*****ROOSTER Will Not EAT *****

[HappyHippyChick]

Hi, My one year old rooster will not eat. He takes care of the 4 hens and only seems to feed his hens I checked on him a couple of months ago and his 'pocket' was empty and his chest was almost completely no muscle. I put him in a cage and force fed him for a week and then his pocket was full. So now, it is the same thing. I brought him inside and showed him some food and he would not eat. He is so scrawny. I tried putting something in his mouth and was afraid I might choke him. I am not sure if he has something wrong in his neck or what. I just do not know what to do. It's so strange.

 

[nuthatched]

The pocket is called his crop.
What do you feed your birds, have you ever wormed?

 

[HappyHippyChick]

They are 11 months old and I haven't seen any thing about worms. I check the poop and their skin and I haven't seen any critters. They had organic layer feed for 2 months, and then agrimaster layer pellets for 2 months and now Kalmbach feeds Extra ordinary layer feed. But this has been going on for months he just does not want to eat. One hen is glutten and has a huge crop and I have to lock her up as she steals the food all the time. But there is always food out. She steals the treats like small meat, little cheese chunks, greens. And then the rooster will not eat hardly at all he is so skinny.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

He kinda has his beak open a little as if there was something in the throat or what?

 

[CoopBoots]

Is he lethargic and sitting around, or does he follow the hens and flirt with them, etc? A picture or video could help.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

This is from the summer but he seems dumpy. I can't get a current picture to load up. His tail has always been low but he does seem he is normal. He interacts with the hens and seems ok but he refuses to eat. He took a dust bath today. But he has almost zero chest muscle. But, when I tried to put some food in his mouth he opened his beak and it kinda seemed he wasn't able to breath . It just his beak was kinda open and he wouldn't swallow.

 

[LaFleche]

What breed is your rooster? Please upload some pictures of him for us to see.

With some layer breeds or hybrids the males stay rather scrawny not matter what you feed them.

You could serve him some scrambled eggs with millet and rolles oats twice a week, but take him somewhere he will not be able to see nor hear the females, so he will be able to eat dinner in peace.

Edit as you just uploaded. He seems to be a faverolle which ususally put on some weight if given the right feed and proper deworming.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

I haven't been able to load up the images. It may be that I have too many images on the computer. But he is a favorelle which I bought at a farm close by. And 4 hens. So, he does seem to be a perfect gentleman but I am concerned. I remember last month I had him in the basement and he did put on a little more weight. So yes I will make some scrambled eggs. Should I try worming? If so is there a good product? All of the hens seem to be ok and the white one is chunky . lol I will put another mage of them from last summer.

 

[HappyHippyChick]

Thank You everybody. I will keep my eye on him and separate him for a few days to see if he will eat without the hens around. I guess he is ok but I will just need to entice him with some other good foods like scrambled eggs.

 

[CoopBoots]

Thank You everybody. I will keep my eye on him and separate him for a few days to see if he will eat without the hens around. I guess he is ok but I will just need to entice him with some other good foods like scrambled eggs.

Just one thing, and sorry if I misunderstood, but I wouldn't totally separate him from his ladies unless you determine he has something contagious or the hens are actively harming him in some way. I think separating him just for meals might be a really great strategy! But you don't want him going through extra stress or depression away from the flock if he's already a little frail/under the weather. They get really attached to the hens so I don't isolate for any length of time unless it's required for a specific treatment.

Keep us updated! He's a very handsome fellow. Wishing you both all the best!