Sick rooster

[Sruff0429]

I have a bantam rooster I have had now for 2 months who has just this past week became very, lethargic and his comb started dropping and the tips turned purple. I have given antibiotics for 4 days and acv in his water and he is doing much better, but now my husbands rooster in our other pin is showing signs, but none of the hens have had a problem. Does anyone know what this could be?? I’ve included a picture of nugget when we got him.

 

[nightowl223]

Comb tips turning purple is usually a symptom of anemia or lack of good oxygen flow. Was there any sound he was making when he was breathing, like a wheeze or crackle or such? Did you check them over for any external parasites? Parasites can bleed them dry and give them terrible anemia if not treated.

One thing about the antibiotics - if you started them, you should give them for a full 7 or 10 days, because shorter treatements are what causes superbugs that are immune to antibiotics. Keep the treatment going!

Other things that you should think about: do you have an avian vet or a vet who will look at chickens nearby? It would be a good idea to have them test a fecal sample to rule out internal parasites. They may even be able to identify what is going on. Thing is, most vets around me think of chickens as uncooked meals, not pets or livestock to be taken care of, so I have had to learn to do most of my own vet work.

 

[nightowl223]

Oh, and by the way...

 

[Sruff0429]

Comb tips turning purple is usually a symptom of anemia or lack of good oxygen flow. Was there any sound he was making when he was breathing, like a wheeze or crackle or such? Did you check them over for any external parasites? Parasites can bleed them dry and give them terrible anemia if not treated.

One thing about the antibiotics - if you started them, you should give them for a full 7 or 10 days, because shorter treatements are what causes superbugs that are immune to antibiotics. Keep the treatment going!

Other things that you should think about: do you have an avian vet or a vet who will look at chickens nearby? It would be a good idea to have them test a fecal sample to rule out internal parasites. They may even be able to identify what is going on. Thing is, most vets around me think of chickens as uncooked meals, not pets or livestock to be taken care of, so I have had to learn to do most of my own vet work.

I looked over him for parasites no mites or anything, he wasn’t wheezing or seeming to have breathing problems we thought maybe the hens were hen pecking him but once I moved him to his own cage with my hen he was still doing the same, we’ve dewormed and all but I don’t know his age to look into more things and the closest vet that will take him is over an hour away and ridiculous in price,

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a bantam rooster I have had now for 2 months who has just this past week became very, lethargic and his comb started dropping and the tips turned purple. I have given antibiotics for 4 days and acv in his water and he is doing much better, but now my husbands rooster in our other pin is showing signs, but none of the hens have had a problem. Does anyone know what this could be?? I’ve included a picture of nugget when we got him.

Hi @Sruff0429 Welcome To BYC
Did you note any discharge from the nostrils, watery/bubbly eyes, coughing sneezing?
What antibiotic did you administer?

Photos of the poop?

 

[Sruff0429]

Hi @Sruff0429 Welcome To BYC
Did you note any discharge from the nostrils, watery/bubbly eyes, coughing sneezing?
What antibiotic did you administer?

Photos of the poop?

No problems with coughing sneezing or anything it came completely out of no where. I’ve been giving him penicillin that’s the only thing I could find around here, he has reacted well he’s finally out talking again and strutting around instead of sleeping and his red color is almost all the way back to the way it was but he still isn’t crowing or mating.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No problems with coughing sneezing or anything it came completely out of no where. I’ve been giving him penicillin that’s the only thing I could find around here, he has reacted well he’s finally out talking again and strutting around instead of sleeping and his red color is almost all the way back to the way it was but he still isn’t crowing or mating.

O.K. Yes, Penicillin is only given for 4-5 days so you did right.

Can you get some photos or a video of what he currently looks like? You mention another rooster is starting to exhibit similar symptoms - photos of him too if you don't mind.

There may be a connection or not - the other rooster is he fairly new too? Any changes in feed type, food got moldy/rancid, anything like that?

 

[nightowl223]

Well, as the Penicillin is doing the trick, keep him on it for up to 10 days. You can also get other medicines, like Amoxicillin, as fish medicines (as silly as it sounds, it's the same thing we get given to us), or even Cephalexin or Ciprofloxacin, at places like this:

https://fishmoxfishflex.com/

 

[Sruff0429]

O.K. Yes, Penicillin is only given for 4-5 days so you did right.

Can you get some photos or a video of what he currently looks like? You mention another rooster is starting to exhibit similar symptoms - photos of him too if you don't mind.

There may be a connection or not - the other rooster is he fairly new too? Any changes in feed type, food got moldy/rancid, anything like that?

I will tomorrow definantly, and yes my husband just got this other rooster a week ago and he is now showing the same signs as my bantam did. They aren’t housed together but before the new rooster came my bantam was in the big coop with the bigger hens. My husband noticed this morning his is now sleeping on the floor of the coop and napping in the yard and not crowing which is how my bantam started. The food we keep in a building inside of a tote where it’s dry but it is a mix of scratch feed and laying mesh pellets (I was going off what my father in law swore we needed)

 

[Sruff0429]

Well, as the Penicillin is doing the trick, keep him on it for up to 10 days. You can also get other medicines, like Amoxicillin, as fish medicines (as silly as it sounds, it's the same thing we get given to us), or even Cephalexin or Ciprofloxacin, at places like this:

https://fishmoxfishflex.com/

Thank you so much I have been so worried about him he is my first chicken to ever really own I was terrified of birds but I’m so attached to him