My poor Albert is sick. picture

[willkatdawson]

I came home this afternoon and my standard cochin roo Albert was laying down in the yard. He was very unsteady and I brought him inside. I washed his backside because he had feces in his feathers and it had a very bad odor. Not like normal chicken droppings. I did notice he had some mites and maybe even some lice. We've been fighting them off and on for quite some time now. I mixed some Terra Vet antibiotics on his water and placed him in the playpen sick bay in the laundry room. I also mixed a little antibiotics in a scrambled eggs and he ate it. He had a sneezing fit and his face is swollen. I can hear that his breathing is labored and when he opened his beak there was some mucus. How could he have gotten sick? I don't visit other farms or show. No other chickens come or go. I had some ivermetin that I had for a foster dog with mange. I put 7 drops on Alberts neck and 4 drops on all my hens necks. I also put Terra Vet in the hens water and while I was down with the hens one sneezed!
his face is swollen and he's pale

this was taken a few weeks ago and you can see his normal color

 

[Elite Silkies]

Does he have black spots on his crest? I can't tell. Does he have any discharge from his nostrils? If so does it have a foul smell? I would give Tylan 50 for 3 days. I use Poultry Dust for lice/mites. Mites can make them very sick and even cause death.

 

[astatula]

Yes he is sick. The hard part is finding out what his sickness is. At this time of year in the south it is most likely from cold breezes and that means some kind of respiratory illness. That is what most of us deal with in the spring, and it can spread very quickly and wipe out a flock very fast. I do not hesitate using antibiotics at this point or you might loose many more than just one chicken. The other option is to kill the bird and disinfect the coop and hope the others don't get it.

I start with oxy-tetracycline if it does not look too severe, but he looks bad, so you may want to use Tylan (tylosin) or Baytril (Cipro) injectable. These guys take a turn for the worst very fast. If you do use antibiotics, be ready with probiotics immediately following the 3-5 days of treatment.

 

[willkatdawson]

Quote:
He does have a scab on his crest, but I think it's from free ranging.

 

[willkatdawson]

Quote:
He does have a respiratory illness. I can hear him breathing and it sounds like he's got asthma. I can't figure out why his droppings have such a bad odor. His droppings look green and watery. I've still got him in sick bay and he's on Terra Vet soluble powder broad spectrum antibiotic. I got it at the Tractor Supply Company and the drug name is oxytetracycline HCI. Do you think this is the right meds to have them on? It's all I've got right now.