URGENT! Cockerel Problems

[My Pretty Pekins]

Hey,

We have a young cockerel (about 17 months) who is moulting and is rather raggedy around the neck and for some reason has over the past 2 days become very weak. He hardly crows, and has stopped calling for hens to come and get food, he eats it himself. He hardly has anything in his crop but no signs of visible injury. He's a pekin bantam and we'd be really sad if we lost him. He's been hiding in the coop not in the run and when I let the others out he didn't come.

Please help me discover what this is and some treatments ideas, if you have any questions I'll be very happy to answer!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

for some reason has over the past 2 days become very weak

Molt can be hard on them. It is very common for their personality to change during this time and become withdrawn as it can also be painful in addition to being taxing. Sometimes they even get bullied and so avoid flock members. My most friendly lap hen does not come for lap time during molt.

What are you feeding including treats and supplements?

A little scrambled egg is easy to digest, highly palatable, and a nutritious TREAT or supplement as they are 34% protein and 64% fat but loaded with nutrients. Feathers are made from 90% protein and it's amino acids. Some folks increase protein during molt, but that may depend on what your standard feed is.

I have 2 poultry supplements that I like a lot during times of need. I think for this I would first suggest the Rooster Booster (brand) Poultry Cell (product). Or Poultry Nutri Drench.

Hopefully he will come out of molt just a quickly as the hardship set in!

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

I think we're actually doing a treated food at the minute... let me check... I'll be a few minutes....

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

They're currently being fed the Verm-X pellets with anti-wormer in it...that help?

 

[Eggcessive]

Are you adding the Verm-X to a feed ration? Verm-X is not a feed itself, but a product meant to use a natural wormer. It doesn’t really have anything in it which will actually kill worms. A wormer such as Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer would be better to actually treat for worms. If they are not getting feed right now in addition to the Verm-X, I would start it right away. If it were me, I would place the little rooster in a dog crate with his own food and water. Every day I would give him some scrambled egg or tuna, and offer those with wet chicken feed. Vitamins and a few sunflower seeds would be good as well.

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

It's pellets treated with Verm-X! I'll see what we can do for him.

 

[CatWhisperer]

Try putting him on a feather fixer or game bird feed. They have higher protein to help him get thru the molt and grow some pretty new feathers.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It's pellets treated with Verm-X! I'll see what we can do for him.

Wow... I visited the Verm-X site out of curiosity. I have to say... that's the first time I have seen a so called natural product that actually states....
"Important: Prior to starting with any product have an Faecal Egg Count (FEC) so you have a record of your starting point. Follow up FEC should be performed 21 days after the last day Verm-X is fed.
We recommend that all poultry have regular faecal checks, to avoid unnecessary control programmes, at least twice a year."

That being said... looks like it is a EU product, and I would love to see some actual before and after fecal load counts!

Maybe you aren't in the US and have the products I suggested available??

If you are feeding a "layer" pellet to your rooster... it may be too much calcium for him.

Feather fixer product recommended essentially has SLIGHTLY more protein than layer.. at 18%... it would not be my choice. I would go with a flock raiser or grower instead.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you are feeding a "layer" pellet to your rooster... it may be too much calcium for him.

Feather fixer product recommended essentially has SLIGHTLY more protein than layer.. at 18%.

Ah yes, Feather Fixer might have a little more protein compared to 16% "Layer" but...it still has 3.25-3.75% Calcium. I think it's just layer feed with extra protein

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

Thanks all, he seems to be improving a lot.