VERY sick rooster! Sudden symptoms.

[simplychickens]

Not sure what is wrong - went into the coop this morning, and found our rooster (about 1 year old) sitting on the ground. Not moving, breathing slowly with eyes closed. Yesterday he did not display these symptoms as far as we could tell, but my husband mentioned that he saw him standing alone in the sun rather than pecking around with the hens in the morning.

However, he seems to have declined VERY quickly. What to do??

Symptoms:

Eyes closed
SLow breathing
Laying down with head down, not holding head up or standing
Comb has grayish/white tint to it
He will only open his eyes if I move him, and his eyes are alert, but he won't keep them open.

I have brought him inside and have him in a cardboard box. Gave him some electrolytes and antibiotic this morning (water soluble) using a syringe. I have to hold his mouth open and then put a little at a time. He will swallow it. Then tried to give him some scrambled egg, and he had absolutely no reaction to the food. Wouldn't even move his mouth.

I know it's Thanksgiving, so not sure if folks will be on the forum, but any advice as to what to do would be appreciated.

Thank you!!

 

[welasharon]

I don't know what to do other than what you are doing. I hope he recovers.

 

[Firearia]

Hmm, what you've done so far is all ai can think of. You may want
to try giving him his normal food. I had a chicken who delined treats and would only eat her normal food when she was sick.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe he needs the vitamin electrolyte water more than food right now just keep trying to get him to drink but be careful he doesn't choke. Hopefully it's just something that will pass quickly. Keep him warm sounds like you have it covered now

 

[simplychickens]

Thank you all for the responses. Unfortunately, he died this afternoon. I still can't figure out what would have gotten him so quickly. Argh!

 

[chickflick]

So sorry! Don't have any idea what happened.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry that happened.

 

[luckyducks]

Quote:
I have exactly the same situation with my favourite 4 year old australorp rooster. I did the antibiotic and electolytes as well, and he took those in warm water. I've kept him warm with an old sweater over him in a box of shredded paper. It took overnight, but by this morning, he accepted some cooked rolled oats/yogurt/ antibiotic mix, and drank water on his own. This afternoon, he was eating the porridge eagerly . His eyes look bright. I am cautiously optimistic. His feathers are looking glossy again, and he's talking to me when I wake him up. Seems a bit stronger all the time. Hope yours makes it. I've had some old hens have the same symptoms and just die within a few days. I'm going to stay persistent this time and hope for the best. He's a really nice rooster.

 

[The Brick Coop]

So many things chickens will eat, I'm surprised more don't get sick. Maybe he ate some moldy corn crumb that he scratched up from some rarely-visited corner of your coop or yard. Usually older birds are more resistant to Aspergillis or some other thing, but maybe he had a weak-immune moment or some other complication in combination. I am reading up on things like this now (like Stroud's Digest of Bird Diseases) and becoming more and more worried about making sure we change the water every day, too. Sometimes simple, common sense things help a lot. I sure hope he gets better fast.

 

[The Brick Coop]

Oh, one more thing, sometimes in my experience I bring a young bird in that looks like it needs help, and put it in a warm area, then it seems like that only makes it die faster. I think it shocks them. Be careful to not change their environment too quickly. They do like buddies, too, and are less stressed when they can see another bird, especially one that is familiar.