Sick Rooster

[tfletch]

I was hoping someone could help me as I'm new to chickens. I had two 17wk old Wyandotte roosters and they started showing signs of illness 2 days ago. They just looked droopy and a little weak. They were eating and drinking just not themselves and one of them sounding like he was hoarse when he made a noise. Then yesterday one of them looked worse with a watery eye, runny nose, weaker and made gurgling sounds like a respatory infection of some kind so I put antibiotics in the water to treat the whole flock. Then this morning he passed away after i pulled him from the flock but his brother is still just sitting in the coop (weak?) not really sure what I'm dealing with and I'm not sure if I need to separate the surviving roo since the whole flock may be infected.

 

[nbenevento]

I always separate sick birds from the flock as a precaution at least until you know what you are dealing with. What other symptoms is he showing? What does his poop look like? Any blood in it? What kind of bedding are you using? Does he or the other that has passed have any injuries? Do they free range? Have you or a neighbor used any pesticides recently in the yard? Do they get scraps? If so, have they been fed anything that you may not have been willing to eat yourself?

 

[tfletch]

No signs of injuries or sore. They free range a portion of our yard fenced off for them and no one has sprayed lately. We do give scraps but only what I would eat (fresh fruit and veggies, maybe dinner leftovers) We do use river sand in the bottom of the coop but we scoop it about every 4 days. I was concerned we weren't cleaning the coop properly for the disinfecting part of it. Is there something I should be using?

 

[nbenevento]

I recommend mixing some DE in with the sand occasionally but that may not be the answer to what is killing your roosters. I use sand and have not had any illness.

 

[tfletch]

It really looked like something of a cold gone bad. The one that passed sound like he had fluid in his lungs so I did out antibiotics in their water. It just breaks my heart seeing them sick. I absolutely love all my chickens.

 

[tfletch]

My other roo just passed away. Not sure what hit them so hard. Now to watch the rest of the flock and hope they are ok.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your losses, sounds like you should have a necropsy done. Many states, like CA, do them for free or a small fee. Where do you live?

-Kathy

 

[tfletch]

We live in Indiana, who would I call to check into that?

 

[Haunted55]

http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AnimalHealth/statevets.aspx

I'm so sorry.

 

[casportpony]

Try here: https://www.addl.purdue.edu/Index.aspx

Ask them for their FedEx account number, it will help save on shipping. Do not freeze!

-Kathy