Rooster Keeps Head Down - What's Wrong?

[carolMI]

Hi. I have a 3 yr, old Silkie rooster (Mickey) who was recently badly beat-up on the head by an young 8 mo. old rooster (I suspect because not enough hens). The young rooster has a nice new home and I nursed Mickey back to health. After a few days, he made a great recovery, acting like a normal rooster, head feathers growing back. He's been doing great....until yesterday, when I noticed he wasn't acting right. He holds his head down with his rear up in the air (see attached photo), has labored breathing and shakes his head quite a bit. Any one know what's wrong and what I need to do to get him right? Thanks so much.

 

[Eggcessive]

My guess is that he has some neurological symptoms, perhaps similar to wry neck (torticolis, crook neck.) A vet may be able to help him if possible. You could also give him some poultry nutri-drench, which contains vitamin E and selenium, used to treat wry neck. Adding water to his feed, and wrapping him in a towel, may help to get enough food and water into him several times a day. A vet might want to prescribe prednisolone or prednisone to help him. Let us know how he gets along.