What should I give my chicken

Layla_Chickens

Chirping
Apr 6, 2024
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I have a polish rooster, he is still young but I see he’s having problems. When I check his crop it’s never full and I can feel bits of food but very little. He’s also been sneezing a lot. He still pecks the floor as I feed him from the floor but he’s not actually eating anything. He feels very light weight too. When I bought him his polish crest is on one side because the lady told me the other chickens pecked one side and now his “hair” is lop sided. I also notice one side of his face (the one that’s not covered with feather) is red and the other is pale. What can I give him or how should I treat him? Also when I pick him up he falls asleep. He also smells “rotten” like a bit of a dead snail idk
 

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I tied his feathers to see if he eats more because one side is heavier and it can make it harder for him to eat he’s pecking the floor
 
He may have an upper respiratory infection. Can you determine where the smell is coming from on him. Do you have other chickens and if so are any of them sneezing or acting off?

If he was in my flock I would start him on an antibiotic. do you have Baytril or Amoxicillin? Or any broad spectrum antibiotic from a feed store? The rotten smell makes me think it could be a bacterial infection. If it is viral antibiotics won't help.

Try some good treats to get him to eat. Scrambled egg, tuna in water, canned cat food, oatmeal. Also maybe some watermelon or grapes to give him some energy and help keep him hydrated.
 
I have a polish rooster, he is still young but I see he’s having problems. When I check his crop it’s never full and I can feel bits of food but very little. He’s also been sneezing a lot. He still pecks the floor as I feed him from the floor but he’s not actually eating anything. He feels very light weight too. When I bought him his polish crest is on one side because the lady told me the other chickens pecked one side and now his “hair” is lop sided. I also notice one side of his face (the one that’s not covered with feather) is red and the other is pale. What can I give him or how should I treat him? Also when I pick him up he falls asleep. He also smells “rotten” like a bit of a dead snail idk
If he were mine, I'd cut/trim a lot of that crest to reduce the weight of all those feathers.

As you can see, the weight of the crest has caused the skin to fold over the top of his head and it's covered his eye for quite awhile I assume too.
That deep pocket/crease at the top of the head is very likely harboring stinky fungal "yitch", sort of like belly button yitch. You can also see debris in the head feathers, likely from moisture and perhaps the eye watering as well.

I'd get some Chlorhexidine and carefully swab above the eye and up into that pocket of skin, clean it out. If possible, swab the skin/feathers on the head too, to get the gunky stuff out of them. Do all this after you've trimmed him up really well. Swab that pocket and the head (not around the eyes), at least once a day for a few days, see if the smell goes away.

Take care not to get Chlorhexidine in the eye.

For the eye, rinse it with saline, then put a dab of Terramycin in the eye. I wouldn't be surprised that they eye may have a bit of infection due to being covered.

If the feathers/head gear is pulling on his head/skull and covering 1/2 the face, this may also be pressing on one of his nostrils. Once you reduce the weight, the sneezing may improve too.

Do you see any mites or lice on him?

(Left side of face is normal coloring for the bird, the right (pale) side has been affected due to the crest and skin covering it, once you make some changes and treat him, hopefully he will pink up on that side too).



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