Sick rooster-moulting

[corgiluva]

Have a black copper maran roo who seems lethargic, he has moulted some tail feathers but his crowing is definitely weak and crackly sounding. He is perching in the coop and drinking but seems a little thin. He is not following the hens like he usually does and I've noticed him off alone and today found him in the coop alone. Could he be feeling poorly due to a moult? He is prob about 4 years old. Beautiful boy and gentle too. Is there something I should be doing for him?

 

[Eggcessive]

Molting is pretty hard on chickens, and roosters, since they are on guard all of the time, wear down pretty quickly. I would offer him 20% Flock Raiser feed or give him some high protein gamebird feed as a treat every day to help regrow his feather. Vitamins and probiotics in the water would help everyone in the flock. Sometimes aspergillosis from mold in the environment can weaken the voice and cause gasping, and other problems. Just make sure there are no wet areas where feed or shavings have molded on the ground or coop.

 

[corgiluva]

He isn't eating . I tried a hard boiled egg and some cat food which the hens gobbled up. He is drinking and tonite his crop was full of water. But he looks awful tonite I'm afraid he won't be here in the am.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any antibiotics or any electrolytes to add to his water? I don't usually advocate antibiotics for unknown illnesses, but since he seems to be dying, I would probably give it a shot. Tylan, oxytetracycline, Gallimycin, Duramycin, etc. Electrolytes and vitamins in his water may help if you can get those into him. Have you added any new birds in the last few weeks that could have brought in a new strain of cocci or a respiratory disease, but may not be showing symptoms?

 

[corgiluva]

No new chickens here. I don't think I have any of those medications either. I do have some old chloro palmitate, I think I've used that for birds in the past. But I don't remember the dosage.

 

[Eggcessive]

I believe that is chloramphenicol, but I am not familiar with it's use in chickens, only have used it in people with meningitis.

 

[corgiluva]

Thank you for your help, sadly he passed this afternoon but I did notice he was covered in tiny black bugs tiny like specks of pepper. Do you know what they might be? They were on me too, but didn't seem like they were biting me.. I'm sure the girls have them too but no idea what they are or how to treat. I'm wondering if they contributed to his demise.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be mites. I can't post links at this time, but you might Google mites in chickens, and look for the UC Davis site or The Chicken Chick site since they have good pictures. Mites can definitely kill or help in killing a chicken due to anemia. Treat your birds with permethrin or sevin dust, and clean outyour coop and nests, then spray the roosts, walls, nests, and floor with Permectrin II which is 10% permethrin. Straw and hay can harbor mites.