Serama won't eat!

[DuckYouMan]

Ok so I have this mother f.... wonderful little frizzlebutt serama rooster. He is about 6 months old now and had to be kept inside because he came down with a vitamin deficiency and stopped walking and all that jazz. Well, he's 100% better now, but the problem is he wont eat or drink more than a few bites UNLESS I hand feed him with a syringe..... I had to syringe feed him while he was sick and now he comes up to me wanting to be hand fed like that all the time. He'll just stand there waiting for me to grab his comb then he'll just stand there with his mouth open waiting for food.

I have tried grubs and cooked eggs which he loves........ if im feeding it to him. He pecks at pellet food but again will only really start eating them if I put them in his mouth. I have stopped feeding him by hand during the day and I've put a couple serama hens in there hoping they'll show him how to be a man, but I still feed him vitamins at night so he doesnt go deficient again. He will run up to me and assume the position. Usually, animals start eating again once they get hungry enough but I can only let this guy go so long until I have to hand feed again.

Any tips or tricks to get this guy eating on his own? Thanks.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

I'd let him starve. Just kidding. Maybe.
That's strange. Do you have a video of what exactly he's doing?

 

[DuckYouMan]

Actually thats what I ended up doing. I've had vitamin deficiency issue with all four of my silkied serama now. I was watching them and it looks like they are just very picky eaters. They don't like the taste of anything but fresh water or else they dont want to drink it. I've been using a dropper to send nutrient dense liquid down their gullets and they're acting normal now.

The one rooster I would give one dropper full of nutrient solution before bed so that I know he's not going to go deficient over night. He finally started eating again on his own after he figured it out.

These guys are so cute, but sheesh. He's no longer showing any signs though and is fully recovered. Took 3 days to completely get back to normal for him. One of those days I'm pretty sure was just him wanting me to feed him.

Symptoms were unable to stand and rolling his head back constantly.

 

[DuckYouMan]

Good news is that three out of the four silkied serama are doing great. One of the roosters though is a bit of a over stresser i think and he stops eating and drinking when i put him with the other seramas in their run. I'm back to feeding him by himself and dosing with poultry cell since it has vitamin E and Selenium. He's going to be our house rooster now. Poor little guy. I wish i could take a video but my phone is with my gf who is out of town atm.