in time to get her on amoxicillin immediately, and she's alive and well four years later.

If you have a Petsmart, they sometimes sell fish antibiotics. They work on chickens. Most feed stores carry injectible penicillin. That would work. Or order amoxicillin here. https://www.revivalanimal.com/product/fish-mox?sku=22150-174

 

[twendt]

It's called FISHMOX, you can buy at PetSmart or Amazon, 250mg or 500mg. There's chicken dosing on this site. Hope your boy pulls through

 

[Tiffany24]

I've never seen the cockerels in the compost. Just the Dominique's. I can't say for sure though because I wasn't always outside. Its very possible they came in contact with it. I don't believe its that deep maybe a foot deep at the most. The part I seen looked dry to me but I'll have to check more tomorrow. I'll dig through it to see if it looks slimy. I have injectable Liquamycin LA-200 if that's useable? If not I'll run to the pet store as soon as they open tomorrow.

 

[twendt]

How's your rooster?

 

[Tiffany24]

He's doing really well. I'm still keeping an eye on him but he's up running around like nothing happened.