Alright fellow chicken wranglers, I am in need of advise. I have counted myself blessed so far this summer as I have not lost any chickens to the heat, had some babies and dealt with a round of cocci, but that was fixed relatively quickly with Sulmet. However, the past couple of days I notice that Big Daddy Roo has just been laying around in the shade. That's not a big deal, it's hot, and whenever I would walk towards him he would get up and walk around. Not, today. Today he just lay there with one eye closed and the other at half mast. He couldn't even walk. Once I picked him up I noticed he has lost some weight, before I couldn't even feel his keel ( he was about 14 pounds) and now I can feel it quite well. I noticed when I picked him up that his poop is quite runny and sticking to his feathers although it hasn't changed colors from his normal poop if that make sense. Honestly I have not seen him eat in over a week or drink either for that matter.
I have him inside in a cage in the living room at the moment, and have been giving him water with a little bit of sugar in it with a syringe. When I first brought him in, it was easy to give him the water, this last hour he had a bit of energy back it seemed and tried to tell me no, I insisted on 6 cc of water. He is not in the least interested in any of his favorite foods, grapes, watermelon or bread.
Any ideas? Aside from keeping him inside to keep cool, and making him drink some water every couple of hours, I"m not too sure what to do with him.
Any ideas? Thanks!
