VERY Skinny and Lethargic

[MakNat]

I got a 8 ish month old roo that was fine up untill a week or so ago. He almost acts like he has a neurological problem. He stumbles around when trying to move fast. He trys to stick with the rest, is semi interested in food, but sits around like he is cold. Haven't seen poo, and his butt is clean. I don't see any wounds and all his joints feel in tact to me. He is SOO thin when I picked him up and hardly any crop to speak of. All the other birds are fat, happy and running around like nuts. What should I do for him??

 

[beakkeeper]

Has he recently/ever been wormed?

 

[chicknmania]

He might have parasites. I would isolate him first of all, then deworm him with a broad-spectrum dewormer, something that kills all kinds of worms, not just roundworm. Then, I would dust him for lice, too...use Seven dust or DE. Or, you can use cagebird lice spray. Whether or not parasites are his main problem, it would probably be a good idea to treat him b/c if he does have parasites they will weaken his immune system and make it harder for him to fight off anything else. You can also give him poultry vitamins and electrolytes. If he wont drink try dribbling some on his beak, usually they will open their mouth. If you don't have any I would at least give him some Gatorade or Pedialyte til you can get the vitamins...you can use Polyvisol too, I can't remember the dosage for that but it is on here somewhere if you search it.

 

[chicknmania]

btw, we had a pullet with similar symptoms. We did a lot of research and a lot of people thought hers might've been a vitamin deficiency. In her case vitamins did not help. There are a lot of things it could be and neurological symptoms are common in chicken ailments.

 

[MakNat]

OOohh GROSS. He has a million mites. I feel like such a jerk. I do have a little 7. I dusted him, he already seems better. I put him in a dog cage with food and vita h2o. I know what I'll be doing tonight. Dusting everyone! Is 7 safe for ducks.? Got 2 living here.
I guess cold weather doesn't kill mites/lice off?? I'm just got chickens this spring. What is the BEST way to keep them bug free FOREVER???? Thanks for any info.

 

[chicknmania]

Cold weather won't kill them. The birds don't necessarily have to be bug free, it's the severe infestations that are bad but our vet told us to expect some bugs, and said that is normal. Make them a dust box with DE in it, or a dusting hole. Ours don't like DE but they have dusting holes everywhere they make themselves, and it seems to work pretty well. We deworm ours twice a year with a broad spectrum dewormer. Remember not to eat the eggs for three weeks or so after you administer any meds, and I would watch it with the Seven dust, too, don't know how much of that stuff they would absorb. Glad you found what is probably the problem!

 

[chicknmania]

Don't know about Seven for ducks...maybe someone else knows.

 

[mypicklebird]

Cold weather will make them WORSE, the chickens are not out as much dust bathing. Mites/lice will take advantage of this and multiply. Also roosters seem to get them worse- they are more interested in doing roostery things (crowing, mating, flock guarding) than dust bathing and taking care of their skin and feathers.

You can't keep them free of bugs forever. Think of them (the lice) as fleas. You have to keep watching, and either take action when you see them, or do preventative. Powder everyone right now (use poultry dust -pyrethrin-, or sevin powder - carbaryl) and do it again in 2 weeks. Powder monthly will keep them in check. If you don't want to do that, at least check everyone's vents monthly, then powder if you see lice. Unless they live in a bubble, mites/lice/worms will get to them on a regular basis.

Not sure if Ducks even get poultry lice- the powder will probably wash off of them, and it might mess up their oil water-proof coating- and they will get wet and cold when they go in the water. Duck do not dust bathe, they bathe in water and put oil from their preen gland on their feathers to protect them. I would check to see if the have a problem- you know what they look like now! If they have an external parasite problem, I would look into an oral medication or a spot on instead of powder.




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[MakNat]

Ok thank you!!! He is ok this morning and he eat some food!!! Still not perky. I understand they cannot be totally bug free, I just freaked out!! Has anyone had much luck with ivermectin!! They say use it like a one the spot flea treatment like for dogs and it debugs inside and out. What is DE? And what kind of stores sell it? Has anyone else heard of using wood ashes for dusting??

 

[Heidi]

I just used pour on eprinex on my chickens. It takes care of the internal and external parasites. More info go to these threads.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=81252
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=95023
Just remember if you use this method you need to dump the eggs for quite some time.