Sick baby rooster

[Isaac 0]

Thank you. I will basically keep him comfortable. At this point he is starting learn to crow, and his Daddy outside is answering him.

 

[Vlfie]

Upon a closer inspection of my baby rooster I noticed sort of a white dandruff. then a few of them moved. I do not see any transucent eggs on his body ( via flashlight). Though I do feel some crawlies on my skin.
Could this be lice?

If so how do I treat it on poultry and you know who.
Would this be a secondary diagnosis from what he has.

There are no vets in the area that handle Poultry and the State Dept. specialist will not be back at work till this Thurs. Rolling eyes.

 

[Isaac 0]

What color are they?Feed stores have Lice sprays.Garden Poultry Spray is very good at killing lice.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi, yes, It will most likely be lice and probably an opportunist infestation as a result of his poor health. If his mobility is limited he will be unable to dust bath and preen as a healthy chicken would to get rid of them. Lice are more of an irritant than a real health threat, but he will be more comfortable if you dust him with louse powder. It is worth checking your other chickens though, particularly at this time of year when dust bathing is more difficult due to wet or frozen ground. Providing your chickens with a dry dust bathing area that includes sand,soil, wood ash and compost will help them to deal with it themselves, but this poor chap will need dusting with a proper pesticide to get rid of them.

 

[Vlfie]

thank you. I feels the crawlies on my skin as well as on my 96 yo. Dad.

 

[rebrascora]

Whilst poultry lice may crawl onto our skin, they cannot live and reproduce on us, so any that have found their way onto you or your family will not survive long....if that is any consolation! It is a creepy feeling though!

As regards your young cockerel's chance of survival if it is Marek's, I have one at the moment that had a very bad attack of it a few months ago and was struggling to walk and he is now completely recovered to the point you cannot tell he was sick let alone paralysed. He is making a total nuisance of himself with the ladies, so he obviously feels well too! That said, I've now had it in my flock for 2.5 years and I've had some fully recover like that only to have a second more severe attack months or even a year later and finally succumb to it, but their quality of life in the interim period was very good. I give them good food and supportive care as long as they are prepared to eat for themselves and fight it, but once they go off their food, I euthanize them. Good luck with him.

 

[junebuggena]

The crawlies is all mental. Poultry lice are strictly bird parasites. Pyrethrin is an effective and completely safe product to use for killing lice and mites.

 

[Vlfie]

I'll take your advice and stop feeding them deserts of corn, bird feed and kitty leftovers. Pellets for everyone. It's time to be a better Daddy. It's true then; I was serving them, cake & ice cream. No wonder they went for it with gusto.

I'll see if the baby rooster does better, hopefully its nutritional.

 

[Vlfie]

Thank you, especially for teaching & sharing all of your knowledge.

Yes it is a very creepy feeling as they go across your skin. I feel better now that I don't have to worry about my 96 y.o. Dad, my loyal fido & my expert kitty hunters.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Keep us posted. Hopefully with a change in diet is you will start to see improvement