Wheezing Rooster Lost his crow

[dangercarrie]

My rooster has had a series of unfortunate events. A few weeks ago he staggered out of the coop, had a yellowish diarrhea and no appetite. I gave him some nutridrench and flushed him out with molasses water. I thought he may have eaten something bad. He also lost his ability to crow. He had started getting better, eating and gaining some weight, but now he is having raspy breathing and has his mouth open. Today he made some weird noises and fell over. Any thoughts? Also I have not noticed any nasal discharge.

 

[Eggcessive]

He could have a respiratory disease, either viral, bacterial, or fungal. How old is he? Did he have symptoms of coccidiosis a few weeks ago when you noticed his diarrhea? Symptoms are lethargy, weakness, standing puffed up, diarrhea (with or without blood,) and poor appetite. Has it been wet and rainy where you live, where mold and aspergillosis may be a problem? His symptoms sound similar to aspergillosis or other respiratory diseases such as infectious bronchitis, MG, coryza, and ILT. Here is a good link to read about these diseases:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/7/aspergillosis
http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/indexhome.htm?secure/veterinary/Poultdis1.html~main

Aspergillosis/ brooder pneumonia/ mycotic
pneumonia: When the source of the disease is the
hatchery, the disease is called brooder pneumonia.
In older birds, the disease is called aspergillosis. All
birds (domestic poultry, pigeons, canary and zoo bird
species), animals, humans, and plants are
susceptible.
Aspergillosis occurs as an acute disease of
young birds and a chronic disease in mature birds.
Young birds have trouble breathing and gasp for air.
Characteristically, there are no rales or respiratory
sounds associated with aspergillosis. Feed
consumption decreases. Occasionally there is
paralysis or convulsions caused by the fungal toxin.
Mortality in young birds averages 5-20 percent, but
may be as high as 50 percent. Mature birds also
have respiratory distress, reduced feed consumption,
and may have a bluish and dark color of the skin
(cyanosis). Nervous disorders, such as twisted
necks, may occur in a few birds. Mortality in mature
birds is usually less than 5 percent. Aspergillosis is
caused by a fungus. The fungus grows well at room
temperature and higher. All litter and nest materials
(peat moss, peanut hulls, sawdust, peat, bark, straw)
have been known to have been contaminated with
aspergillus. Feed and water should be suspect when
attempting to identify the source of contamination.

 

[dangercarrie]

He is about 5 months old, and he did have those symptoms listed above. How can you tell if feed is moldy? Would it have blue in it? You'd think that would be easy to tell, but the feed is all ground up with powders and green bits....

 

[dangercarrie]

I'm working on building immune systems and breeding for resistance. I can see a respiratory disease hitting him when his immune system was already down. It has been a couple weeks and no one else is showing any symptoms of illness. I'm curious if anyone knows what vermillion is, I saw it on another post in relation to a rooster who had lost his crow, but I have been able to find any info on it. I also had stuck a qtip down his throat to check for gape worm, but there were no red strings on it. It has been hard to actually look down his throat to see if there is any sign.

 

[Eggcessive]

Moldy feed is usually dusty and gray, and is very easy to tell by the moldy smell to it. I have a rather dark old coop, and once found moldy scratch grains after I had used them a couple of days. Now I smell every bag of feed, and look carefully for any signs of it. Vermillion is a shade of red in paints, such as oil and watercolor. I can't find any other meaning.

 

[dangercarrie]

Thank you so much! I wonder if the person talking about it was referring to barn paint then, or had just spelled whatever they were referring to incorrectly. The only other reference I had been able to find was as city name.

 

[Eggcessive]

The only way you can see gapeworm is the kill the chicken, and cut open the trachea or windpipe. If chickens have gapeworm, they are gaping and gasping so bad that they can't eat and drink. Respiratory diseases can easily look like gapeworm.

 

[toynutz]

Vermilion is also a plant that usually grows along coastlines and doesn't grow well in a normal garden so it'd be a rare find in a backyard setting. And for what it's worth, one of my girls had pneumonia recently. I took her to the vet and he was worried about aspergillosis... I learned it can be in the environment and found a few wet places where they free ranged and fenced them off. She's okay now so I don't know if that's what she had but I watch where they go and what they eat a lot more carefully now.

 

[dangercarrie]

Just an update on my roo. I put apple cider vinegar and garlic cloves in the water, and some vetrx on his nostrils at night. His breathing has returned to normal and his crow is back!