My beautiful once Healthy Dominique Rooster is sick

[sheildmaiden]

Charlie is very week walking like he is drunk staggering, and his once beautiful eyes are dilated. His usual red comb has black spots on it. And his legs are not bright yellow but sorta pale and greyish color. He can run away from the other rooster that was attacking him, but he is definately not himself. He went and hid from Sparky, (our easter egger rooster) and we seperated the two

 

[slukeplass22]

Sounds like fowl pox to me.

Here are some other forum posts on the subject (I've never had this problem so I can't say much from an experience standpoint)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/avian-pox-how-to-treat-your-chickens-for-avian-pox

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/690442/is-this-fowl-pox

Pictures are always helpful, so please post any if you can.

 

[sheildmaiden]

THankyou. I hope that is all that it is wrong, because I love my guy, and I am afraid it is something worse like Cholera or something else

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Are you planning on getting a necropsy? I think they are free in CA.

There are so many things it could be, guessing wouldn't be appropriate.

How old is the rooster and what kind of feed has he been on most of his life?

 

[sheildmaiden]

Necropsy? Like a status test to find out whats wrong? I will get one then since they are free....... Great news. He is own organic whole grain scratch which also includes DTE

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A necropsy is like an autopsy for animals. This will determine, not only what killed the bird but also any other pathogens and health issues it had.

Here's your poultry lab. I understand if you call them, they will give you their fedex number.

California

California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory
University of California, School of Veterinary Med
620 West Health Science Drive
Davis, California 95616
Phone: 530-752-8709 Fax 530-752-5680
IAV-A, ASF, CSF, CWD*, FMD, ISA, ND, PRV, SCRAPIE,

So he has only been fed scratch grains his whole life? No complete chicken feed?
Any number of nutritional deficiencies could have caused his problems.
Chickens are omnivores. In nature they wouldn't be strictly seed eaters.

I've seen pictures of your 'forage' area on another thread. If that's the only other place they're getting sustenance and only eating scratch grains, organic or not (and I hope I'm wrong), they are slowly starving.

Every bag of scratch grains I've seen has feeding directions on it. It goes something like this.


Feeding instructions:
Scatter on ground where poultry are present. Scratch grains are not fortified and should not comprise more than 10% of a bird's daily diet. Be sure to feed a fortified complete feed designed for the specified bird species you are raising at a rate of at least 90% of the daily diet. Never offer Scratch Grain free-choice. Always provide plenty of fresh, clean water.


The guaranteed analysis reads something like this.
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min.) 8.50%, Crude Fat (min.) 2.00%, Crude Fiber (max.) 4.00%,

That's only about half of the protein chickens need and that crude protein is deficient in lysine and methionine.

 

[sheildmaiden]

Thankyou I have learned so much from you post. he is also free range day and night as well...

 

[slukeplass22]

Yes you have to feed them a complete feed. Scratch grains are devoid of most of the nutrients a chicken needs.

 

[talelady]

Scratch grains,kitchen scraps and treats shouldn't consist of more then 10% of their diet because they dont get all of the vitamins and minerals that they need from them.