Sick Rooster- lethargic & green diarrhea are only symptoms, please help!!

[farmerbeebee]

I have a five month old Rooster, his symptoms presented today. He is laying in one position and won't move. He isn't tame, but he allows me pick him up right now. He is shaking a little, has vibrant green diarrhea and is lethargic. He has no nasal or ocular discharge, no signs of trauma. All the other birds in the flock are healthy and unaffected. He has been eating and drinking regularly up until today. We recently switched their feed from flock raiser to just regular scratch (this week). I checked his crop, but nothing seems out of order. His wattles aren't swollen, I was worried about pasteurella, but I am unsure of how really to tell because what I read online he doesn't fit the symptoms. Please help, I am so worried about my little guy!
I am vet tech & would be comfortable treating myself if I knew what to treat for- I just do not know a whole lot about avian illnesses.
Thank you!!

 

[J-Sanders]

Quote:
Hope he gets better, note I am not and do not pretend to be a vet nor do I play one on the internet. The MSU website is top notch and pretty searchable.

Jim

 

[farmerbeebee]

Thank you for the reply Jim. I plan on disinfecting the coop today, he is separated from the rest of the flock right now and I'm heading to the feed store to get a broad spectrum antibiotic to treat him as soon as they open. I am hoping for the best, I will let you know the outcome. How do I prevent this from happening again? All the websites say cleanliness, but I would have to say that I have the cleanest coop I have ever seen. I provide clean, fresh water and feed daily and disinfect the coop on a weekly basis. Any suggestions to prevent this from happening again would be appreciated! They are free to roam my yard during the day, do I need to start containing them in a smaller area, so as to avoid any contaminated soil?

 

[J-Sanders]

Hard to do if you let your birds have contact with the outside world. I think that most folks tend to baby their chicks when they are young. They don't let them eat dirt or do anything that might get them sick a little, but we have to think about how chickens survived before humans.

If you have time take a look at the Korean lady that does the youtube video of raising broilers and layers. Now understand that we don't want to emulate her down to the last detail, but we do want to take away from lesson that it is important to introduce your birds to the world early. Early as possible and to let them get a taste. Yes, we are going to lose the weak ones. That is also important to the overall health of the flock and the genetic strain that we depend upon for our needs. Cleanliness is important, but so is inoculation by introduction. I think we would lose less birds in the long run and make it easier upon the farmer to raise birds if we let Ma Nature do some of the work. I also think that we don't necessarily have to go all IMO 1234 crazy either. Too much work if you ask me. Deep litter and time, I think is the way to go.


How is your patient?

Jim

 

[Bangarang64]

Can we get an update on the rooster?