Listless cockerel--vomiting--hand-raised pet. Don't want to lose!

[sadieml]

Our sweet little Sheldon is acting very sick. He has even vomited several times. He was still in the brooder with the 3 hens he's been with since birth. Two of them are Wyandottes (1 silver-laced, 1 gold-laced), so are very large and bossy, the other is a partridge cochin bantam pullet. There has never been much fighting among them, but of course, there is pecking order. Shelly is #4 since about 10 days ago. He looked like he had a cataract on his right eye--turns out it was white pus, probably from a peck to the eye, and he isn't blind, the eye has healed fully. Unfortunately, Monday night he seemed listless and let us scoop him up without a fuss. He usually flaps like crazy and fusses, but not this time. He feels extremely thin, and I was thinking he might not have eaten well when he couldn't see on the right side--maybe Nugget and BokBok, the Wyandottes, had bullied him too much. We've had him separated from the girls, but he doesn't seem to want to eat much and his vomit is really just liquid, like bile. We really can not afford a vet, but I have no idea what to do for him. If we just keep him separated from the girls (which we need to do anyway, since they're 5 months now), and make sure he has food and water, should that be enough, or do we need to get some antibiotics or Nutri-drench, or something? My sweet hubby wants to hold him 24/7, but I think holding too much is a bad thing.

btw-The other bantam is Booker. I said everyone else's name, so I thought I'd include hers, too. We're Garfield fans, so we have Booker and Sheldon. The silver-laced Wyandotte is Nugget (silver nugget, chicken nugget, you know!), and the gold is BokBok (simple enough). Anyway, any help for our sweet Shelly would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What type of food/treats to you feed?
Do you offer grit?
Does the vomit have a sour smell to it?
How does his poop look?
Is his crop full, empty, squishy, doughy?
Does he go to bed with a full crop and it's empty first thing in the morning?

Does he normally go to roost at sundown and get up at first light?

He may have a sour crop since he is vomiting.
Here is some information to see if this sounds like what is ailing him.

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues-html/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/06/chicken-anatomy-crop-impacted-crop-sour.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html

 

[sadieml]

@Wyorp Rock - Thanks so much for your help. His crop seemed fine. Unfortunately we lost him Friday, anyway. I think he may have had worms, since our adult roo had a prolapsed vent and an obvious nasty worm infestation. We have since wormed everyone, just in case, and all seem well. We will be paying closer attention from now on. I really hate learning some of these lessons the "hard way", since that usually means losing a beloved pet, but, alas, we are beginning farmers, and even the old pros lose animals sometimes. That is by no means an attempt to deny my guilt in this. The animals are my responsibility, and I failed dear, sweet Sheldon. My small backyard barnyard is, sadly, smaller without his sunny little self struting about and making the MOST pitiful little attempts to perfect his crow! All the morning alarms, from Roy, our black cochin bantam roo, and the drag queens, Maria and Valerie (so-called because they are too old to lay, and have decided that crowing loudly is the best way to lament their lack of eggs) black Austrolorp and Dominque Frizzle, respectively, seem to punctuate the lack of crows from within the brooder.

Anyway, thank you again for trying to help. This is why I love the BYC and BYH communities so much.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.