Need help.. Sick & lethargic

[PeaDaddy]

I've got 4 teenagers right now, and I just went outside and I have a very sickly and lethargic peababy. No physical damage. Any help would be appreciated. We do all our own vet work with horses, but my bird knowledge is terribly limited.

He was fine this morning around 11. Something changed rapidly. He is venting something yellowish and runny?

 

[Glenmar]

Look up treatment for coccidia.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Sorry to say I'm not experienced enough to help you, but can you tell us more about his symptoms and his living situation? That will help someone here with more experience to figure out what's going on.

Is he eating? Drinking?
Is he pooping a lot or? Still looking runny?
Wings drooping?
Walking around or lying still?
Doing anything unusual with beak (for example, open, "gaping" like a baby bird)?
Having any trouble with breathing?
Eyes drooping or normal?
Have you had any sudden weather changes?
Is he in contact with chickens or other poultry?
Could he have eaten anything toxic?

 

[PeaDaddy]

Sorry to say I'm not experienced enough to help you, but can you tell us more about his symptoms and his living situation? That will help someone here with more experience to figure out what's going on.

Is he eating? Drinking?
Is he pooping a lot or? Still looking runny?
Wings drooping?
Walking around or lying still?
Doing anything unusual with beak (for example, open, "gaping" like a baby bird)?
Having any trouble with breathing?
Eyes drooping or normal?
Have you had any sudden weather changes?
Is he in contact with chickens or other poultry?
Could he have eaten anything toxic?

She died this afternoon, but so that I may know how to address this in the future, I'd like to step through this in the event the other 3 are sick.

I got to her late, and immediately started electrolytes and water.
She had runny yellowish poop.
Wings were drooped.
Laying down.
Gaping every 30-45 seconds.
Distressed breathing.
Pupils were dilated severely, and her eyes were listless, and she wasn't wanting to open them.
Weather in Phoenix has gotten chilly at night.
They are living and free ranging with the chickens until our big coop is built for them. We are planning on separating them.
It's possible, but unlikely that she ate something toxic. They free range, but we don't have a lot of critters running around right now.

@Glenmar, thanks. After looking into it, is going from healthy to dead in under 24 hours consistent with a parasite/worm?

If anyone knows a breeder here in Phx that I can get a few more from once we figure out what we've got and how to deal with it, and the new coop is finished, it would be appreciated.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I'm so very sorry to hear about your little guy - it's heartbreaking when this happens.
Hopefully now that you've posted more details, someone will be able to help you pinpoint the problem.
If you search on this forum, you'll find that sometimes chickens + peas = health problems for the peas, but I don't have experience with this combo.

As far as finding other peas, you might take a look at the UPA breeder's directory, not sure if any are near you:
http://www.peafowl.org/breeders.htm
Also, you can keep an eye on craigslist; sometimes people post peas for sale, i.e.:
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/grd/3408160646.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/grd/3329916617.html
And of course, some of the peapeople here may be from your neck of the woods, and they may pipe up.
Also, I think there's a "buy-sell-trade" sections somewhere here on BYC?

 

[AugeredIn]

Both Coccidiosis and Blackhead can kill quickly as peafowl can hide symptoms fairly well. Both of these diseases are more prevalent in younger birds.

The yellow droppings sounds like Blackhead to me. The medication would be Metronidazole (Flagyl). If one has(had) it the others might also. You may want to consider treatment of all of them. You certainly want to be be worming young birds regularly if they are on the ground.

As a side note, with both of the problems discussed above, what actually kills the bird tends to be both the disease and secondary problems/infections. Having an antibiotic handy and introducing it by injection at the first signs of distress can help save a bird and buy time for the treatment of the root cause problem.

 

[PeaDaddy]

Both Coccidiosis and Blackhead can kill quickly as peafowl can hide symptoms fairly well. Both of these diseases are more prevalent in younger birds.

The yellow droppings sounds like Blackhead to me. The medication would be Metronidazole (Flagyl). If one has(had) it the others might also. You may want to consider treatment of all of them. You certainly want to be be worming young birds regularly if they are on the ground.

As a side note, with both of the problems discussed above, what actually kills the bird tends to be both the disease and secondary problems/infections. Having an antibiotic handy and introducing it by injection at the first signs of distress can help save a bird and buy time for the treatment of the root cause problem.

Thanks for the reply. We have a 2nd sick bird. Not as sick, but walked into the pen this am and observed him laying down, slow to rise, and not wanting to get out and about. I grabbed him, stood him up, and he stood, but his wings were droopy, and he was lethargic. We grabbed him up and started him on electrolytes and put in some Tetracycaline with the water. His droppings were normal, and have become a little runny after the electrolytes.

We've noticed that the birds that we get from reputable breeders don't have the problems that these guys do. Is there a good inoculation drug that we can give them sorta like what they get shipped with? They're approximately 6mos old.

We are quite good at giving horses shots, but no idea about how to give a bird a shot. I'm going to check YouTube to see if I can get started there, and any input on your part would be appreciated. What antibiotic would you recommend?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I have absolutely no experience with this myself!
But you can take a look at Craig Hopkins' website, which has a lot of invaluable information about pea health:
http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/peafowl.htm
And, in particular, this article about injecting peas:
http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/Intramuscular Dosing Artcile.htm

Best of luck!

*edited to add:
Hopkins also has some info about medications, but others here are likely to give you good recommendations as well:
http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/Peafowl Medications.htm

*also edited to add:
As others here will tell you, if a pea is showing symptoms it is already in serious trouble.
You probably shouldn't wait to take action - your peababy needs help!

 

[AugeredIn]

There is not really an inoculation drug for the protozoan type diseases. The best defense for the majority of peafowl issues is regular worming.

Getting birds from reputable breeders should certainly help with getting healthy birds from day one, but any bird no matter where it came from will be susceptible to new problems in its new home.

I like Tylan for an antibiotic because it is good and readily available.

 

[AugeredIn]

Oh, and regarding injections, we inject under the skin. Seems to work as well as deep intramuscular.