Rooster seems ill, how do I help him?

[CelticArche]

I have a frizzy rooster named Goodnight. I think he's 1 or 2 years old. The last two weeks he's seemed listless, laying in the sun and not really doing much. No one else seems to be affected, though we had a Dominique male and 2 older Dominique chicks die suddenly on us.

Goodnight's skin feels dry and rough. We checked his breathing with a stethoscope, and his lungs sound clear. There's no nasal discharge, his ears are clear as are his nostrils. We put him in quarantine today, and noticed he was skinnier than he used to be. I checked his comb and wattles, and they feel dry and rough. We gave him a shot of Tylan 50, .50cc using an insulin syringe.

There are no obvious signs of trauma, either to him or to the chickens that suddenly died. We've placed him inside the spare bathroom, on a cotton towel, with his own bit of water and food. He seems to be drinking and eating normally. We provided him with a heat lamp, as he seemed cold.

We'd like to treat him as much as we can ourselves, as we're poor but love our flock. We just moved him and the other chickens from their previous location in a much larger run to a 10' by 10' cage with an old camper shell as a housing place. The camper shell is on a frame of wood and chicken wire. As we have 3 males, we have plans to split the flock up into 3 separate cages so there's no fighting. Right now they're all together, and we have 2 hens sitting on nests.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post some photos?
What does his poop look like?
Have you added any new chickens to your flock recently?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
How many chickens did you move to the smaller area and how long after the move did he become ill?

I'm sorry he is not feeling well. There are so many things that can go wrong it's hard to know what's going on with him. Try to keep him hydrated, offer poultry vitamins to his water and see that he is drinking.

If you have a vet that test some fresh poop samples that would be a good idea.

 

[CelticArche]

He hasn't pooped since he was isolated. All poop seemed fine in the coop.
He was listless before we moved him.
We feed them Purina layena pellets.
The only new chickens are the chicks that have hatched last month, though we do have some ducklings that we got last month as well, but they're not sharing a cage.

 

[CelticArche]

https://goo.gl/photos/xRTh1yfJFAGwXK4ZA
https://goo.gl/photos/8KrbFeLGX5SLjGg46
https://goo.gl/photos/Eptzgy395HofG7As5

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He's 1 or 2 years old?
It's been a few hours since your last post, has he pooped yet?

Check his crop to see if it's functioning properly. Full at night, empty in the morning before eating/drinking.

 

[CelticArche]

Yes. You see, my great uncle owned a bird farm and this year he decided to get rid of all of his birds. He told my mom and me that we could keep some, so I picked out Goodnight, a Brahma rooster I named Billy, and an Easter Egger I named Blackberry. Mom picked out the rest of the hens, and there were a couple stragglers that we kept because the couple who got the rest of his birds didn't come for them. So I know he was around last year, but I don't know his exact hatch year.

His poo, according to a link I got some time ago from BYC, is good.

I did notice that he was missing feathers just today from the back end and the skin there is also very dry. He is, however, far more alert and active than he was yesterday. I didn't check him this morning, so I don't know how his crop was, but he seems to be eating and drinking well.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would inspect his skin around the vent and belly for mites or lice. If you see evidence of them, permethrin spray or garden dust is good for that, used at least twice 7-10 days apart. Coccidiosis could be a possible problem when exposed to a different soil. Corid (amprollium) from the feed store is good to treat that, and won't harm him or the others to treat their water for 7 days (1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water.) He make be getting picked on or kept from food and water, so spend some time watching their behavior. Make sure they have enough room, and most chickens love to free range during daytime which helps if there is a bullying problem. The extra roosters do need to be separated or they will fight.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Coccidiosis could be a possible problem when exposed to a different soil. Corid (amprollium) from the feed store is good to treat that, and won't harm him or the others to treat their water for 7 days (1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water.)

This!

 

[CelticArche]

Coccidiosis could be a possible problem when exposed to a different soil. Corid (amprollium) from the feed store is good to treat that, and won't harm him or the others to treat their water for 7 days (1 1/2 tsp per gallon of water.)

Is Corid safe for chicks, or would we have to separate the chicks from the adults? Some are almost 6 months old. Some are nearing a monthish.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Corid is safe to give to chickens of all ages. Same dosage applies to everyone.