Possible Rooster Fight... Barely moving, coughing up blood

[AlohaChickenGuy]

How are you and he doing?

He responds to my voice by barely moving his head and his eyes are seen moving below the eyelids, but he still just lays lifeless otherwise.

Last night, he did not move at all about his cage at all. I think he is getting weaker without food or maybe he just isn't going to make it. He is lower on energy overall. But I did change up some variables last night.

Last night I turned off the heating lamp because I felt like he was getting too hot and the light exposure through his eyelids might be keeping him awake. So maybe he didn't move because he wasn't hot or because he was able to get better rest?

My computer room sits between 70 and 85 degrees, so I just left my computer on playing some Classical Christmas music since I read that chickens actually enjoy the sound of classical music and I thought it would bring him some comfort. Hopefully it didn't keep him awake.

He will also only take one sip of water instead of multiple now. I've since started trying to give him water through a tube, but I don't have a small 1cc tube so I cannot directly feed him to the left of his trachea causing him to sometimes accidentally aspirate and I immediately discontinue to allow him to rest.

He has thick mucous dicharge that comes up clear or brown. It slowly drains from his beak while he is resting or comes out of his mouth when he goes to drink. I clean it out as best as I can with a q-tip but I'm not sure if it's coming from his respiratory or digestive tract at this point or what it could be.

I found some amoxicillin, but it's 500mg tablets and expired from 2019. Antibiotics typically can go up to 5 years past expiration from my understanding so I'm not sure if it's a great idea to try to break it apart and mix it with water at 250mg. What would you recommend? I read something about mixing with coconut oil? That doesn't seem like a great idea based on his condition.

What is something I could potentially tube feed him straight into his mouth for more energy/nutrition? I don't have regular vitamins on hand but figured I could try to find something for parrots or other birds at a pet store. It seemed like a lot of people were using parrot medication/feed substitutes for chickens. There's a Hawaiian local chicken store, but she isn't open on weekends and this happened Friday afternoon. My wife and I plan to ask her advice on Monday.

I'm not sure. He's going on 48 hours. Trying to keep him hydrated as best as I can figuring food is secondary. However, I just feel like he's very low on energy and I'm not sure what else to do.

If he doesn't make it, I just want to know I tried as best as I could for him. I've known him since he was just a little guy running around with his sister. They were the only two that survived the cats in our neighborhood.

We lost a prior rooster to a car and there was nothing I could do for him. This guy though, I just want to believe that if I keep him hydrated and comfortable - He might heal and recover to some extent. Based on where he's at, I feel like he's still got some fight left in him. But, I also feel like he might be in pain and suffering and it's my fault for trying so hard.

I go back to work tomorrow and won't be able to take care of him. My wife has stuff to do. I'm really hoping for a shift in the next 24 hours. But I feel like I need to get him antibiotics and/or food.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The Amoxicillin should still be good.
Normal dosing for a chicken is 57mg per pound of weight given orally once a day for 10-14 days. There's some flexibility in that dosing, so if you can get 250mg into him once a day that would be good.

Baby bird formula is often used to tube feed sick or injured chickens, the pet store very likely does carry that. I believe it's a complete type formula, so it would provide nutrients, vitamins and of course hydration too.

I'm so very sorry that you are facing this. I have a big soft spot for roosters. Just from the one photo, I can tell your fella is a pretty boy. As you can see in my avatar, I keep American Gamefowl, they are such beautiful birds full of personality I'm very fond of them, but I have to keep mine penned completely separate or it would all end very badly.
Anyway, it makes my heart hurt to see your fella like this. With your description, I fear he may not make it, but you have done your absolute best to care for him. You have a kind and loving heart.

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

The Amoxicillin should still be good.
Normal dosing for a chicken is 57mg per pound of weight given orally once a day for 10-14 days. There's some flexibility in that dosing, so if you can get 250mg into him once a day that would be good.

Baby bird formula is often used to tube feed sick or injured chickens, the pet store very likely does carry that. I believe it's a complete type formula, so it would provide nutrients, vitamins and of course hydration too.

I'm so very sorry that you are facing this. I have a big soft spot for roosters. Just from the one photo, I can tell your fella is a pretty boy. As you can see in my avatar, I keep American Gamefowl, they are such beautiful birds full of personality I'm very fond of them, but I have to keep mine penned completely separate or it would all end very badly.
Anyway, it makes my heart hurt to see your fella like this. With your description, I fear he may not make it, but you have done your absolute best to care for him. You have a kind and loving heart.

Aloha,

Thank you so much for the antibiotic clarification. I gave him 250mg by emptying half a capsule into his mouth and giving him water to rinse it down. I really hope it might do something for him starting them.

I decided to give him a a full lukewarm epsom salt + hydrogen peroxide bath to clean him up and maybe provide relaxation to his body. I had to cradle him and switch him from one side to the other while supporting his neck to be sure he didn't go under. But it seemed to ease some tension in his neck enough for him to temporarily release it a little.

Afterwards, I used a blowdryer on low setting to dry him off again just as I found him. He seemed less lively, almost completely dead, but then started breathing again under his heat lamp.

I keep having to clear thick mucous from his mouth with q-tips regularly as he constantly is spitting it up. I'm not sure what it could be from. His crop seems completely empty. If it's respiratory based, I hope the antibiotics can help. He is very weak, but keeps surprising me with his ups and downs. I gave him some sugar water + ACV mix and he became very lively drinking it moving his head about and swallowing easily.

Tomorrow I am going to have my wife look for baby bird feed. I have taken 6g of chia seeds and added water to them and will try to administer by syringe as well. My wife is convinced he is going to die, but I told her I'm not giving up if he isn't giving up.

She said some people have fed sick chickens baby formula. I researched it and it said this was not a good idea if it has lactose in it so I said she needed to find actual chicken feed or vitamins. Just wanted a second opinion if you know anything about it along with the chia seeds.

Thank you for your kind words. I used to be a corpsman (medic) in the Navy and I guess that's why I naturally care so much about trying to do everything I can to save him.

Jungle fowl are indeed beautiful chickens. Not to insult anyone else's chicken breeds, but the chickens in Hawaii are as beautiful as the island itself. Your avatar chicken actually looks very similar to him only your rooster has grayish tint feet. He has solid yellow and some streaks of white in his tail.

The neighborhood favorite that was lost to a car was named Kevin from the movie Up - He was a beautiful dark black and blue luster with streaks of white. And he was the kindest rooster, never picked on any of the babies and ate so gently from the palm of your hand. He was also beaten badly but managed to fly into our yard for safety and spent 2 days recovering under the shade of our trampoline, but he managed to lose or quit before he got so bad. It was nothing this extreme.

I never thought I would care much for chickens as animals, but hang out with them long enough and you come to realize they're actually full of character and can recognize people's faces pretty well. That makes them pretty interesting creatures.

Thanks again for offering support during this time. I plan to give him some water tonight before going to sleep and some water in the morning before I leave for work. I hope he does alright while I'm gone.

 

[cfonts]

Welcome to BYC @AlohaChickenGuy! I’m from Hawaii too! I'm sorry to hear about the injured rooster I'm so glad that he has you to care for him. I don't have any advice to give, but I'm rooting for him. Hoping that he'll pull through.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The baby bird formula that most use is called Kaytee Exact Baby Bird formula. If your wife can't find that, then if possible, get a small bag of Chick Starter which is poultry feed fed to baby chicks. It's small crumbles, but you can make it into a wet thin mash that you may be able to syringe.
I'm rooting for him!

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

So this morning...

No mucous coming from mouth - I think the antibiotics are already working wonders Administered .5 cc of sugar water + ACV mix. Texture/appearance of feathers is seemingly improving. He energetically took about a cc of watered soft, chia seeds. I feel like there might actually be some sort of improvement, but this feels far from over.

His eyes move about a lot more now, but he still won't open his eyes. I'm not sure if/when that could happen. I want him to be able to see water/food if he is actually going to make it.

His head keeps twitching while he lays on his side like he cannot balance his head or has neurological damage. He will have a have a "fit" or start kicking his legs until he repositions himself up against the wall. At first he was doing it violently. Now it's more subtle.

However, he newly lifts his head in controlled motions to reposition just his head at times and seems like he has some sort of control/strength in it compared to yesterday.

I am headed to work, but I feel better overall leaving him in his current state. I just hope he doesn't violently put himself in a position he cannot breathe and no one is here to adjust him.

Thank you everyone for your cheering and advice - It's helping

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It slipped my mind, until you mentioned it just now.
If you can get a poultry vitamin like Poultry Cell that would be good to give. Otherwise I would give human vitamins. 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex. Vitamin E helps with neurological (nerve) symptoms. The B vitamins are a good booster.

 

[Chickengirl2671]

Good luck with your rooster, poor guy. Have you tried opening his eyes to make sure they aren't glued shut by mucus or eye goop.

 

[ChickenLeg]

Hope he gets better, Ima watch this thread and we're rooting for him over in Tennessee

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

It slipped my mind, until you mentioned it just now.
If you can get a poultry vitamin like Poultry Cell that would be good to give. Otherwise I would give human vitamins. 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 tablet B-Complex. Vitamin E helps with neurological (nerve) symptoms. The B vitamins are a good booster.

Nah you mentioned it. With the weather here in Hawaii, it's hard for my wife to get out so I'm not sure we're going to get it today. However, he is munching down some chia seeds which have both of those vitamins. Just not at such a high dose.

I think he might be ready for scrambled eggs mixed with olive oil because he is opening his mouth much wider and eating the chia seeds so well.

Good luck with your rooster, poor guy. Have you tried opening his eyes to make sure they aren't glued shut by mucus or eye goop.

How do I get them unglued if it is shut with blood, mucus, or eye goop without injuring him?

Hope he gets better, Ima watch this thread and we're rooting for him over in Tennessee

I'm originally from Kentucky and am going back home for the holidays. We're going to hang out in Gatlinburg. Tennessee is like the closest I think I'd ever live to Kentucky again. The mountains there are awesome and actually remind me a lot of Hawaii.