Strange behavior in our roster. Any ideas?

[YumeRyuu]

Our rooster started acting very strange in the last week. What caught my attention with him at first was his constant opening and closing of his mouth. He is about 4 months old, hasn't made full rooster crows yet and occasionally honks. Then, what came next that I noticed about two to three weeks ago was funny balancing problems. Sometimes when he would turn around, he would fall over. Just in the last couple of days the balancing problems have become more severe. I checked his weight today and was completely surprised by the fact he has full feathers, looks overweight but when I caught him and checked him, he is just skin and bones. He appears to be eating and drinking normally like all the others do. Checked droppings, everything is normal besides a little diarrhea. Any ideas? I am just quite sure about this (I do know for sure that it isn't worms because nothing is present in the droppings to indicate so).

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You wouldn't see worms unless it were a severe infestation of one of the larger species.
Some are microscopic and usually only the eggs are passed - which are microscopic.
Best bet is to get a fecal sample tested, then the type/s of worm can be identified and treated appropriately.

The loss of balance is from being weak. Rather than wait, it might be best to treat with Ivermectin right away as that will treat the majority of intestinal worms.

 

[YumeRyuu]

Thank you, we will get some to give to him. He's a good rooster, and we want to do what we can to help him out. =)