rooster pneumonia

[farrier!]

We are not use to and were not ready for this cold. One of our roosters sounds a bit wheezy as he breathes. His buddy and their 5 hens are in the far reaches of the property in the coldest leanto. I am pretty sure he has pneumonia. Everyone else seems fine. I have some penicillin on hand. This type can be given subq, can I give him some subq? Also how much?

 

[ranchhand]

That is such a tough one to answer, because chickens get many respiratory illnesses and most, if not all, are highly contagious. Have you done a search for respiratory disease? Also do one for penicillin, I know the info is here somewhere.

You may want to remove that roo and isolate him to a warmer place. Check all the others too. Look for ANY other symptoms- runny nose, stinky discharge, eating or drinking?

 

[ranchhand]

Try to answer these guideline questions. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

They'll help others help you.

 

[farrier!]

No other birds have been in and I did try looking information p. Rooster is simply softly wheezing when stressed. 9 month old bird that has been vaccinated for Markes as a chick from a NIP certified flock.
I truly feel he was left out a bit and became stressed and cold. He has slight frostbite on him comb. He felt good enough to try flogging my daughter.

 

[purpletree23]

Tylan is best for respiratory issues. I use the water soluble kind. Some feed stores carry it but here in New Hampshire I had to buy it online. You should treat all the chickens because respiratory infections are very contagious.

Is there any way you can close up the lean to to keep them warmer? Stack hay bales and then wrap with a tarp? Anything? I know it's a bad year. Tonight our temp is going to be -1 degree with 35 mph winds.

Add protein to their regular feed (scrambled eggs or meat scraps) and add scratch everyday. It will help them generate more body heat.

 

[farrier!]

Quote:
Thanks! We are trying to make things warmer...more cold coming our way again.....
I will add some more feed and scrapes. Roads will be too bad tomorrow to try to find any of the Tylan. I might just treat the one roo with the pen and order some offline.