Rooster is very light-weighted ...Help?

[77horses]

I was camping all week and left my family (parents and siblings) to care for my chickens...3 young chicks, Hope, May and Jasmine, 1 Bantam hen, Pumpkin, and 1 young rooster, Ivory. The younger chicks have just recently recovered from a cocci outbreak. I treated them all with CORID (liquid solution in their water). Only the 3 young chicks became sick...The hen and rooster showed no illness symptoms.

Ivory was a runt as a chick...His growth was stunted due to a poor diet before he was switched to a better diet and after that he grew dramatically and just about caught up to his regular size at the age he was at...although he was smaller than he should have been. Nevertheless, he has always been healthy and active, despite his stunted growth. The only problems he had was once in a while, mostly on rainy days, he would act lethargic when it was time to roost for the night. He would seem very tired and his comb would be very pale, and the tips of his comb would be slightly purple-colored.

But he always got over it by the next day and was fine.

Just yesterday I noticed, when I got back from camping all week, that he felt very light (almost lighter than the younger month-old chicks). He acts healthy and normal, but the bone under his stomach is VERY noticeable (if you gently move all the feathers out of the way). It is sticking out far, which is strange because usually it is able to be felt but not that much.

His crop is always very small, even if I know he eats plenty everyday. I was told that my siblings fed him enough everyday, so I don't know if maybe they didn't give him enough or he wasn't able to eat for some reason.

All of the chickens always have fresh food and water everyday. They all mostly live on grower mash (non-medicated), anything else they find while free ranging, and any other small treats (oatmeal, cooked eggs, etc.) they get during the day. For some reason, Ivory doesn't really like the medicated feed very much. It's powdery and dry, so I usually mix water with it to make it mushy and easier to eat (which really does work because he eats it better like that). I know that usually roosters don't eat grower mash, but since the younger chicks eat it, they all just eat from the same bowl.

So anyway, I'm going to buy a bag of cracked corn for him to eat as well...that should add some fat to his diet (since cracked corn is fattening). That will hopefully help him gain more weight.

More information that may help: Ivory is a Splash Cochin/Buff Orpington mix (standard) and he was hatched in an incubator (on day 22 with no problems whatsoever), none of the other eggs hatched (there were 2 others...it was a test hatch, which is why I only used a total of 3 eggs). He is 156 days old (about 22 1/2 weeks, or a little over 5 months) as of July 4th, 2010. His droppings look normal and healthy...no worms, no blood, etc. His eyes are clear and bright, his vent is clear (no pasty butt), and he's showing no signs of illness. Please look at my other post (about his awkward, drooping wing) here for more information, in case his awkward wing and light-weight is related somehow: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4460629#p4460629
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UPDATE: 7/4/10- Ivory seems to be much more energetic and healthy today (see post #3). He even seems heavier than before...

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I will add some more info later...

Thanks!

 

[usschicago1]

Im sorry Your Rooster has a bad heart

Purple combs almost always indicate that

He may live long but i suspect his heart problems are causing other problems, im not too sure if there is a cure

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Yes, that's what I was thinking too.

But lately ever since I started really paying attention to what he eats and how much he eats, he has gotten much better.

Today his crop is much fuller and he's more energetic; foraging more and eating more enthusiastically. I'm going to buy cracked corn today because that should give him more energy and add more fat to his diet, hopefully.

I don't think his heart condition is that bad, though, because it only happens (when he gets sick and his comb turns purple) every once in a while...maybe once in a month, more/less every month...And he gets over it within a day.

So I'm hoping it's not that bad...What could have caused him to have a "bad heart"?

Thanks!

 

[77horses]

UPDATE: I switched Ivory to a cracked corn diet (along with free-ranging and other treats) last week and within a week he has dramatically improved! He is gaining more weight everyday, his crop is always full now, he doesn't let his right wing hang down all the time, he's stronger and MUCH more active...he enthusiastically forages and takes sun baths and dirt baths and is beginning to act like a normal, healthy rooster.

All because I started feeding him cracked corn...I guess the growing mash that he was eating (sharing with the 2-month old chicks) really wasn't enough for him to eat, because his crop was always empty, and was contributing to all his other problems.

Now I'm just waiting for his comb/wattles to grow out more (and they're beginning to become more red now, rather than pale, the way they used to be), his tale to grow out more, etc. and he hasn't crowed in a long time (ever since he got sick) so maybe he'll start crowing in the morning again, too.

Thanks everyone and so far, I think the cracked corn really is helping him! He, along with the three chicks and Pumpkin, seems very happy right now and doing well.