Update- rooster being put down monday, unable to walk & green poo

[Miss Lydia]

That would be an excellent idea, sounds like you really care, hope it turns out good for him...

 

[jjthink]

Me too

JJ

 

[WingingIt]

Best of luck to you both!

 

[ReiMiraa]

found an avian vet that will see him at 5pm.

i went to walmart and bought a dog flea and tick shampoo, checking to make sure the ingredients were not the same as the systemic drop kind. sorta took a chance on that.

gave him a bath, i am sure all the moving and scrubbing hurt his leg but them lice dropped and crawled like crazy, had to scrub his head good since that was the last place and they were heading for the high ground.

rinsed him off and used the hair dryer. had to change the towel twice he was sitting on from all the lice dropping off. i cut the feathers around his vent and cutted some clumped egg covered feathers.

he looks good and shiny again and has that attitude in his face. gave him 2 aspirin crushed on feed, he ate it and drank a good amount of water.

so what ever the outcome if he lives or goes to sleep at the vet at least he looks good and is cleaner. will have to have parents bathe him again next week too (if allowed to live)

for reference to other people who have bad lice infestations (which i do) but dusting isn't an option (my lungs) i will post the active pesticide ingredients for people to look into buying for washing their chickens. even though it says it kills flea eggs i am not sure if lice are similar enough to have it kill their eggs too, but i can attest that this stuff is fast acting and the chicken had no adverse reactions.

"Hartz Ultra Guard Plus
Flea and Tick dog shampoo
Kills: fleas, ticks and kills flea eggs for 1 month
deep conditioning
Active ingredients:
d-trans Allethrin
N-octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide
(s)- methoprene"

 

[Miss Lydia]

I hope Vet was able to help, please let us know.....

 

[jjthink]

JJ

 

[ReiMiraa]

Good news and bad news.

Good news my rooster Jersey does not have a broken or dislocated leg
he did a fecal test and there are no parasites so in theory it my flock is not affected

Bad news: he has no muscle or fat, the breast meat is just bone, i didn't know how it should feel but once the vet pointed it out it became obvious.
so not sure why he is wasting away. not giving him pain killer because despite all posts chickens might metabolize differently and or the toxins of the medication might build up.
the med 'metacam or metcam' is too close of a dosage between killing him or helping him.

So he has lost alot of weight is somehow malnourished and underfed. i am not sure how and it seems this has been weight lost over a longer period of time than just last week when he was showing signs of injury. it could be a deficiency, somehow.

so i am going to try and nurse him back some before i return to WSU. i have him on flock raiser and/or chick starter. no scratch mixed in. the feeds he is on are higher in protein than normal. tomorrow night i will make him a scrambled egg.

the bad news is that somehow the other chickens could be underweight or deficient. i am going to take all scratch out of diet and leave them on layer. their feeders have been filled to the top constantly for a few weeks so that is not the issue. only a few other chickens that i checked seemed underweight. more often its the roosters while most hens had dense breasts.

The leg injury was from a while ago it seems but he now lacks the muscles to support his skeletal system.
The question remains, what caused the weight loss if access to feed wasn't an issue till last week.
Most chickens have a decent lice infestation, could his lice infestation be so bad to cause such severe weight loss? Could it be he was so busy 'servicing' the hens he didn't look after himself?

 

[WingingIt]

Lice could def. drain him and result in him wasting away. Most good roos also let their 'girls' eat first, too, so it could very well be a combination of the lice making him weak and after tending to his ladies, he was just too wiped out to eat enough and was using what energy he had in trying to stay warm and just 'be'. I don't know how long you have before you leave again, but scramble up some eggs for him and get as much extra protein in him as you can while you're here. I'm very glad to read that nothing was broken or dislocated, though.

Good luck!

 

[ivan3]

Thanks for updating!

I'd wonder about the quality of the feed. You might consider switching out to Purina Gamebird Starter for a bit (30% protein) along with vitamin supplementation (if nothing else Polyvisol enfamil/no iron formulation 3 drops a day x 1wk). The coop will need to be stripped and cleaned (along with direct treatment for the lice).

Hope all improve!

 

[ReiMiraa]

i think i am going to have my parents take him to the vet monday after i leave and have them put him down.

he is getting worse now. wont walk any. his good leg has a swollen foot.

turns out he is a picky eater, had him on chick feed but would eat only some of it.

because i see his days are numbered i put him back on layer food, which he ate fast and i give him scratch (which he vaccums), and water

despite all i have done his poo went back to being bright green and very runny again. yesterday it seemed he was getting better. i mean he has an interest in food and water, but can't walk

i think his balance is off too because when i lift him up he won't put any weight on any leg and he tries to support himself with his wingtips.

so i think the best and most dignified way is for him to be put to sleep.

maybe if i am lucky the vet can run a necropsy.

I have no idea why he has been wasting away over the past few weeks. Lice can't cause this sever enough otherwise the others would be bad too. its not parasites (internally)

I have no clue what diseases or internal organ failure this could be.

I have tried and now i just keep him comfortable and fed.

Thank you for the input.