My rooster is sleeping all the time! What's his problem?

[Mykee]

Try a heat lamp to keep him warm.
Some symptons of worms are diahrea, pasty droppings around the vent, and depression. Giving him some wormer wouldn't hurt as long as you follow the instructions.
I had a hen that I think had worms, and the rest of the chickens were fine. An owl got to her before I could help her though.
I hope he gets better - I love roosters.

 

[NHchicks]

Well, he made it thru the night. He seemed a little more perky this a.m. when we opened the coop, but soon settled into a resting place in the yard with his tail down again, that's not a good sign. So I set up the (too large!) dog crate in the house, with newspaper and then hay inside, a bowl of food & water, and he was easy to pick up and bring in (no fighting). Only thing, on our way in, we noticed he was drooling. Could've been from the way we picked him up, I'm hoping. It's not possible to get diseases from a sick rooster, is it?

Anyway, it's damp and raw outside, low 30's and supposed to either rain or even snow this afternoon (grrr) so I'll keep him indoors for the day and see if that helps him. He's just sleepy anyway.

I should probably just let him stay outside and go the way of nature, but I can't help tinkering and trying to save him. I hope I'm not prolonging his suffering.

I love this rooster.

 

[dawg53]

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If you love your rooster...treat or cull...you are prolonging his suffering.

 

[tammye]

you can give him some electrolyte solution in his water for extra strenght, i would keep him in a warm area for a few days so he can use his energy to get better rather than staying warm.

 

[klmclain1]

I see nothing wrong with "tinkering" the way you are. You are doing nothing more than making him comfortable and giving him an environment where his body has a chance to fight this rather than spend all it's energy keeping warm! If he survives then yippee! But if not, at least you have been a responsible, loving caregiver and done all you can for him without making him miserable in the process. You are a blessing to him.

 

[Fiddlehead]

Drooling is a sign of liver damage or dehydration in other animals. I wonder if that is true in chickens? Please let us know how he is doing. Good luck!

 

[NHchicks]

I'm thinking the drooling was just because we pressed on his crop while bringing him in. I'm not noticing it since.

I'm not really a "culler". Never done that. Yet anyway.

He's warm and cozy today. I'll give his immune system a boost. If that doesn't help, then nature will take over.

It's not easy to find a rooster who minds his manners the way this one does. I'm hoping he'll survive. If he doesn't, he doesn't. That's why they lay so many eggs...

 

[Mykee]

Have you tried some wormer? I was going to try Ivermec on my hen that got killed, so maybe it would help yours.

 

[Bleenie]

I just dealt with chicken Lice and it was ONLY affecting my Rooster.... he had a Horrible infestation and was sleeping all the time while the girls were up running around happily.

They are very easy to spot, they build large egg clusters on the down feathers under the wings and around the vent, you will also see them around his vent if you look(and he has them). I dusted everyone with "poultry & garden dust" and he was acting so much happier the next day and within 2 days all the egg clusters had fallen off. You have to re-dust after 10 days to get any babies that hatched but it's very easy to treat... thankfully!

ETA: Because my mother is so weird about bugs and refused to touch the poor guy, i thought i would add that they never got on me (He was all over me too) and aren't supposed to get on humans. They can only live off the bird for a very short period of time before they die.


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[NHchicks]

An update that roo is still alive, but tonight he is sleeping on the floor of the coop and that can't be a good sign. I'd investigate him thoroughly only we had another 4" of SNOW last night and it took me till mid-morning just to get the car up the long slushy driveway, my teen was then late to school, had to volunteer this afternoon, and haven't stopped yet today. The weather is making it so much harder to deal with. Tomorrow I'll try to get a look under his wings for signs of lice. I'm hoping that's it, it sounds like an easy fix. If that's not it, maybe I should just try deworming him, altho I don't know if I can get food/water down him. Anyway, I'll read up on how to do that.

Would bleach cleaning a coop kill any lice that might be lurking? I was advised to clean out the coop using a bleach/water spray every spring.

Come to think of it, I ordered some pamphlets and a couple DVDs (short) from the USDA when I ordered their chicken calendar (all free). There are 2 DVDs on keeping your birds healthy (3 easy steps) and backyard biosecurity and 2 pamphlets on the same. Guess it's time to read those.

Thx for all the advice.