Sick Serama...help!

[tball chicky]

I just went home to get a few things & I, of course, checked on my chickens. My Serama rooster was laying on his side with one foot curled & the other foot up in the air. I grabbed him up, grabbed ornacycline, stuck him in the truck & hauled butt back into town. Got to the office & checked him out - this is what I found: breathing difficult, goopy eye, runny nose, missing feather on the outer most of his wings, under side of one wing is raw & a bit bloody. So, I gave him a bath, & blow-dryed him. Gave him some oatmeal, kefir, & medicine water. Then I wrapped him up & brought him to sit with me. THEN...I see a bug on the sheet he's wrapped in. I don't know what kind of bug it is tho...it has a head part & a body part with 6 or 8 legs (can't tell cuz it's tiny), it light on the outer edges & darker in the middle. I've looked him over & I don't see any other bugs on him...maybe I'm missing them?

I don't know what kind of bug this is. I've never had any bugs on my chickens & I don't know what to do for him. I bathed him & dried him, tried to feed him & give him medicine water. I keep wiping his nose so it doesn't get clogged up.

What else can I do? There aren't any vets here that see chickens.

 

[seminolewind]

Sounds like lice. If you have HD or Lowe's near you, go buy Sevin powder for gardens and poof her whole body with it. If not sevin, then some permithryn powder.

Lice are hard to see. But they're usually found around the vent area.

 

[AZBootsie]

Tball- How is the Rooster doing??

 

[tball chicky]

Yes...I read up a bit on poultry bugs & it is lice. Stinkin' wild birds!

SO we washed him in DAWN & saw some of the bugs go down the drain. I gave him another blow dry & picked off whatever bugs I saw. Tried to give him medicine, but he wouldn't drink...

TODAY, he seemed to be a bit better. His comb is darker & standing up again. AND he POOPED! (first time in 18 hours) I gave him some medicine water & he finally actually drank it.

So I thought some food was in order. I made him a buffet...he got a bowl of medicine water with a side of strained/thick kefir and some warm oatmeal with a side of applesauce. He hit the water first & drank maybe a TBSP, then maybe a tsp of the kefir. Then I put the oatmeal & applesauce down. He tore into that oatmeal like it was gonna be his last meal - maybe TBSP or so. Finally he had to taste the applesauce because some of the oatmeal got flung into it - and ate maybe a tsp of that.

Sooo...I think he's doing pretty good (considering he seemed almost dead yesterday). He still can't really stand up but he's way more alert...

This makes me want to turn my Seramas into house chickens... I really, really, really, really HATE bugs...especially the ones you can't see