Suddenly sick rooster (and avian flu in my state!)

[Chicken Esquire]

Hi all,

Having a little panic here! One of my roosters has suddenly (in one day) become very lethargic. He is not eating or drinking. I have put him in a quarantine cage in my garage to keep him separate from my flock. He doesn't seem mucusy or coughing/sneezing, and doesn't have any obvious injuries that I can see.

My birds used to be allowed to free range part of the day, but haven't since I found out about avian flu being discovered in my state (Michigan). I keep them just in their coop and run. There is one exception- they were out.for about an hour on Sunday 3/6, they escaped while I was cleaning the coop and rounding them back up took awhile.

I don't let other people in the coop, and use dedicated boots for only my chicken coop. Their run is covered with wire, chicken wire, and a tarp over half, so wild birds aren't getting in at all. All of my other birds are acting totally fine (but yesterday, so was he!).

I've given him some electrolytes and nutridrench in his water, he hasn't drunk anything yet or eaten food. I DO have 2 roosters and he is the lower guy in the pecking order.

I wasn't around during past avian flu outbreaks, and this is making me really nervous! For those with experience with avian flu, how did it start? Does this sound possible? I am freaking out about it ripping through my whole flock, or having to cull everyone!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How cold is it where you are?

You have 2 roosters and how many hens in how much confined space?

Hard to really even see him very well, getting some clear photos would be good. Head, face, eyes, comb, wattles, poop.............
From what I can see, he has Frostbite on his comb, but I could be mistaken.

Check him over for lice/mites, for any injuries, make sure his crop is emptying overnight.
I would work on getting him hydrated, then eating.
Can he stand up at all?

 

[Eggcessive]

I also see frostbite on his comb. What do his feet look like? Do your roosters always stay together? Usually one is more superior and the other has to remain docile, or they will fight. Fighting can injure them. He may not feel well right now due to the frostbite, but there can be other reasons for illness. Check him for mites and lice under his vent and elsewhere. Feel of his crop to make sure that it has food in it during the day, but empty by the next morning. Make sure that he is taking some food and water. Poultry NutriDrench, sugar water, or a similar product, and some cooked egg may be helpful.

Avian influenza is an issue every couple of years in wild migrating birds. Usually it is not a big deal, except it has been found in some states in chickens this year. The best way to deal with it, is to find out if it is causing deaths in chickens, and if so, keep your chickens put up in a covered chicken run. Increase the size if necessary.

 

[Sally PB]

@Chicken Esquire, where in Michigan are you? I'm in the Grand Rapids area, and yeah, the AI has me very nervous too.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I know it was found in a Kalamazoo flock. From what I know that flock got culled.

 

[Chicken Esquire]

Thanks everyone for responding! I'm at work now but will provide more detailed info tonight.

• My rooster guy died last night, sometime between midnight and 530am, sadly
• All the other chickens have been acting totally healthy and normal, will check on them later on today when I get home again
• Frostbite: he got a little Frostbite on the tips of his comb in January despite being Vaselined (I admit though it was hard to.do). He acted totally fine, and it was only the tips. However, after getting sick, his whole comb turned grayish, which you can see in the pic. His wattle was normal, though, and so were his feet.
• Rooster ratio: he is a juvenile rooster, the other rooster is his dad, who has generally been very forgiving towards him. He was about 9 months old. There are 12 girls, which i know is a bad ratio- I have more chicks coming, but had to wait til spring. There is no sign of cockfight that I could tell (no obvious injuries or feathers anywhere).
• Space: since they can't free range, they have an 8×10 shed for their coop, and 10x13 run for 14 birds.
• Geography: I'm outside of saginaw area, fellow michigander! I know its nowhere near Kalamazoo, but I'm just really paranoid lol!
• Disposal: I've only lost chickens when the weather is warm before. I don't want to put him in the trash in case there is some disease, but the ground is too frozen to dig (I tried!). Do I need to burn the roosters body? The USDA APHIS we site doesn't seem to have detailed info for small operations like me!

I am sure I'm missing some responses, and I'm on my mobile phone, so apologies for any typos! I'll follow up later today with more info. Thabk you again everyone!

 

[Sally PB]

You could take him to be tested for AI, and then you would know. If he's negative, cool. If he's positive, I think they will come test more of your birds. Or, they may come cull your entire flock. I don't know.

 

[NatJ]

• My rooster guy died last night, sometime between midnight and 530am, sadly
• All the other chickens have been acting totally healthy and normal, will check on them later on today when I get home again

I've read that Avian Influenze has an incubation period of 3-5 days in chickens, and is highly contagious.
So if you go a week with no more chickens showing symptoms, the rooster probably died of something else.

• Disposal: I've only lost chickens when the weather is warm before. I don't want to put him in the trash in case there is some disease, but the ground is too frozen to dig (I tried!). Do I need to burn the roosters body? The USDA APHIS we site doesn't seem to have detailed info for small operations like me!

You could try to send his body to a lab to be checked for cause of death. (I think every state has one, and they generally want the body refrigerated but not frozen.)

Or you could just put the body in a bag in the freezer for now, and bury it when the ground thaws in the spring. (I don't know how big your freezer is, so I don't know if this is really practical or not.)

If it was Avian Influenza, you will probably have a lot more bodies in a week or so, and it might make sense to contact the authorities and ask them what to do with the bodies. But if none of your other chickens get sick at all, it might be safe enough to put this one body in the trash (no other sickness would mean probably nothing contagious.)

 

[Chicken Esquire]

Quick update!

I called the michigan hotline for avian flu and spoke to a usda agricultural bird specialist doctor. First, she was sooo nice. I.feltnkind fo dumb being a little backyard chicken person needing help when I'm not even really a farm or anything. But she said it was good to have called. Here's a brief summary of her advice:

• They don't think I need to get my.rooster tested at this point and think our risk is low, form what I've told them.
• Keep the rooster a few days, if possible, and see how the other chickens are doing. If they get sick, call them back and they'll get me set up to test my rooster.
• Bird flu should show.up realllly soon, if it hasn't already. By the time one bird dies, other birds are usually already symptomatic. It is fast moving.
• I can actually throw my dead rooster in the trash, properly bagged (once I wait a bit to make sure it isn't avian flu).

The avian flu doctor was soooo nice, I can't write a review for Michigan agricultural department anywhere lol, but 5/5 stars for making a nervous chicken owner feel better lol! Hopefully this thread helps some other nervous chicken owners!

 

[Sally PB]

Thanks for the update!