Rooster’s face turned purple

[FarmerGirl101]

Should I tube him for a flush or just only offer him water?

I’m getting the wormer tomorrow.

He ran from me and my boyfriend tonight and went to the coop to put himself to bed. He took a bit to decide how he wanted to fly up to roost and then had zero issue getting to his spot. He flies up to the highest roost spot in the coop. He even knocked one of the girls off that was trying to steal his spot.

Tubing isn't necessary but can be okay if he dislikes being handled as you must put water in him. Give him a good 2-4 tablespoons of water per hour. You should give him food too. For now don't give him any raw eggs if you do.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Valbazen or Safeguard Liquid Goat Wormer are the wormers that I would recommend. They get more worms than Wazine, which only gets roundworms. If you get safeGuard, give 1/4 ml per pound of weight for 3-5 days straight. Valbazen dosage is 1/2 -3/4 ml once, and repeat in 10 days. I would not recommend doing a flush in his stressed state. It might push him over the edge, since a flush can cause loose poops and dehydration.

No. This type of flush is with water

 

[Nambroth]

I hope he responds positively to the worming and that it's a simple fix. Sadly, he's at an age that roosters sometimes show signs of heart problems, especially in the larger breeds, as they mature. Let us know if he shows any other symptoms. You asked about Marek's a few posts back... yes, that is possible, and it can show up like this (fast growing lymphomas in the heart and lungs causing the blood to be oxygen-poor), but try other things first such as worming, in case you can help him out. If he doesn't make it (and I hope he does!!!) you might consider a necropsy so that you can learn what might have happened.

 

[Iriskandi]

Well it’s not a reliable update because my boyfriend has a habit of not being good at finding anything. But he could not find Elvis this morning when he let the birds out. I know he went to roost last night. But we coop them in a garage that we do not use. He could be hidden somewhere. And in all likelihood, he passed away last night.

I regret not getting medicine. I had hoped that my boyfriend’s report about him seeming slightly better was the case. When I was with him last night, in some ways he had declined. A heart issue that I couldn’t treat seemed like the most likely scenario. And I suppose that if he is gone, and worms was the cause, that he would have passed away last night regardless.

But I am still hoping to see him and his purple face when I get home. Unfortunately if he has passed away at some point overnight or today, it will likely be too hot to bother with a necropsy. I am not ruling out the idea however. He had just started really developing his crow and finding his spot in the flock with the boys. And he had formed a little group with his brooder mates where he would take care of them when his hormones weren’t in overdrive. I will miss that handsome guy if he is gone.

 

[Iriskandi]

Well he’s still alive and hanging out with his brooder mates. But it looks like he didn’t leave the garage today. I stopped for the safeguard as it was the only thing at my TSC. I’m going to have to guess his weight and dose him shortly. He’s declining. But hopefully it’s just worms, and I caught him just in time. He’s getting some special mash tonight with my other special needs birds. Sadly his brooder mates are also my special needs crew. They are a plucky little “sub-flock,” but definitely a ragtag little bunch of misfits. Fingers crossed that I can get him headed in the right direction!

 

[Iriskandi]

Well here’s the final update for the day. I gave him another dose of Nutri-Drench, and I did roughly .5-.7 ml of Safeguard. He’s not full grown, and I tried to give a tiny bit extra in case I was underestimating his weight.

My boyfriend put him on his roost tonight. When we came out to dose him after dinner, he had been hiding. I’m not 100% sure we should have placed him on his roost as opposed to letting him pick, but he seemed stable. It did give me the chance to feed him some dinner.

Good news is that I did not have to hand feed him tonight after he figured out what I was trying to do. He was very interested in my special mash. Tonight I mixed in a small amount of turmeric that I had been dosing a Marek’s patient with a few weeks ago. He ate a fair amount of the mash and had a decent sized crop when he decided he was finished. My boyfriend said that he watched him eat a little today as well. But I can guarantee he filled his crop once today. I noticed that he would take a few bites and seem to have to take a moment to breathe. His breathing is heavy but no panting. It rained again today and cooled things off a bit more. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler than the last week has been too. He sneezed about 6 times in the 45 minutes or so that I spent with him tonight. Twice there was noticeable clear “snot” that sprayed out. He sneezed twice while we had him out to dose him.

His face and wattles seem to be more of a mulberry color today. His comb is still quite purple and now ashy. As he was eating, I could tell he seemed more alert. I think he even gave me the stink eye a few times! He still isn’t talking to me. I have not heard him crow. But he wasn’t giving the same far off stare as the last 2 days. I did notice that the veins/arteries in his legs appear purple too. It’s not surprising to me considering his face.

I’m concerned about the sneezing. I read that I cannot give him antibiotics while I worm him. And I sure hope he doesn’t need them instead of the wormer. Is there anything I can give him for the sniffles while I worm him?

I did not witness any droppings today so unfortunately I can’t report on that.

I don’t know with this little guy. I thought he was gone for sure when he was missing this morning. I hope that he is actually pulling through. His expression seems to be better this evening. And I like that he wanted to eat tonight.

 

[Nambroth]

Forgive me, I might not have the "whole picture", so to speak. You have Marek's in your flock already? If so there's a bit more of a chance that you are dealing with it in your purple-combed rooster, given his age and symptoms. The lymphomas love to grow in the heart... It is still good that you wormed him though, because it might not be Marek's. It's also good that he's interested in food and water! I hope he makes it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since he is good sized, you could give him 1 1/2 ml of the SafeGuard which would be right for a 6 pound bird. Give it daily for 5 days to get the bad worms such as capillary worms. You can also give some Tylan as well, since he is looking pretty bad. Mareks could be a problem since it is in your flock, or he has some immunity problems due to Mareks. How do his eyes look—any color changes or changes in his pupil size or shape?

 

[Iriskandi]

I do have Marek’s in my flock. I have been dealing with it since about October of last year. So far I have only lost birds due to the “classic” paralysis followed by wasting and the skin lesion version. As far as I know I have not had any bird pass that had the ocular version. Though I have had a few birds that suddenly became ill and passed, which I attributed to either Marek’s or a secondary issue that Marek’s weakened them to that particular illness.

As far as Elvis is concerned, his eyes look normal. The pupils react normally as well. Nothing out of the ordinary. This morning’s report from my boyfriend was that he seemed fine. His face/comb was ever so slightly redder. My boyfriend sent me a snap video of him coming down from the roost. He seems to be lagging behind the group but made it down from the roost with no issues. He seemed more alert in the video too.

Eggcessive, do you mean 1.5 ml or one .5 ml dose a day for 5 days?

Thank you guys for the advice and help. I know he is still in the age range where Marek’s likes to strike so I am not fooling myself in that aspect. But I will keep fighting the good fight to help him get better as long as he still wants to fight. My only big concern right now is the sneezing.

 

[Eggcessive]

SafeGuard dosage is 0.23 ml per pound for 3-5 days, so I would give him 1.5 ml if he is good sized or about 6 pounds. You can also weigh him on scales, or hold him on the scales, and subtract your weight. There are some older posts that say to give 1/2 ml, but according to some later literature, more is better and safe.