Spring Chickens
Chirping
- Jul 6, 2020
- 42
- 18
- 56
I’ve been having a heck of a time with my chickens lately, finally thought I got it sorted out (I was giving them too many scraps and they weren’t getting enough protein) and the chickens are doing a lot better but now my rooster is sick.
He’s been sick a few days. Started with lethargic and shaking his head in an annoyed way, scratching a bit more than usual and looking at his feet. Now he didn’t even make it back to the coop on his own tonight, he was standing on our stairs totally quiet with his head hung down. He’s not eating or drinking. I fed him some water on his beak with a syringe and he was able to swallow it. He is still making noise and putting up a bit of a fuss but he is off balance, I put him on the small ramp to get in the coop and he fell off it sideways. He also seems like he is going into dazes, like it’s neurological. I checked his feathers and everything extensively and I found he has a dirty vent with some red spots but when I picked them off they seem like dried blood.
If he is worse tomorrow I will cull him but my question is could this be mites or something simple that I should treat my flock for or does it sound/look a isolated issue?
I did find 1 other chicken with the dried blood flecks near her vent too.
He is 2 years old as far as I know.
Thank you for any thoughts!
He’s been sick a few days. Started with lethargic and shaking his head in an annoyed way, scratching a bit more than usual and looking at his feet. Now he didn’t even make it back to the coop on his own tonight, he was standing on our stairs totally quiet with his head hung down. He’s not eating or drinking. I fed him some water on his beak with a syringe and he was able to swallow it. He is still making noise and putting up a bit of a fuss but he is off balance, I put him on the small ramp to get in the coop and he fell off it sideways. He also seems like he is going into dazes, like it’s neurological. I checked his feathers and everything extensively and I found he has a dirty vent with some red spots but when I picked them off they seem like dried blood.
If he is worse tomorrow I will cull him but my question is could this be mites or something simple that I should treat my flock for or does it sound/look a isolated issue?
I did find 1 other chicken with the dried blood flecks near her vent too.
He is 2 years old as far as I know.
Thank you for any thoughts!
