Sick pheasant? Help!

[luna01]

Hey guys. So I recently purchased a pair of golden pheasants there were just on the cusp of two years old. The male is mostly fit colored with a few "hen" feathers throughout his plumage. ( I'm keeping an eye out for more females since I know it's best to have a few). But a few days after purchase the female suddenly died.

I kept an eye on the male and other than an internal eye issue (he may be blind in it) he seemed ok. But when I went out right now to say good night he was on the ground in the corner on his side.

I tried standing him up and getting him to drink water. He stood and took two sips, than feel down exhausted on his side and kind of shook.

I've taken him inside and have him on my lap and am syringe feeding him water, kitten food residue, and honey to get him his energy back.

He will suddenly stand with his fringe displaying, eyes closed, and face to the floor and do erratic Bob's as if hes trying to eat food that's not there. Then he sits down in a fluffy ball and will let me continue syringe feeding him.

Hes drinking well. No choking and actively seeks out the liquid with his tounge. But he hasn't opened his eyes once since I brought him in. When I first picked him up he randomly shook and thrashed but I'm not sure if that's due to what ever hes suffering from or the fact that he hadn't been handle before. And I'm unsure if the imaginary feeding is a good or bad sign.

Can anyone help?

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

Sounds like he has a serious infection, coccidiosis being likely. Is he pooping at all? If you have/can get an anti coccoid, you might want to start it and of course see a vet asap. Without a vet, it's just guesswork.

I wish you the best, and hope your boy recovers soon!

 

[luna01]

Sounds like he has a serious infection, coccidiosis being likely. Is he pooping at all? If you have/can get an anti coccoid, you might want to start it and of course see a vet asap. Without a vet, it's just guesswork.

I wish you the best, and hope your boy recovers soon!

I did notice that his tail feathers were wet and a bit smelly, could that be another symptom?

He is still pooping but it's a bit on the watery side (liquid, white, no brown).

Hes gotten less "jerky" and now seems to be just sleeping. Loaf style, head facing forward not tucked like my other chickens do. Actually hasn't had any jerks for the past half hour except for when I had to pick him up, but still not sure if that's from lack of handling or another symptom.

He has started opening his eyes but just slightly in a squint.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

The white/liquid with no solid means his digestive tract is either empty, or blocked. It should not be smelly. Can you feel anything in his crop? For example, like a lump of dough or something hard? How is his weight, can you feel the keelbone much?

I strongly reccommend feeding plain unsweetened yogurt with live culture, and pedialyte. Maybe ease back on the honey if you're using a lot, you should barely be able to taste it in the food you give. If his poo has a bad smell, it's almost certainly at least partially bacterial. If it smells like sour milk or yeast, it could be fungal. A bad smell can also be caused by some waterborne parasites like giardia (smells like burning sugar) and flukes(smells like rotten eggs or sulphur), so ivermectin is also a good idea just in case. You can buy ivermectin without a rx, it's not outrageously expensive and it's good to have on hand as a preventative, kind of like frontline for birds. It kills most parasites.

One of the best things you can do for him while waiting for a vet (if that's even an option) is to keep him extra warm, and push him to take more food. Have you tried offering him live mealworms? Mine will usually go for those long before they will eat anything else.