Rooster: is he lazy or sick?

olivia1649

In the Brooder
Jan 14, 2018
9
1
12
North East of England
Hope this is in the right place.

Penelope my only rooster (he was a surprise, so excuse the girl name!) constantly lies down to eaither eat scratch or poop, and he’s the only one I’ve noticed doing it. He doesn’t seem lethargic, is crowing non stop and loves running really fast when he gets to free range (while it’s hot they’re getting about 8 hours free ranging daily). He doesn’t seem to be in any pain although he has become much more afraid of me recently (I used to be able to pick any of them up very easily and they’d be happy to cuddle but recently all of them have become very timid and run away).

He’s an almost 13 week old welsummer if that helps. I just don’t know if this is normal!

Any suggestions is much appreciated.
 
Can you post some photos of him and his poop?

They’ve all roosted for the night and I don’t think they’d be very happy if I went out and disturbed them. His poop seems normal and all I’ve noticed is that the back of his legs look pretty red (although someone said this had something to do with mating and just this week he has started trying to mate with the girls). I’ll try and get some pictures of him in the morning, thank you very much for replying!
 
The reddish tinge to his legs is due to hormones, hence the beginning of mating attempts. The behavior could be due to the heat.
 
Have you examined him closely for any abnormalities and to look for external parasites?
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).



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