Started yesterday; I noticed him not being his 'un-gentlemanly' self not mating with the girls every 5 minutes. He was resting and sleeping more than usual with his hind end kinda up in the air. Seemed to want to get cooler by laying in the shade and or dirt. Eating, drinking, walking, crop OK and comb usual color of red yesterday. Today: eating, drinking, walking, crop ok, but comb is a little darker red than usual and poop is a dark forest green. Still sits with his hind end up in the air when resting and not mating at all. He is a SLW, almost 5 months old, free ranges all day and sleeps in a little playhouse coop on a 2" X 6" roost with 4 BO hens. The only thing I can think of that I did different yesterday was give them black grapes. He is the only one acting sick. I've fed them these grapes before with no problems. These grapes were 'past their prime' and there was a little mold on one end of group, which I just threw away. Could there have been a problem with a less than fresh grape? I've searched the other posts and can't find exactly this; the ones I found usually include NOT eating or drinking. There are no other chickens around us and i haven't added any new ones to bring in disease. What do you thinkis wrong?
You might pull him out from your coop and put him alone incase he is sick. You dont want your girls getting it. Good luck!
i would isolate him like the other poster said. as long as he is eating and drinking he sounds ok to me. when he starts acting normal you can put him back him w/his ladies. i hope its nothing serious: (
Thank you both; I've separated him and I hope he's better tomorrow. My chickens are not vaccinated and I can honestly say that I've never had a sick chicken. I guess I'd like someone to help identify the problem so I could do some preventative maintenance with the girls if it is something contageous. In the meantime, I'll just hope he ate something that didn't agree with him.
Update: He's much better today. Back to crowing and mating. I'm guessing it was something he ate. We have acorns and china berries falling in the yard now. Maybe he ate one of those and it didn't agree with him. Anyway, I'm grateful he's better. Thanks to everybody that replied.
