Sick rooster??

[Slinkykat]

i have a black australorp rooster and he's only a couple monthes old 3-4ish. I came to check on my birds this morning he seemed to be in very bad shape.

Every time he tries to stand up his head will "tilt" then he'll roll over onto his side and start flopping around till he's back in a lie down position, then his head will just twitch for a couple moments. Then he's fine. If he tries to stand again the process repeats.

Right now I have him separate in a small cat carrier so he can roll around with out hurting himself. He's still talking a little bit but not crowing like usual. Any help 'diagnosing' or treating if possible would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rebrascora]

Marek's disease is the first thing that springs to mind with those symptoms and his age. The best you can do for that is keep them calm and well fed with higher quality treats like scrambled eggs, cat food, tuna and fresh fruit/veg etc .... vitamin supplementation to support the immune and neurological system and probiotics or fermented feed to support the digestive system and perhaps a chicken sling/hammock to support him in an upright positions so that hopefully he can manage to eat and drink on his own.
A simple hammock can be made with a plastic box, some stretchy fabric like an old t-shirt and some heavy duty stationary clips..... see image above. Fastening empty yoghurt pots to the front of the plastic box for food and water. A second strip of fabric can be clipped over the top of him to keep him in the sling until he gets used to it may help.
Good luck with him.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Eggcessive]

He could have symptoms of wry neck (torticolis, crookneck,) which may be a result of a head injury, a vitamin E or thiamine deficiency, or he could have a disease that may include this in it's symptoms, such as Mareks disease, lymphoid leukosis, or others. Poultry vitamins containing vitamin E, thiamine or B1, and giving some egg daily which contains selenium would be good for him. Getting enough to eat and drink during this problem could be hard, so I would help him in eat drink 3 times a day if he appears to not be doing so himself. You can wrap him in a towel, and feed him some egg mixed with chicken feed and water to make it into a thin oatmeal consistency. Good luck, and be patient, since recovery can sometimes be slow.

 

[Slinkykat]

View attachment 1129521 Marek's disease is the first thing that springs to mind with those symptoms and his age. The best you can do for that is keep them calm and well fed with higher quality treats like scrambled eggs, cat food, tuna and fresh fruit/veg etc .... vitamin supplementation to support the immune and neurological system and probiotics or fermented feed to support the digestive system and perhaps a chicken sling/hammock to support him in an upright positions so that hopefully he can manage to eat and drink on his own.
A simple hammock can be made with a plastic box, some stretchy fabric like an old t-shirt and some heavy duty stationary clips..... see image above. Fastening empty yoghurt pots to the front of the plastic box for food and water. A second strip of fabric can be clipped over the top of him to keep him in the sling until he gets used to it may help.
Good luck with him.

Regards

Barbara

Thank you very much for your help I'll try that sling idea and those foods. If it wasn't mareks would any of this negatively affect him?

 

[Slinkykat]

He could have symptoms of wry neck (torticolis, crookneck,) which may be a result of a head injury, a vitamin E or thiamine deficiency, or he could have a disease that may include this in it's symptoms, such as Mareks disease, lymphoid leukosis, or others. Poultry vitamins containing vitamin E, thiamine or B1, and giving some egg daily which contains selenium would be good for him. Getting enough to eat and drink during this problem could be hard, so I would help him in eat drink 3 times a day if he appears to not be doing so himself. You can wrap him in a towel, and feed him some egg mixed with chicken feed and water to make it into a thin oatmeal consistency. Good luck, and be patient, since recovery can sometimes be slow.

Thank you! I'll defenitly try to keep him eating and drinking. Your help is much appreciated

 

[rebrascora]

No, those things can only benefit him.
What are you currently feeding him? If it is a medicated starter or grower then I would probably switch to a non medicated grower (the medication is a thiamine blocker which may lead to a B1vitamin deficiency if fed long term) and either ferment it or at least soak it in water to make a porridge (oat meal) like consistency, that way you don't need to worry about getting him to drink so much water and there is less worry about him getting dehydrated.

I would give him time out of the sling each day and try to encourage him to move towards treats... like physiotherapy. It may not be pretty to watch him floundering about, but it may help him to learn to work around the disability or I've had birds with severe Marek's paralysis suddenly make miraculous recoveries. As long as they continue to show a healthy interest in food, then there is a chance they will recover, although subsequent and more severe attacks will most likely occur, they can be as long as a year in between with good/even normal quality of life in between.

 

[Slinkykat]

No, those things can only benefit him.
What are you currently feeding him? If it is a medicated starter or grower then I would probably switch to a non medicated grower (the medication is a thiamine blocker which may lead to a B1vitamin deficiency if fed long term) and either ferment it or at least soak it in water to make a porridge (oat meal) like consistency, that way you don't need to worry about getting him to drink so much water and there is less worry about him getting dehydrated.

I would give him time out of the sling each day and try to encourage him to move towards treats... like physiotherapy. It may not be pretty to watch him floundering about, but it may help him to learn to work around the disability or I've had birds with severe Marek's paralysis suddenly make miraculous recoveries. As long as they continue to show a healthy interest in food, then there is a chance they will recover, although subsequent and more severe attacks will most likely occur, they can be as long as a year in between with good/even normal quality of life in between.

I will switch him off medicated right now thank goodness we have the option, and he is still very keen on food so hopefully he can recover, thank you so much for all your help