Just picked up a Polish/Silkie rooster, his name is Roo-ey. He is about 2 years old and very pretty. (sorry no photos yet). He used to be a free range bird, but his girlfriend was caught by a fox and killed in front of him. The owners kept him in an 8x8 outdoor dog kennel with 2 BR hens. Knowing how unhappy he was, they placed an ad on CL and I went to see him. He seems very nice and I am pretty confident that he will be a wonderful addition to our flock and will the love the 100'x45' enclosed run that we have. I am going to quarantine him for a while before putting him in with the girls, but have a few questions: Do I worm him? Wazine? I haven't seen any worms, but I'm not certain how well he was taken care of. Should I also give him some vitamins and electrolytes? Any advice on how to introduce him? I was thinking of putting the crate in the coop so they could see him, but not hurt him. Thanks everyone. I love BYC!
Hello, you are exactly right to quarantine him, and let the flock see him for a while, but not to be able to touch him. If his poo looks normal, I wouldn't worm him, but it surely wouldn't hurt to put some Wazine in his drinking water for a few days........Vitamins and electrolites are up to you. They surely can't hurt.
Wazine is a wormer and dosing is for only 24 hours and no more than that...one ounce per gallon of water. Keep the rooster quarantined from the others as far away as you can for at least 30 days. This gives you time to inspect him head to toe for lice/mites, scaly leg mites, bumblefoot... put your ear to his chest and sides listening for gurgling , wheezing, clicking noises. Look inside his ears for wax or goop (which indicates a CRD,) also looking for ear mites. Thirty days seems like a long time but it also gives most CRD time to incubate and show itself for you to treat or cull.
A month really? I can't possibly keep him in the extra large dog crate for that long. My extra stall is being borrowed by foster birds (tornado). I guess I'll have quite a bit of work ahead of me this weekend.
