Sick Australorp Rooster

qp4a

Hatching
5 Years
Apr 11, 2014
6
0
7
Salmon Arm, BC
Hi all. I have a 2 year old rooster that has been sick. He started losing his feathers on his rump and back a few weeks ago. I put it off to molting. Then he came up lame on his right leg. I did a check over on him and saw he had a fairly bad mite infection. I gave him a ash dust bath and some natural remedies which helped a bit. Yesterday he was barely walking. He couldn't stand up and was basically walking on his entire lower leg. All along he would take a few steps and sink down for a bit. Today I brought him inside for a bath with Epsom salts. As soon as he hit the water he relaxed. I let him soak for a bit then soaped him up. He loved every minute of it. Only got upset when I took him out. He now has little or no sign of mites. I gave him some vitamin b complex and colodial silver to fight any infection. Today I thought maybe it was bubble foot, but really didn't see any signs of it. And I now think the mites are more of a symptom than the cause. Any thoughts as to what the cause may be?
 
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Is it one leg,is he using wings for balance? Have you checked for any injury to leg?

Could be a sprain or possibly a tendon issue. To check for a slipped tendon,run thumb down back of leg from hock to shank,press down while doing this,if tendon has slipped it will feel loose/springy/wobbly almost like an elastic band. Press down you should feel it snap back into place,this may have to be done several times a day or you can wrap tendon to keep it in place until healed. Compare to other leg so you know what it feels like.
 
He isn't using a wing for balance. I will check the tendon. Both legs have appeared mostly equal so far, but I haven't been entirely thorough yet.
 
I have treated a slipped tendon in an adult rooster,he was walking low to the ground and was occasionally using wing for balance. Your description of how he is walking sounds very similar to what i have seen with slipped tendons,worth checking him for this.
 
http://www.apa-abayouthpoultryclub.org/Edu_Material/VITAMINS.pdf
Sometimes a riboflavin deficiency can make them walk on their hocks. The mites can suck his nutrition out and kill him.

Mites are deadly.

I would dust him with a good poultry dust (permethrin) and repeat in 7 days. If you don't repeat, then they will come back due to the life cycle. Spray or dust your coop too and toss the bedding /nest box material or they come back.

I hope he gets better soon!

There are other things that can cause lameness, but if he has mites that alone can take him out. So I would fix that first and then make sure his feed is very good. Then maybe he will recover.
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I would give him a poultry vitamin pack.
 
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Got rid of the mites. He has good days and bad days. He still has trouble standing. He will walk around for a bit then just sit down. He stays down for a bit and gets back up again. He isn't limping nearly as bad as he was. I have been giving him warm baths, which he loves and has stayed in for up to 2 hours. His feathers are growing back. He has been crowing. He hasn't lost any weight. Other than seeming weak, he seems to be a bit better. I'm thinking maybe he had a rough molt or has arthritis. So not sure. I will try the vitamin pack. I gave him some b complex already since I had some and figure it couldn't hurt to try it.
 
Got rid of the mites. He has good days and bad days. He still has trouble standing. He will walk around for a bit then just sit down. He stays down for a bit and gets back up again. He isn't limping nearly as bad as he was. I have been giving him warm baths, which he loves and has stayed in for up to 2 hours. His feathers are growing back. He has been crowing. He hasn't lost any weight. Other than seeming weak, he seems to be a bit better. I'm thinking maybe he had a rough molt or has arthritis. So not sure. I will try the vitamin pack. I gave him some b complex already since I had some and figure it couldn't hurt to try it.

Could be gout. Feed high in calcium will cause this. Some pics would help. Scaley leg mites will cripple a chicken also.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html
 

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