My tiny little bantam rooster's comb has drooped over and is paler than his waddles. 4.5 months old and comb has always been nice perky red. He's about 2/3 the size of the other bantams, including the hen. I thought it was just floppy until it started to get lighter. Last few days he started to breathe heavily, occasionally so heavy that his fancy tail feathers pump up and down. He eats, drinks, and likes to roam around the yard. He's spry enough to be challenging to catch. When the flock o' 4 runs he can't keep up, he's running to catch up. -eyes are bright -beak and nasal look healthy, no mucous. -legs and feet look great. -no sign of injury or being pecked. Flock gets along great. Coop/protected-run at night and part of the day. He gets a minimum of 8 hours to roam with the flock. Organically maintained backyard. Keep the coop, water and feed fresh and dry. He's a sweet little guy, can't stand to be even a few feet away from the other two roosters and hen. Since he was a chick he distressfully chirps when any of the chicks/chickens, himself included, were separated. ('Guaranteed' gals, 3 are roosters and 1 is a hen, but that's another story.) Is there something I can do for him? There aren't any vets in our county that work with chickens, which is odd being that I'm in a ag community. Thanks in advance for advice.
Poor little guy. It sounds like a respiratory infection which can be pretty confusing. I was just looking at another thread that listed some helpful links in the 3rd post. Check it out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7459213#p7459213
One of my young bantam roos just had his comb turn purplish/pale then recover when I treated for worms. I treated for worms because I saw one in the poo. The next day after giving Wazine, his comb was already looking better. Now it is almost recovered back to normal (several days later). You might inspect the poo as a safeguard. Also another thing that can cause anemia (and if you are anemic you can breathe heavily) is mites, as they suck the blood out. Some vets will do a fecal test for worms for a small fee. You can do a search on here for pale comb to see similar threads if you wish.
Check Dawg53's posts here on worming. I believe the dose for a small bird including Silkies (and you'll want to treat them all) would be 1/4 ml or 1/4 cc each. Repeat in 7-10 days. Don't put it off. Let us know what you think.
Thank you for suggestions. I will follow through. I'm worried about my tiny guy, he has a lot of spunk. I looked more closely and it would be more accurate to say he is HALF the size of the other bantams. With his big personality and showy tail he is like the Jack Russell Terriers of chickens.
