What is wrong with my RIR Rooster?

[70monte]

Lately my RIR Rooster has started losing his feathers on the front part of his neck and a little bit on the right side of his neck. Also his skin is very red in color. This Rooster also has had a sneezing problem the past two months since I've had him.

He acts normal in every other aspect. Eats, drinks, mates, and crows good. When I let chickens out to free range, he runs around with his five hens and acts normal.

Does he have some kind of bugs? If so, what can I treat him with? Thanks.

Wayne

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Unfortunately, we don't really have enough information to give a good answer to you. Could you please answer some questons for us?


What is your rooster's current diet, exactly - including all supplements?
Is the sneezing only occassion, frequent?
Have you tried to treat him with anything?

Check the bird carefully once in the day time and a few times at night for mites/lice. YOu'll have to be the judge of whether or not he has bugs and let us know, but it does sound quite possible. Note that mites spend a lot of time off of the bird and will climb back on them at night (which is why you check on a few nights - to see if you can catch them on an "on" night). They lay their eggs off of the bird and only get on the bird to feed so if he does have mites (which are very very very tiny and round, versus lice which are small and more long than wide) then you'll have to treat the wood AND the bird. We can give you more info on that if you post an update on *this* thread (you'll have at least one subscriber).

Another question - are there any other roosters with this boy? Roosters higher on the pecking order?

For the sneezing since it's ongoing, and without more information, I'd at least recommend getting a bottle of VetRx and swabbing his nares with that for a bit, and the roof of his mouth. Dilute it 50/50 with drops of hot water - it only takes a few drops of vetrx and water. Stirring mixes the oil with the water and cools the drops. Use q-tips (a new one for each place please) to swab the places listed above. Put a drop down his throad. Then you might consider spraying his feed twice weekly with cod liver oil for the vitamin A which is good for general respiratory issues. Also make sure there's no mildew/mold in the environment, no cedar shavings, etc.

I look forward to your reply.

 

[70monte]

Hi,
His diet is laying pellets, which the hens also eat and part of the day he free ranges so he eats whatever he finds. I also have oyster shells in a feeder in the coop. He is the only Rooster so thats not an issue. He sneezes quite a bit and has the whole time I've had him(two months). For the sneezing I tried treating him with some antibiotics but I don't think I did it long enough since I had to go out of town and it didn't seem to help anyway. I also put organic apple cider vinegar in the water a few times a week.

I do have VetRx and have put some in the drinking water but I haven't put any on him other than warming a spray bottle of water with the VetRx in it and spraying it on all of the chickens.

I don't know if I would be able to put any on his face or in his mouth because he doesn't like being held and the couple of times I've tried to touch him on the roost, he bites you. He will eat out of your hand though and is not aggressive while he is out running around.

I don't use cedar shavings and the coop is dry. I'm sure he got this respitory problem from where he was at before I got him. I bought him and the hens at 7 months old. He is the only one who sneezes like this.

As far as mites or bugs go, I had one hen who got sick and ultimately died. She did have some type of bugs on the feathers of her neck. This was one of the Rooster's favorite hens so he might have gotten some from her.

Today I bought some livestock dust that has permethrin in it but the amount it has in it is not very much so I don't know how well it will work. Thanks for the response.

Wayne

 

[70monte]

Well, I definetly have mites or tiny bugs of some sort in the coop. I first sprayed some CV-80D which is for farm and dairy and kills flies and cockroaches which I had both in the coop. I did this while the chickens were out free ranging and I pulled all food and drink out. Then you close up the coop and spray and then ventilate after about 15 minutes.

This is when I found a whole bunch of little red bugs clustered on one of the side boards. Some of then were black. I then used the permethrin dust on everything in the coop. I came back later and all of the little bugs on the side boards were dead.

After the chickens were on the roost, I put the dust on them and around there vents. Hopefully the bugs on the chickens themselves will die. I'm going to apply the dust again tomorrow.

Wayne

 

[annek]

check some of the other threads to see when you need to retreat to get the next hatch. I remember reading something about maybe 10 days later.

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
OH you did it right, Wayne! YAY! You did exactly as you should do as the mites live in that wood - that's where they lay their eggs, wait til it's feeding time. And dusting the birds is perfect. Repeat that dusting every 7 days for 21 days, three times total, so you get all the hatchlings. Good job!!

 

[70monte]

Thanks, I will repeat every 7 days for 21 days like you suggest and hopefully it will take care of this problem. Now if only I could cure the rooster of his sneezing. Sometimes he acts like he is having trouble breathing. I will check with the local vet to see if he treats poultry. Thanks again.

Wayne

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
If it's a chronic respiratory issue (I mean, it's been 2 months already) then you may never fix it. If you want to try medication, honestly try Tylan50 injectable. It's 3 days duration, he's likely never been exposed to it so hopefully the bacteria aren't resistant.

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Tylan50's 1 ml has 50 mg with a dosage of 35mg per 1 kg caged bird weight, according to the Merck vetrerinary manual.

1kg=2 lbs so 35 mg = 2 lbs bird dosage;

There are 50mg per 1ml (1 cc) of Tylan50. And 50 mg is 143% of 35mg, so 1 ml treats a 2.86 pound bird. 1/2 cc treats a 1.43 pound bird. etc.

So basically, 1 cc per every 3 pounds of the bird's weight according to Merck if you're using the Tylan50 (this dosage doesn't apply to Tylan100, etc).

Hearsay dosage is 1/2cc per adult bird. I prefer to follow Merck and not risk antibiotic resistance.

Three days of IM (in the muscle, breast muscle) shots. No less, no more.

IM shots are given in the breast muscle. Draw the injection up and cap it. Find a spot on the bird's breast. Clean it with a bit of alcohol on a paper towel or tissue. Push the syringe into the breast muscle, but not terribly deep. PULL the syringe plunger and check the syringe - if you don't see blood, you may then push the plunger to give the shot. If you do see blood, change locations of the shot. You must never give this injection into a blood supply.

Syringes used: 3 cc syringes with 25 gauge needle (20 is fine, too) at approximately 1" long.