ill rooster....would appreciate some advice!

[cdtrum]

Ok....here I go

5yr old rooster....noticed early in the week he was not himself, last one to come out of coop (very unlike him).....holding his chest funny-instead of walking tall with chest out, he walks kind of slumped and hunched. Was still eating and drinking, staying with his flock.

His crow does not sound right......he almost sounds hoarse, but no weepy eyes, no runny nose....no raspy breathing.

Yesterday was actually a nice day here and the girls were out in the yard, I noticed the rooster was not....so I went to check and he was down under the heat lamp laying on the ground.....which is so unlike him.

He has good color, his crop is not sowllen or gushy.

We brought him inside and have him in kennel in our basement, he is not eating and drinking much. I have tried giving him nutri-drench, last night we gave him an injection of penn. This morning he is sitting up looking at me.....I made him some oatmeal with probiotics and gave him some water with electrolytes and vit's......but how do you get them to eat and drink if they won't on their own?

one more thing......I noticed since putting him the kennel, his poops are small for him, but I don't think he is eating much.

We really love this guy, we have raised him from a peep and do not want to loose him......any advice or ideas would be appreciated!

 

[CMV]

Quote:
You can tempt him to drink by putting fluid along his beak line with a syringe, but shoving a tube down his throat and tube feeding him is the only way to force him to eat. It sounds like you are doing everything you can for him. The rest is up to him. Have you done the obvious bug checks and worm checks? I'm sure you have, but I am trying to grasp at straws here.

I'd like to be able to help, but I've got no ideas. Sorry.

 

[cdtrum]

I did not think about worms because his wattle and comb are bright red......but I did consider mites....I do not see any signs of them, but this morning I went ahead and gave him some ivermectin which I have never done before. I keep their coops and barn dusted for mites. He seem very alert this morning, sitting up in the kennel looking as if he wonders what the heck we have done to him. He did peck at his layer this morning and I gave him some of his favorite sunflower seeds and he did peck at those. I still have not seen him drink. We will keep doing what we are doing and hope for the best.......how many days should we give the antibiotics?

 

[CMV]

I believe the standard dosing for injectable penicillin is 4-7 days. I don't use antibiotics unless I have too, though, so I am not positive about that info. You will need to follow the course of antibiotics with some probiotics to replenish the gut bugs. Injectable forms of penicillin are not as hard on the GI system as oral administrations, but still knock out a lot of good bugs as well as bad bugs. A couple tablespoons of yogurt for a week should restock his system nicely.

I hope he starts feeling better soon. Good luck.

 

[TajMahalChickens]

How is his walk? Does he seem off balance?

The first thing that I noticed with my rooster was that he had a weird walk and he held his chest weird. it turned out to (probably) be Marek's disease.

 

[cdtrum]

He walks fine.....I read up on Marek's and really don't think that is it. He is still with us, he even ate a bit last night.....gave him another antibiotic injection and he did put up more of a fight with my husband than the night before....so we shall see.