Rooster stopped crowing and eating

[Lanie1001]

Hi all. My 6 month old silkie rooster has stopped crowing, and eating, and is losing weight. Have been dewormed - no sign of coccidiosis or infectious coryza (do not want to give antibiotics unnecessarily). He is actually eating, but very little at a time. He seems to be molting - could this cause the poor appetite and him stopping to crow? Many thanks, appreciate all and any advice.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you tell us if you have other chickens or roosters? Is he being kept from food and water because he is meek or being bullied? I would take him aside and feed him separately dry feed, moistened feed, probiotic plain yogurt, tuna, and a little egg in moderation. Do you worm your chickens? Valbazen is very good.

 

[LaFleche]

Hi all. My 6 month old silkie rooster has stopped crowing, and eating, and is losing weight. Have been dewormed - no sign of coccidiosis or infectious coryza (do not want to give antibiotics unnecessarily). He is actually eating, but very little at a time. He seems to be molting - could this cause the poor appetite and him stopping to crow? Many thanks, appreciate all and any advice.

This could be one reason, but usually you will encouter other issues as well.

Is he able to see alright or does an overgrown head and beard impair his view, as often happens with Silkies and Polish?

Inspect him for poultry mites and lice, control the coop as well, best done when its dark and the mites will come out of the crevices to feed on the birds.

Inspect his feet for any lesions or scaly leg mites.

Feel his crop, does it feel rather bloated and squishy or hard like a golf ball? To help determine if his crop is emptying correctly, you could put him in a crate without bedding or feed and feel his crop early in the morning. It should have emptied completely.

 

[Lanie1001]

Hi there, thank you for your response. I have 4 other hens, no symptoms or signs of any sort. He is the only rooster. He is very meek, but not being bullied, all my hens adore him. I have seperated him many times, but he only eats two beakfulls and then stops. Doesn't matter what it is - egg, porridge, fruit, greens, etc, he just seems uninterested. I have wormed him, with a product I got from my local feed store (I'm in South Africa so options are limited for chickens). I add electrolyte and vitamins to their water everyday. He also seems a bit uncoordinated and off balance. Not mareks, had him by a vet who ruled out mareks, but said it was molting and worms after the deworming, he hasn't gotten any better though

 

[Lanie1001]

This could be one reason, but usually you will encouter other issues as well.

Is he able to see alright or does an overgrown head and beard impair his view, as often happens with Silkies and Polish?

Inspect him for poultry mites and lice, control the coop as well, best done when its dark and the mites will come out of the crevices to feed on the birds.

Inspect his feet for any lesions or scaly leg mites.

Feel his crop, does it feel rather bloated and squishy or hard like a golf ball? To help determine if his crop is emptying correctly, you could put him in a crate without bedding or feed and feel his crop early in the morning. It should have emptied completely.

Thank you for your reply. I can't see any signs of mites or lice, have checked his vent and his legs are nice and smooth, so I suspect also no scaly leg mites. His crop is always empty, no bad smell, so not impacted crop or sour crop. I was wondering if it could be a genetic issue? Have been giving vitamins in water, not seen a difference. And if it were a bacterial infection surely my othet chooks would show similar symptoms? He is slightly uncoordinated and off balance. I have cut his eyes open by trimming his crest and beard, still no difference. Wormed him (and the rest of flock), still no difference. Vets here are unfortunately very uninterested in chickens

 

[LaFleche]

Thank you for your reply. I can't see any signs of mites or lice, have checked his vent and his legs are nice and smooth, so I suspect also no scaly leg mites. His crop is always empty, no bad smell, so not impacted crop or sour crop. I was wondering if it could be a genetic issue? Have been giving vitamins in water, not seen a difference. And if it were a bacterial infection surely my othet chooks would show similar symptoms? He is slightly uncoordinated and off balance. I have cut his eyes open by trimming his crest and beard, still no difference. Wormed him (and the rest of flock), still no difference. Vets here are unfortunately very uninterested in chickens

Did you open his beak and inspect his oral cavity? Sometimes something gets stuck leading to loss of appetite.

Did you check his ears?

What kind of vitamins did you give, did they contain vitamin B complex(12+B1+B6 etc.) and Vitamin E?

And what exactly did you use for deworming and for how many days? Dosage?

 

[Lanie1001]

Did you open his beak and inspect his oral cavity? Sometimes something gets stuck leading to loss of appetite.

Did you check his ears?

What kind of vitamins did you give, did they contain vitamin B complex(12+B1+B6 etc.) and Vitamin E?

And what exactly did you use for deworming and for how many days? Dosage?

I have used the above for deworming - vet advised on 5 drops, and then 5 drops again 8 days later. Both treatments finished this past Sunday.

I have opened his beak, cannot see anything out of sorts, no sores. Can't see much into his throat, he blocks me with his tongue. I am thinking possibly gape worm? He does a funny motion with his neck after eating, like from side to side, but only after eating, and he doesn't gape or stretch his neck at other times. Breathing sounds fine as well. If something is stuck though, how would I get it out if I can't see it? Is there something I can feed him to get it down like bread?

I'm not too sure how to check his ears?

Vitamins as per below.