Pale and lethargic rooster

[Charlottehoward4]

Hi guys, this is not something I usually do but I am so worried about our rooster I was just hoping to get some advice.

He is just over a year old and has not been himself for a good few months. We thought this was due to flockdown earlier this year but he still hasn’t seemed to have recovered. He is super lethargic, sleeping a lot during the day and is easily knocked over and struggles to get back up. His face is very pale but his comb and wattles are still red. He does have random outbursts of energy but they don’t seem to last long. We have bought him in incase of red mites and are currently in the process of treating him for this. He does look like he has a mild case of scaly leg mite which we are also treating him for. Could scaly leg mite be the reason he is lethargic and unsteady on his feet?

His eating is normal and he is drinking water but not as much as we’d like. His poo is also completely normal. However he is quite skinny. We have treated for worms with verm x but is this better for prevention than cure? Is there something more effective I could be using?

Everything I have researched has pointed to a mite problem, so should we just keep doing what we are doing with treating him for this? Or could there be another issue that I haven’t acknowledged.

Ps: we haven’t overloaded him on lots of different treatments all at once. This has been over the course of a good few months and we are just trying to cover all bases. So sorry about all the questions, I just want him back to his happy perky self!

Thank you in advance for any answers.

 

[Tookie]

Welcome to BYC!
Sorry your rooster isn't doing well.

Could you get a picture of him, and his legs? What is his diet?
Since he's skinny, I would try giving him fish and meat for more protein, eggs would be good to give too.
Verm X may help if there are just a few worms, but for a heavier load it won't help. It'd be better to use something like Safeguard goat dewormer. Deworming probably would be a good idea.
Could you carefully check him over for mites or lice? Especially look around the vent area.
I'd get some vitamin E 400IU, 1/3 of a B complex tablet, and eggs for selenium, give that all daily incase he could have a deficiency.

 

[Charlottehoward4]

Thank you this is super helpful! We have given him eggs and some fish but this hasn’t been a regular thing so I will absolutely give this a go as a more regular thing. He has growers pellets and mixed corn daily and he will occasionally have some fruit/veg. He also stopped crowing a while back.

I will take a look into the dewormer and I check for mites daily. He is silkie feathered so has just mountains of hair so I am worried that they will have lots of places to hide. I have a feeling it will be mites as I have noticed a few on my arms after handling him in the past few days, which I believe were red mite. Is there anything you would recommend treatment wise for this? We regularly load him up with diatomaceous powder and have just bought kg bird spray. We keep him out of the coop, so they will be living on him if anywhere! I will attach some pictures of him, one of how he is sleeping during the day, one of him with his face showing and one of his feet. I hope this will show something!

Thanks so much for your help! I will try all that you have suggested. I really appreciate your time.

 

[Charlottehoward4]

Welcome to BYC!
Sorry your rooster isn't doing well.

Could you get a picture of him, and his legs? What is his diet?
Since he's skinny, I would try giving him fish and meat for more protein, eggs would be good to give too.
Verm X may help if there are just a few worms, but for a heavier load it won't help. It'd be better to use something like Safeguard goat dewormer. Deworming probably would be a good idea.
Could you carefully check him over for mites or lice? Especially look around the vent area.
I'd get some vitamin E 400IU, 1/3 of a B complex tablet, and eggs for selenium, give that all daily incase he could have a deficiency.

Thank you this is super helpful! We have given him eggs and some fish but this hasn’t been a regular thing so I will absolutely give this a go as a more regular thing. He has growers pellets and mixed corn daily and he will occasionally have some fruit/veg. He also stopped crowing a while back.

I will take a look into the dewormer and I check for mites daily. He is silkie feathered so has just mountains of hair so I am worried that they will have lots of places to hide. I have a feeling it will be mites as I have noticed a few on my arms after handling him in the past few days, which I believe were red mite. Is there anything you would recommend treatment wise for this? We regularly load him up with diatomaceous powder and have just bought kg bird spray. We keep him out of the coop, so they will be living on him if anywhere! I will attach some pictures of him, one of how he is sleeping during the day, one of him with his face showing and one of his feet. I hope this will show something!

Thanks so much for your help! I will try all that you have suggested. I really appreciate your time.

 

[Tookie]

Thank you this is super helpful! We have given him eggs and some fish but this hasn’t been a regular thing so I will absolutely give this a go as a more regular thing. He has growers pellets and mixed corn daily and he will occasionally have some fruit/veg. He also stopped crowing a while back.

I'd cut down on the corn, it's best not to give too many things like that such as scratch, ect...

I will take a look into the dewormer and I check for mites daily. He is silkie feathered so has just mountains of hair so I am worried that they will have lots of places to hide. I have a feeling it will be mites as I have noticed a few on my arms after handling him in the past few days, which I believe were red mite. Is there anything you would recommend treatment wise for this? We regularly load him up with diatomaceous powder and have just bought kg bird spray. We keep him out of the coop, so they will be living on him if anywhere!

Definitely sounds like mites to me.
You'll want to get some poultry permethrin dust, that'll work.
In my experience with DE it doesn't kill mites, plus its really fine and isn't good to breath in.

I will attach some pictures of him, one of how he is sleeping during the day, one of him with his face showing and one of his feet. I hope this will show something!

He's such a cute little guy! Poor thing!
His legs look good to me, I see no signs of SLM.

Thanks so much for your help! I will try all that you have suggested. I really appreciate your time.

My pleasure!

 

[Charlottehoward4]

I'd cut down on the corn, it's best not to give too many things like that such as scratch, ect...

Definitely sounds like mites to me.
You'll want to get some poultry permethrin dust, that'll work.
In my experience with DE it doesn't kill mites, plus its really fine and isn't good to breath in.

He's such a cute little guy! Poor thing!
His legs look good to me, I see no signs of SLM.

My pleasure!

Amazing thank you so much! I will cut down on the corn, he’s not too keen anyway he usually picks it out and covers the floor in it! So spoilt

I’ll give it all a go! So pleased to hear his legs look okay. I suspect he’s just feeling a little fragile at the moment maybe. He is just the sweetest thing, such a loving little chook.

You’ve been great and made me feel much better, thanks again

 

[Tookie]

How's he doing?

 

[LaFleche]

If you see mites on your arms after handling him, treat the entire coop including nest boxes as well.
I hope he gets better soon.

 

[Charlottehoward4]

How's he doing?

We very sadly lost him on Friday Feel truly lost without him

 

[Tookie]

We very sadly lost him on Friday Feel truly lost without him

Oh no, I'm so so sorry. You did everything you could.