HELP!!!

[casportpony]

The mite epidemic settled down.


Coccidiosis? How on earth would he get it?

Can you post some poop pictures?

 

[casportpony]

Oh one more thing I failed to mention, he is kind of drooling I don't know.....

Can you put him in a warm room or cage?

 

[rebrascora]

Water not going down when you offer it and drooling indicates to me that he has a digestive blockage somewhere, especially if he is not pooping either.

I know it is risky but if you are considering euthanizing him anyway, I would be inclined to vomit him first and then massage his crop. The crop is the fist real likelihood that a blockage has occurred and probably the easiest to fix.
I appreciate there are people who are dead set against vomiting but if the crop is full of fluids and it is already refluxing ie drooling, it is better emptied in an inverted position where the fluid will flow out and away from the trachea than massage in an upright position and it come up into his mouth and potentially run back into his trachea.
I vomit them by holding them forward and tipped slightly to the right so that the trachea is slightly higher than the oesophagus, making it less likely to aspirate and then gently massage the crop towards the head. Be aware that he will probably shake his head whilst spewing and you may get covered. If you decide to do this, give him plenty of opportunity to recover in between attempts by bringing him into an upright position. Once you have some liquid removed, there will be room to massage and perhaps feel if there is a mass in the crop (either soggy or hard) or if it is empty and the blockage may be lower down his digestive tract. Once you have massaged for 10-15 mins, then try to give him a little water with Nutri Drench and massage again.
How does his breast bone feel? Is it sharp under the skin or reasonably well padded? Does he feel lighter than you would expect? Is there any abdominal swelling?

 

[rebrascora]

I would also second @casportpony in proving him with a warm environment.

 

[MissNutmeg]

Water not going down when you offer it and drooling indicates to me that he has a digestive blockage somewhere, especially if he is not pooping either.

I know it is risky but if you are considering euthanizing him anyway, I would be inclined to vomit him first and then massage his crop. The crop is the fist real likelihood that a blockage has occurred and probably the easiest to fix.
I appreciate there are people who are dead set against vomiting but if the crop is full of fluids and it is already refluxing ie drooling, it is better emptied in an inverted position where the fluid will flow out and away from the trachea than massage in an upright position and it come up into his mouth and potentially run back into his trachea.
I vomit them by holding them forward and tipped slightly to the right so that the trachea is slightly higher than the oesophagus, making it less likely to aspirate and then gently massage the crop towards the head. Be aware that he will probably shake his head whilst spewing and you may get covered. If you decide to do this, give him plenty of opportunity to recover in between attempts by bringing him into an upright position. Once you have some liquid removed, there will be room to massage and perhaps feel if there is a mass in the crop (either soggy or hard) or if it is empty and the blockage may be lower down his digestive tract. Once you have massaged for 10-15 mins, then try to give him a little water with Nutri Drench and massage again.
How does his breast bone feel? Is it sharp under the skin or reasonably well padded? Does he feel lighter than you would expect? Is there any abdominal swelling?

His breast bone feels sharp and yes he is lighter then I expected but no abdomen swelling. His crop feels empty though..................

 

[rebrascora]

Have you checked inside his mouth to make sure there is no obvious swelling and feel down his neck for any obvious lump which would cause a blockage. He is clearly losing weight and muscle mass if his breast bone is sharp which means that this has been going on for some time, but chickens will hide illness as long as they are able to. I've even seen them pretend to eat when all they were actually doing was picking up and dropping the same piece of food, so don't feel like you should have spotted the problem sooner.
If water is not going down things are very serious. Are you able to get a catheter for tube feeding and see if you can work it down into his crop. That might tell you if there is a blockage there assuming his mouth is clear and you can't feel any lumps in his throat.
I would still probably be inclined to vomit him if he is already drooling anyway and assess what comes up. If fluid from his crop can come up, then it should be able to go down. There is little point in trying to medicate him orally with anything if he cannot even swallow water.

 

[nightowl223]

I just noticed the @ for me. Sorry I missed it. I don't always come on here regularly - sometimes I think I should just post my cell number so people can text me if there's an emergency. I have been suffering frum cluster headaches the last 2 days, so didn't come on - though I sometimes go months without coming on, in fact, if life is busy, so that's not really an excuse, LOL!

Let me read the thread and then I'll make a comment.

 

[nightowl223]

Well, first, I spotted something that caught my eye:

What are those pellets?

View attachment 1266403
There are some types of poison that look like that, so it freaked me out when I saw that. I just want to make sure that's not what it is. I'm hoping it's just a small type of chicken food pellet.

Next, I'm sure there may be developments since this was posted, but just going on what is here, the info is skimpy, so all I can do is ask Qs and speculate.

Did you try the suggestions here on emptying his crop? Massaging it? The crop can offer a wealth of information, and since they don't exactly talk to us, we need to use all the sources of clues we have at hand. If the crop is fairly empty during the day, after they've been out foraging, that can be a concern. If it's fairly empty at bedtime, that is definitely a concern, as it means they aren't eating enough and will definitely lose weight if it continues.

Did you get anything else into him since posting this? Tried any treats? Scrambled eggs, fruits or veggies, etc, can often pique their interest when they feel a bit icky.
,
Have you seen him poop since you started this thread? I imagine it would be rather watery, if he hadn't been eating, but it's more the color I want to know about. Color can tell you a lot about what's going on with a chicken.

Is there another rooster? A dominant hen? Roosters can get depressed, get their spirit broken, if another rooster kicks their tailfeathers, or even a dominant hen (probably especially if the hen does it - after all, they're the MALE, and a FEMALE putting them in their place isn't the natural order of things. Especially not in the chicken world. Point is, they can become depressed just by something happening to their sense of self-esteem (the chicken version, not the human version, of course). A depressed rooster can just choose to stop eating, give up on living. I've seen it happen.

I saw mention of parasites. I assume any parasite situation has been dealt with already. Although, if it was done with medication, and this fellow had a heavy load of internal parasites, that could literally plug him up... all the dead parasites can act as a cork, so to speak.

Reading the suggestions I gave the gal with the Silkie, as far as how to get nutrition into a chicken, could help you, too. The first job is to get liquids in, one way or another. If at all possible, those liquids need to have nutrients in them, too. If you have baby vitamins (the kind with no iron), or the water soluble electrolyte/vitamin powder, to put in some water for him. that would be the best bet. I use a vitamin/mineral/electrolyte mix made by Durvet, and swear by it. You can mix it as suggested, or in an emergency, you can use just enough liquid to make, say 1/8 a teaspoon of the power, into a liquid mix, and use an eyedropper, a syringe without a needle, or some other dropper or another, to dribble it right onto their top beak and let it run down the beak into their mouth, where they instinctively swallow it.

 

[nightowl223]

It looks like it could be coccidiosis. Has he had it before? How did you get on with the mites?

Coccidosis? That's
a) exceedingly rare in adult chickens, as in nearly never happens
b) not something you can diagnose just from a rooster not wanting to drink and
c) one of about 2 dozen things that it could be, just off the top of my head, and very low down the line of possibilities.
And whether a bird has had cocci before or not has nothing to do with whether it catches it again, as there are multiple strains of it.

 

[CCUK]

Coccidosis? That's
a) exceedingly rare in adult chickens, as in nearly never happens
b) not something you can diagnose just from a rooster not wanting to drink and
c) one of about 2 dozen things that it could be, just off the top of my head, and very low down the line of possibilities.
And whether a bird has had cocci before or not has nothing to do with whether it catches it again, as there are multiple strains of it.

I have had three older hens that suffer from it. I was trying to help from my experience. I also tagged casportpony to give better advice. Yes there is different strains of it. I would assume we're talking about the chicken type here. Cocci is in all chickens and is spread in the chicken feces. I do know what cocci is and what it does.