Lethargic, Panting, and Weak Rooster

[Rose Connor]

1) What type of bird, age, and weight?
- He is a Marans rooster, not even a year of age yet but definitely old enough to be considered an adult. I don't know the exact age, but most of the hens from his group have started laying, and he has been crowing for a while. I don't know his exact weight, but he is quite heavy. Incredibly well-built, if you would, as it is definitely not fat.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
- He has been lethargic, closing his eyes and "falling asleep" in our arms, which is not the usual personality of this rooster. His beak is open more often than not, but he has sporadically gone a while without it being open. According to my mother, who was the one that had found him in this state, he was incapable of moving around this morning and last night he had been unable to get up the ramp of his coop. She also said that he may have had a limp during the day, but that it was only noticeable every ten or so steps, and not a constant thing. One of his eyes seems to be bothering him, as it is held little more than half-open and will close first and more often than the other one. He has had very little when it comes to food and water. He ate a bit on his own, and when it came to water we had to force him to drink some by dipping his beak into the cup of water that we have for him.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
- Most of the symptoms have been exhibited today, but yesterday was the start of us thinking that something was wrong.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
- There does not seem to be any other birds that are exhibiting the same symptoms.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
- There are no signs of trauma, though my mother has said that it looks like some of the feathers are missing from his feet. It is not easy to tell whether he may be hiding an internal or invisible injury.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
- The cause of the current situation is unknown. Because of the high temperatures, we had brought him and his hens inside the shop and kept them at cooler temperature for five days. After the temperature dropped, we decided to take him and his girls back to their outside run and coop. That was yesterday, and while he was being taken outside, he jumped from my mother's arms upon seeing his girls and supposedly fell wrong. We also have rats and opossums around the place, so that might have caused something to be spread to him?

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
- He has eaten a little bit of the Purina Premium Poultry Feed - Layena Crumbles. He has also been forced to drink a small amount of normal water, and willingly drank a small amount of regular water with some Corid, one teaspoon for one gallon.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
- His poop looks normal and healthy, especially what with him having had dealt with minor fluctuations in the temperature for a while. It is solid and average.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
- We have him removed from his hens, and placed him inside a small tub that is located in my room so that I may provide twenty-four hour surveillance. We have applied a small amount of Corid to his water, just in case it is some illness unknown to us, and we have his legs tied to his body, as we had originally believed that it was a problem with his legs.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
- There are no veterinarians within a reasonable distance that will be willing to see chickens for medical reasons, so I would prefer if I could get some assistance or advice on what I should do at home.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
- I do not have a picture, and I don't have a way to readily take and upload one.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
- The current housing is a tub with a wire lid to allow air circulation. It is just large enough for the rooster, his food dish, and his cup of water. The bedding is straw. The temporary housing that he had been kept in due to the heat had been a room in the shop with a dog house if they desired to take shelter, and a window air unit to keep the temperature at a level that wasn't causing any of our thirteen chickens to feel discomfort. The bedding used there was straw. Their original housing is a Precision Pet Old Red Barn II Chicken Coop from Wilco, with a large run that they are allowed to roam during the day. The top level of the coop has a layer of hay, while the bottom level rests directly on the ground.

 

[azygous]

My attention perked up over the mention of high temperatures. This rooster may be suffering from dehydration and/or heat stroke. I would get electrolytes into him ASAP. If you have none, use Gatoraid. If not Gatoraid make your own by mixing the following:

1/2 cup hot water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp flavored jello or Koolaid
2 1/2 tlbs sugar

Mix all this with 3 1/2 cups cold water.

Have him drink this instead of plain water until he perks up. Also, he should be brought indoors to cool him down.

 

[Rose Connor]

Yes, there were some high temperatures, but he has been indoors since they had began, and only was put back outside once the temperature became bearable. As I said, he is located in a tub inside my room, so he is currently indoors, and the only day he was outdoors it did not get over 81 degrees. I will attempt to try your suggestion, but I am pretty sure that it is neither dehydration or heat stroke, as these symptoms don't seem to completely match what we had dealt with prior when one of our hens had suffered from heat stroke. Which is why we had decided that we couldn't leave them outside in the heat when it gets into the late nineties.

 

[azygous]

Okay. The objective is to begin ruling things out, beginning with the easy stuff first. The electrolytes can't hurt. Let us know how he responds.

Meanwhile, you need to do a bit of investigating. Check everything within the area this rooster ranges. Look for any gasoline or diesel machinery sitting around that may be leaking fluids onto the soil. Look for mushrooms and toadstools. Try to recall if anyone has used or disposed of gas or paint thinner on the soil where this rooster hangs out. Insecticides. Any treatments for ants, wasps, etc? How about a compost pile? Soggy neglected compost piles can harbor anaerobic bacteria that can turn into neuro toxins or e-coli bacteria.

If one of the above is present, Houston, we may have our problem.

 

[azygous]

One other thing to check would be his crop. Feel for impaction, a small or large, hard mass in the crop. You may smell a rank sour smell associated with it.

Check first thing in the morning before he eats anything. His crop should be flat and empty. If not, that may be the source of his problem.

 

[Rose Connor]

I already know that there has been no gasoline, paint thinner, insecticides, or mushrooms in the run that they frequent. We are sure to keep that entire area as clean as possible, due to having a couple of free-roam ducks in our garden area. There is a compost pile, but I definitely wouldn't call it soggy. Mostly just their used hay, with the occasional uprooted plant tossed on top as a treat. Could that have caused the issues?

I will be sure to check his crop in the morning, as well as attempt to get him to ingest some electrolytic drink. Anything else I should keep an eye out for?

 

[rebrascora]

My guess would be Marek's disease. Lameness, weakness, eye issue and open mouth breathing can all be symptoms of it or secondary infections as a result of the immune system being compromised by it. At under a year old he is still within the vulnerable age range. When you say you have his legs tied to his body, what do you mean by that? He may be more comfortable if you make him a sling/hammock to keep him in a comfortable up right position. The picture below shows a very simple one but there are many other more professional looking ones to give you inspiration if you google chicken sling.

Getting him to eat is really important, so try bread soaked in electrolyte or make him some scrambled egg. It is better to give him moist food whilst he is ill rather than dry to ensure he doesn't become dehydrated. A good vitamin supplement and a probiotic or active yoghurt or fermented feed will help support his digestive and immune system, but if you can't get him to eat, his chances of survival are poor. As a rule of thumb, I euthanize my Marek's sufferers once they refuse to eat but I have had some pretty miraculous recoveries from ones that continued to have a healthy appetite. If you can put him within sight of the other chickens at least for part of the day, it will help prevent him from getting too depressed and may stimulate his appetite, especially if he can see them eating.

Good luck with him

Barbara

 

[Rose Connor]

Thank you. We currently have him bundled up, feet held against his chest and the fabric tied on his back, covering his wings, resting in a fashion similar to a chicken when it lays down. I will have to try out the sling, but my main concern with it is him getting out of it by force, as he can still use his legs enough to push at you when he isn't enjoying something. Do you have any advice to keep him from getting out of the splint?

I will also try to allow him to see the others, but he gets incredibly riled up when he is near them, and I have to admit my fear of him causing more damage to himself in his frenzy to reach his girls. I will have to come up with an idea on how to keep him calm during the interaction.

I will be switching his feed into something less dry and more desirable, following the suggestions that you have provided.

I understand culling those that don't have hope when it comes to their illnesses, but this rooster is a beloved pet, and I will do anything within my power to make sure he has a high chance of getting through this.

Thank you for your assistance,

Rose

 

[rebrascora]

You could clip a second layer of fabric over his back and see if that helps keeps him in. Having him tied up in a box does not sound very comfortable and will not benefit his legs... he needs to be able to move them to keep tendons from stiffening as that will result in longer term problems if he overcomes this.
I appreciate that he is a pet and I don't advocate euthanizing a bird lightly.... I have nursed chickens with Marek's for months, and some have improved when I was beginning to think there was no hope..... but you also have to keep an eye on their quality of life and not be too selfish about keeping them alive just because you can't bear to lose them. It is a difficult balance that only you can decide on. It may be better that he has the opportunity of floundering around with the other chickens for a couple of supervised hours each day rather than lying tied up in a box, where he has no outlook. Some of my Marek's birds that made the best recovery where put outside in a large cage/portable pen on grass near the other chickens and feed scattered around so that the other chickens would forage around them and then open the cage just before dark and encourage them to try to walk back to the hen house. It's not pretty to watch but a form of physical therapy where they have a goal and try to work towards it. I have seen birds show significant improvement in mobility over a number of weeks by this daily exercise.

 

[Rose Connor]

I really appreciate your advice, but I have a question. After doing some incredibly quick reading on Marek's, I have to question whether you have the right illness in mind. From what I have read, recovery doesn't seem likely, and even if he is to recover, he will have already spread it to the rest of the flock.

I will take your advice into consideration, and will adjust my current setup accordingly.