Rooster emergency - help

[juliadoyle]

My 9 mo old rooster is worrying me. A couple days ago I noticed he wasn't roosting with my 10 chickens as he ususally does. I saw him trying to hop up to the roost but he couldn't do it. He kept dipping up and down then would try an unsuccessful jump. He ended up sleeping under the roost on the floor, in a corner. The next evening he tried again. I put him on the lower roost but he seemed to be off balance. He slept on the floor again. My son came home from school that day and called me immediately as he saw the rooster lying on its side trying to lift his neck up (he thought he was dead until he saw him move). I told him to separate him ASAP and bring him to the garage, which then he was walking again. He stayed there overnight and I found him the next afternoon roaming with the flock (I left the garage door open before I left for work-he was hidden). We checked his legs and wings for any injuries..nothing visible. Now he seems like his old self but still not jumping to the roost. I was so worried but there wasn't much more that I knew to do for him. We live in NH, still cold, just had daylight savings (trying to think of possible reasons). The coop is pretty secure from predators. Although I did notice a piece of material that is inside covering the open eve, was pushed in. Their roost is connected to that part of the eve.

He is a great protector and we all love him, especially his ladies! Has anyone experienced this?

 

[centrarchid]

Handle him to check his weight.

 

[juliadoyle]

I will do that. Can you tell me what that will represent? I have never weighed him before.

 

[juliadoyle]

I can't catch him right now. My husband just said that he did feel thinner when we checked him out, but not significant enough for him to be concerned at the time.

 

[centrarchid]

His inability to get to roost is serious.

Your having difficulty catching him is good but effort to catch him anyway. Feel keel / breastbone. Look closely at appearance of flesh on head and the eyes. Confine him so you can look at his feces.

How is his appettite and interest in water?

 

[juliadoyle]

My husband just caught him with no problems. He wasn't flailing like he normally would, just let us handle him. His eyes are clear with his normal red color. We felt him all over and he didn't budge. Comb and head all look good. He is approx 6lbs today. He was crowing this morning while foraging, but it sounded rough, similar when his crow sounded off a few months ago, but we were told that was 'puberty'. He definitely has a smaller mass than last fall. We are isolating him and will check his feces.

 

[centrarchid]

Look carefully at feces to see if it looks runny.

 

[juliadoyle]

We found a vet to test his stool. Negative for everything. I was told to check him for mites/lice. Sure enough, they are sucking the life out of him. Do you have any suggestions? I am giving him food with iron and protein. I was told seven dust bath. Do yu have any recommendations to treat and prevent? We will have to treat the whole flock and the coop. I just hope we can get him back to good health. As of today, his comb is good and hardly any feather loss. I think it is early stages. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[centrarchid]

Mixing sevin dust in location birds dust in should do trick. For long-term look into providing a better dusting site.