Rooster Not Right - Circling, Stumbling.......

[heath_elisha]

Hi- My favorite bird of all time is a 3.5 year old mix. He has had a rough year.... frost bite last winter, a broken leg this summer, and now this...... he is acting different for sure. It appears as though he has something going on in the brain- he circles, stumbles, carries his wings different, sits on his hocks, and just is overall not acting himself. Problem I suspect is moldy grain. I had a bag that had some random small chunks in it- thinking nothing of it, I took those few chunks out and fed the feed to the flock. Now I thinking that it may have caused his problems. The hens are all fine with the exception of pastey butt that they acquired this week (during the time they ate that feed) I have since been able to get a refund on the grain, gave them fresh grain and added electrolytes and probiotics to their water. Another suggestions???????? I fear we will have to put Big Red down if this continues. I don't want him to suffer........

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

If you suspect moldy food was the cause, you could be dealing with botulism. Here is a link with more information. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism See if the symptoms match. Unfortunately there's not much information in this article on treatment. You might want to search this sire for more treatment information. Hopefully others with more experience than I with this will come along.

 

[heath_elisha]

I thank you for your help. Not sure if it is this or not- at least not that bad yet anyways. He does seem to have something going on with his body- but it is like one second he is normal, then the next he is carrying his wings different and he starts circling and almost falling down. Shakes his head from time to time too. He was resting on his hocks again tonight- very strange. Either way- I hope that he recovers.

 

[casportpony]

I thank you for your help. Not sure if it is this or not- at least not that bad yet anyways. He does seem to have something going on with his body- but it is like one second he is normal, then the next he is carrying his wings different and he starts circling and almost falling down. Shakes his head from time to time too. He was resting on his hocks again tonight- very strange. Either way- I hope that he recovers.

Could be Merek's. And yes, older chickens do get Merek's.

 

[heath_elisha]

kinda reminds me of a seizure.......... he is blinking a lot this morning and did not crow this morning

 

[heath_elisha]

An update: Although I treated for mites recently, he apparently did not get treated well enough. He was LOADED. I fear that the mites may be causing all the issues he is having. So far I have have added electrolytes and probiotics to the water, given scrambled eggs with oatmeal, garlic, applesauce and a dose of Rooster Booster Poultry Cell - which is basically a great multivitamin. Plus a good dose of Prozap Permethrin Insectrin Dust. I am hoping all these things give him the boost he needs to heal on the inside. We are on night three of these "treatments" and tonight I must say he was harder to catch then he has been. More vocal today too. And his "episodes" which kinda remind me of seizures do not seem so intense.

 

[casportpony]

Chickens can also get mites under the skin... Subcutaneous mite infestation is what the avian pathologist said it was on one of my dead chickens.

 

[heath_elisha]

Chickens can also get mites under the skin... Subcutaneous mite infestation is what the avian pathologist said it was on one of my dead chickens.

Oh yuck. Sounds terrible!!!

 

[Sunflower]

Hope he continues to get better!

My chickens all ended up with mites & lice and I had a very sick rooster too. Too get rid of the mite problem on my rooster quickly, as I didn't want to load him up with a bunch of pesticides when he was sick, was to give him a warm bath. It did the trick with the bugs, that's for sure. Since he didn't feel good anyway, I could easily use the blow dryer on low on him and then set him on a low setting on a heating pad to make sure he didn't chill. He ended up not making it,(he either had a lung infection or heart failure) but at least those suckers weren't pestering him during his last days. I hate bugs!!!

 

[seminolewind]

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