Rooster Behavior

[Amey73]

What exactly is that?

Layer feed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Rocky was perfectly fine when we got the other Rooster. We got the other Rooster because my Niece has to get rid of him or her parents would cull him (her parents didn’t want to take care of him). The rooster is young probably 2 yrs old If that.

I love Rocky!!! And I never knew I could Love a Rooster as much as I love him! He is a handsome Rooster and he loves to take care of his ladies.

I’m thinking Rocky is just stressed.... we will be giving the Rooster back to see how Rocky acts. But for now Rocky is in the garage and we let him out when we got home.

We are very responsible pet owners .... they are all my kids... can’t help it... that’s how we roll. Lol.

Well, there's nothing that says you can't keep the new rooster. If he goes back, then it sounds like he's goner. Is he healthy and doing o.k.?
I do think that something is wrong with Rocky and he needs extra attention, stress could be part of the problem too.

Do you free range or keep your birds in run/coops?
Rocky may do better with a flock of his favorite ladies and let the younger fella have a group of ladies all his own.

I'm sorry if there was any indication that you did not care for Rocky, that was not the intention at all.

Is Rocky eating/drinking o.k and acting normal when he is by himself? If you have him in the garage, he may like some company, if he's got a couple of favorite ladies to stay or visit with him.

 

[Amey73]

Well, there's nothing that says you can't keep the new rooster. If he goes back, then it sounds like he's goner. Is he healthy and doing o.k.?
I do think that something is wrong with Rocky and he needs extra attention, stress could be part of the problem too.

Do you free range or keep your birds in run/coops?
Rocky may do better with a flock of his favorite ladies and let the younger fella have a group of ladies all his own.

I'm sorry if there was any indication that you did not care for Rocky, that was not the intention at all.

Is Rocky eating/drinking o.k and acting normal when he is by himself? If you have him in the garage, he may like some company, if he's got a couple of favorite ladies to stay or visit with him.

I’m sorry I don’t mean to sound like I took offense lol. We just love Rocky . Rocky hasn’t been eating much nor drinking much. We keep them on their run while we are at work and then we let them out to free range ( in a huge fenced in area). They love it. Rocky hasn’t shown much interest in being with the flock since we have the new Rooster. Today we let a hen out with Rocky and he did do somewhat better but he still wasn’t himself. He did drink water tonight and I think it’s the most I’ve seen him drink. We have thought about putting one of his girls in the big kennel with him. Ricky just isn’t himself. He is always standing at attention, when he finds food he shares with the ladies, he is always scratching around, he runs when we call his name, he makes little noises when he eat or when he sees something in the sky and he hasn’t done any of that since we got the new Rooster. My niece is going to take the new Rooster and a couple of The hens back to her house when they get home from Spring Break then we will put Rocky back in the run with the girls and see what he does.

I’m sorry I’m such a worry wart about Rocky but he is definitely not the happy go lucky guy he was. He hasn’t even crowed. Here is a picture of him. He just stands there like that. He may walk around and rub his beak on the ground. Today I gave him a little bit of Tuna and he ate a little and he did drink out of the waterer some.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’m sorry I don’t mean to sound like I took offense lol. We just love Rocky . Rocky hasn’t been eating much nor drinking much. We keep them on their run while we are at work and then we let them out to free range ( in a huge fenced in area). They love it. Rocky hasn’t shown much interest in being with the flock since we have the new Rooster. Today we let a hen out with Rocky and he did do somewhat better but he still wasn’t himself. He did drink water tonight and I think it’s the most I’ve seen him drink. We have thought about putting one of his girls in the big kennel with him. Ricky just isn’t himself. He is always standing at attention, when he finds food he shares with the ladies, he is always scratching around, he runs when we call his name, he makes little noises when he eat or when he sees something in the sky and he hasn’t done any of that since we got the new Rooster. My niece is going to take the new Rooster and a couple of The hens back to her house when they get home from Spring Break then we will put Rocky back in the run with the girls and see what he does.

I’m sorry I’m such a worry wart about Rocky but he is definitely not the happy go lucky guy he was. He hasn’t even crowed. Here is a picture of him. He just stands there like that. He may walk around and rub his beak on the ground. Today I gave him a little bit of Tuna and he ate a little and he did drink out of the waterer some.

Poor guy He is not feeling well at all.
Is his crop empty by morning?
It looks like he's suffered some Frostbite, but I feel like he something going on with him just from that stance alone.
Just for curiosity which antibiotic did the vet give you? Is he improving a bit with that, has his poop started looking better? Yellow urates, can be infection or indication of reduced liver function.

I know you went to the vet and got a good examination, I'm not questioning any of that, just thinking typing here - you have mentioned him rubbing his beak on the ground a couple of times - have you looked inside his beak to make sure it's clear of canker and lesions? Any yellowish spots inside the beak or throat?

 

[Shadrach]

I wouldn't have thought stress alone would account for the colour and constancy of the poop you describe. A bit of diarrhea perhaps.
Often it's not until you register that a chickens behavior isn't normal that you examine them for signs of ill health. Chickens are masters of looking fine until they are very sick.

What stress can do is bring underlying health problems that were being coped with before to a point of illness.
So, is it possible that Rocky has been pooping green and yellow poop for a while and you just haven't noticed?
Poop such as you describe can and often is a sign of liver and kidney problems.
Roosters that are fed layer feed can develop such problems largely unnoticed until they are very sick.
The problem is the high level of calcium in the layer feed. A rooster has no way of processing it and over time it often causes liver and kidney damage. Damage to these organs can't be seen and the organs still function, until the damage reaches a critical level and with some of the roosters here in the past they are beyond help when this critical level is reached and they die. It's not until a necropsy is done that the damage is apparent.
So, even if I'm wrong and Rocky isn't suffering from liver and/or kidney damage you shouldn't be feeding him layers pellets. They will shorten his life.
Layers pellets as it says on the packet and in the name are meant for laying hens; not roosters, not chicks and not older hens who only lay a few eggs a year.

 

[Amey73]

Thanks everyone...... Rocky passed away tonight . He wasn’t really standing up by himself but he was drinking water. I tried to clear his crop and he did get some stuff up but after that he just went down hill fast.

I feel like the worlds worst Mom. But I did try everything I could think of. I do believe he was going to go in the next few days.

We had to let him go and we did it in the most humain way possible and he is buried next to K and F the other chickens that passed away on us last summer and he was wrapped in a thick blanket. . Rocky was definitely loved. Rocky was 7 years old and here is a picture of him when we got him in May .

 

[Mimi13]

Thanks everyone...... Rocky passed away tonight . He wasn’t really standing up by himself but he was drinking water. I tried to clear his crop and he did get some stuff up but after that he just went down hill fast.

I feel like the worlds worst Mom. But I did try everything I could think of. I do believe he was going to go in the next few days.

We had to let him go and we did it in the most humain way possible and he is buried next to K and F the other chickens that passed away on us last summer and he was wrapped in a thick blanket. . Rocky was definitely loved. Rocky was 7 years old and here is a picture of him when we got him in May .

I’m very sorry about Rocky. He obviously had something going on that he finally just couldn’t handle. He was a beautiful roo.

 

[Amey73]

Thank you. I feel like I killed him because I was trying to empty his crop but he was also barely standing today.

I feel awful!!

 

[Mimi13]

Thank you. I feel like I killed him because I was trying to empty his crop but he was also barely standing today.

I feel awful!!

Please don’t beat yourself up over it. You know in your heart you would never have intentionally hurt Rocky. No matter how long we keep chickens there will always be new learning experiences. This may have been an instance where you learned something, but Rocky obviously wasn’t well and you tried to help. Just remember he is no longer sick or in pain and you did your best to help him.

 

[Amey73]

Thank you! He wasn’t going to make it a few days longer. He was the best Rooster ever! I’ve never met a more loving rooster like Rocky. And I was always afraid if Roosters until we got Rocky. He did live a great life and I believe he was 7 years old.