Rooster seems to be lame from frostbite, but there is no evidence of it on his legs

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Yesterday night I noticed one of our eight month old Colombian Rocks hadn't seemed to have moved all day, and after checking his crop it was apparent he hadn't eaten. Today he did not want to stand and when I forced him to he had little balance and laid back down.

From what I've read online it sounds like he has gotten frostbite in his legs, but there is no visual evidence of it. We just got out of a long cold snap with wind chills of -40 and highs of -22C (-7F) and all of the roosters have gotten severe frostbite on their crows and wattles, but their legs seem fine. They have a sheltered area and heated coop, but still succumbed to the cold. He was on antibiotics at the time of his sudden illness.

I was wondering if it could be frostbite to his legs without there being any visual evidence of it?

Thanks,
Alt

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Ive rarely seen frostbite without some evidence of necrosis in the tissue. I think he's probably got something else going on there.

What was he on antibiotics for when he started acting this way?

 

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Unfortunately the poor fellow passed away this morning.

Our flock was on Neo-Chlor which contains neomycin and tetracycline and was recommended to us by a vet who said we should be giving it to them once a year. We used it because we have another sick chicken that we were hoping to get well.

I am wondering now if somehow a substance called Stop-Pick had something to do with his death. You are supposed to put it on their crowns and wattles to discourage other chickens from peaking them and also to help them heal. I applied it to the roosters crown and the next day the frostbite looked twice as bad, but here's the thing; he is the only chicken I gave it to.
It contains Aloes, Gentian, Cayenne Pepper, Juniper Tar, and petroleum.



Rest in Peace, Second Lieutenant

 

[Nambroth]

I don't think that the Stop-Pick had anything to do with it; it seems pretty unlikely, as the ingredients shouldn't cause what you experienced.

Did you vet tell you to give the antibiotic once a year regardless of the health of your birds? Needlessly giving antibiotics actually causes more problems than it solves. I understand that this time you were dealing with another sick bird, can you tell us what symptoms the other sick chicken has?

I'm very sorry for the loss of your rooster, that is always hard. My condolences. If it were my birds, I would be very concerned about disease, as several can manifest in the way you described your rooster. Do you know if he was vaccinated for Marek's disease? Have you brought any new chickens home in the last 6 months or so?

 

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Thank you for your thoughts.

They did say to give it to them regardless of their health, which I was hesitant about but my father supported the idea. The currently sick chicken is showing signs of Gapeworm which the Neo-Chlor was supposed to kill. Its been two days since she came off it and hasn't shown any improvement yet. This chicken has been sick since about September, which is about when we realized for some cruel twist of fate she has no tongue. I don't know if this is causing her symptoms of sickness or not. She sleeps a lot, is lethargic stays away from the others usually, stretches out her neck struggling to breath and sometimes sneezes/coughs.

I do not believe any of them were vaccinated, and we have not brought any new birds in.