Rooster With Possible Heat Stroke - Any Suggestions???

[ThePamperedPullet]

A friend of ours brought over a young rooster tonight to check it out for them. They got it today from a friend of theirs who said that his other roosters kept beating it up. So our friends took it to their house and had it in a cage in their garage where they keep another roo that we are treating for bumblefoot. The new roo was up walking around and crowing like normal and didn't show any signs of distress. The next time they went out to the garage to check on him he is flopped over on the ground. She picked him up and he was kicking and his head was flopping around.
OK now he is here at our place. He is aprox 6 months old. He is very lathargic. Eyes closed most of the time. Cannot stand. If I pick him up and hold him in a standing position, he will open his eyes for a very short time. His head is still flopping around when he struggles, kind of like you would think he was having a seizure. I can get him to drink from a dropper. And he has eaten a bit of yogurt. I have given him Poly-Vi-Sol twice in 3 hours. No signs of trauma and he was not in the same cage as the other roo, he was by himself. No poo so I don't know what that looks like yet. Comb and waddle are both red as should be. Breathing appears to be normal.
Never had a chicken with heatstroke so I don't know what the common signs are.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Eric

 

[allmypeeps]

What makes you think heat stroke....how hot was it in the garage?

Was he free in the garage? was there anything he could have pecked at that could be toxic as in oil, chemicals, rat poison etc etc...

also feel his crop for any sharp/foreign objects or mass of wadded hay etc...

take his temp if possible to see if he's running a fever...normal temp for poultry is 105 I believe....perhaps set him in a tub of cool- not freezing! water and splash it under his wings if you think he is over heated.....usually if they are overheated they will pant heavily and open their wings to 'air condition themselves'...


e

 

[chickenzoo]

Could he have gotten into something hazardous in the garage? I don't know what else you can do for heat stroke w/ him besides keeping him cool, in a dark place and continue your vitamin therapy. But I would span out the vitamins so it does not shock him more. Keep him hydrated. If you can't get him drinking I often mix some vitamins and water in a cup, then drawl it up in a syringe w/ needle. I then pull up the skin on the neck or along the backside and inject this mix just under the skin. Seems to help somehow. Best Wishes

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

He was in a small cage by himself and away from anything that he might get into.
It is hot here in Florida, today's heat index was 104.
He is not panting, seems to be breathing normally.
He is in our house in air conditioning.
Body temp is pretty close to normal.

 

[chickenzoo]

I know I had a roo that went into shock when I placed him in a cage near another roo...... but you said he did not seem stressed.....so no clue.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

I am only going by what our friends are telling us about him. Don't know if he will make it out of this or not. Kind of seems like he has mental problems because of it but won't really know until he decides to get up and try to walk.

 

[allmypeeps]

Depending how hot he got (if it is heat stroke) it can cause irreversable damage to the brain.

Heat stoke is dangrous to ALL peopel/animals...if the brain gets too hot it is serious.

However...if its unknown if the bird had 'issues' prior, what would be the peoples reason for lying other than to 'get an unwanted bird off their hands who may need medical attention they can't aford or don't want to deal with?' does he 'look' liek he's been beat up my another roo? surely there would be tiny blood specks? wounds? broken feathers??

Hopefully he does not have any serious or contageous issues. Maybe he is stressedout from being shifted around so many times...who knows what his living conditions were initially.

Just support him as best you can at this point....

e

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Update: He died last night. Did what we could with him. Now he is in the big chicken coop in the sky. RIP

 

[allmypeeps]

Sorry to here. So many birds, can't save them all.
All we can do is try to make a difference.

e

 

[chickenzoo]

So sorry you lost him, at least he had you to try for him.