I posted about my sick rooster, but got no replies. Came home from picking up my granddaughter at school and checked on him and he was dead. Still not sure what happened to him. He suddenly couldn't walk, had foul smelling diarrhea, and was gasping for air. Do you think it would be okay to dose the rest of the flock with a broad spectrum antibiotic, just in case? Can I also give them medicated feed at the same time? And I want to put some apple cider vinegar in the water too. Is there anything else I can do? (We have five "regular" chickens left, and six silkies, which are in a different pen. I don't want anything happening to my silkies. They're like our pets.)
Lisa, I don't really have any answers for you since I'm not really clear myself on what to do with this situation. (I am just about to post about something similar and have similar questions) I just wanted to say that on this message board/forum, there are so many requests that you have to keep bouncing up your post to the top by making some sort of note in your thread.. a lot of people just post the word "bump" to show that you still need help.... that way, someone will see it and hopefully chime in. Its just that there are so many requests, and not everyone knows how to help. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that and you didn't feel like you were being ignored. I'm sorry for your rooster. Its tough to loose a bird, and scary to think what could happen to the rest if something is going around. My young laying barnevelder hen who is not even a year old died this morning- I have no idea what happened at all and I'm now going to wonder if and how to treat my flock. If I can offer any advice, I'd say that I too use apple cider vinegar in the water, but something tells me that you shouldn't have that in the medicated water if that is the route of prevention/treatment you are going to go. Also, when i hear of a bird not being able to walk, I think of two things I've heard of- one is mereks disease and the other is poisoning of some sort. I don't know what the weather is like in your area, but if they are free ranging right now could your rooster have gotten into something bad to eat? Anything rotten anywhere? Has the water bowls been disinfected and cleaned lately? Fresh water? Did you just open a new bag of feed?= sometimes I hear that the food can be bad and it can cause poisoning in birds. Anyway, that is not much help. I DO believe you should treat your birds to an anti-biotic just in case. I just don't know with what medication. I think Duramyacin 10 is pretty common route to try. However, If its viral, that's not going to help much. Mereks is a serious awful disease. I think it might only effect the young birds though, but it can devastate a flock. I don't know much about it other than that. If you research it you might find some more info about it. I hope that is not what happened, but do some internet searches on the main symptoms. I hope this works out for the best for you, and I'm sorry for you loss. (P.s. it is good that your silkies are in a different location.. try and practice some bio-protection just in case. You don't' want to spread anything to them.)
I would never give chickens medication unless you KNOW what you are treating, nor would I give them medicated feed. I actually just posted in your original thread with some stuff you can do for your remaining flock. Again, very sorry to hear of your loss. MrsB