# Sick Rooster-ideas?



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

My 6 year old rooster has not been acting right. He's lost weight, I don't think he's eating much. But he's out with the girls. Hubby said he was hunched over on the roost the other morning but did get off a act normal. I have noticed that he is drinking a lot of water. In fact he take big mouthfuls.
Tonight he slept on the floor.

I don't know what to do aside from "the cocktail". I guess that's what he needs because otherwise there's nothing more to do. He's been wormed twice in 6 weeks, once about 2 weeks ago. 

Then of course his son Thor, a big Blue Jersey, broke his spur. It hurts and he's sore. I don't know what to do because it's very loose. It looks like the blood has clotted mostly. I wonder if I should clean it and wrap it?


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I would remove the rest of the spur to prevent more injury if it gets hung up on something.I had a chick who was not eating and drinking large quantities of water.She weighed nothing.Couldn't get Corid but had Oxytetracycline and gave it to all of them.The sick chick perked up a little almost immediately and after almost a week is starting to play again.Try a broad spectrum antibiotic,on everybody,just in case.It may do your rooster a world of good.Good luck!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Thanks, CQ. I went out last night and the spur was hanging there but the blood had clotted so I left it. 

The sick roo, I gave a shot of Tylan to and gave him water with sulfadimethoxine and penned him alone. He is skin and bones and I found him standing at the pond drinking. I don't find any diarrhea or green poo. I can't believe he just ended up skin and bones because he was always eating when the hens had their treat. He would go in the coop and eat. Every afternoon. I guess I'll be tubing him too for a few days.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

A picture of his poop would be very helpful.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

If he's pooping. I'll try to get one if I can. He does not look good. I tubed him and he turned purple. He can't stand on his roost. I put him with his girls for the night. His name is Left Eye because his left eye is disfigured. I kept him because most people would have just culled him. From the beginning of being a roo, my husband would hold is arm out and he would fly up on it. Pretty good for a Jersey Giant. No one ever taught him that. He's that spurless rooster's father. 

The other roo's spur is gone . He's not limping anymore. When Left Eye passes , I can combine Thor and 5 hens with the senior 5 hens. One big happy family . And terminal cleaning of a coop.


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## zamora (May 26, 2015)

Poor guy.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

How's the rooster?


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Mr. Lefteye is hanging in there. Today he ate a large egg and 1/4 piece of bread topped with vanilla yogurt. 
His poo is green like a normal green and a white blob. The poo is somewhat fibrous , also normal I think.
However it has very little odor, but smells kindof yeasty. He's not gobbling water. 
Thanks for asking.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Today Left eye had breath that smelled like rotten garbage. Really bad. He had yellow blobs in his throat. I decided to send him over rainbow bridge. I gave him 30ml of vodka knowing I should have used more but I ran out. After 2 hours he was purple but alive. So I gave him 40 ml more of rum, and he finally passed an hour later. Tough guy to the end. He was a good boy to his girls. Now son of Left eye will take his place, Thor.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Sorry for your loss Karen.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

dawg53 said:


> Sorry for your loss Karen.


Thanks. He was real important to my husband. I hated to see him go. But he had a very happy life.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Sorry, Karen, I know how hard it is to lose the "special" ones.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I believe this is what he had. It would have been better caught early and treated properly, but a few years ago I had a hen that was treated early and the right way and died anyway. Anyway, FYI

Trichomonas (borrowed article)

This can be very complicated depending on the severity. If caught early it can be treated successfully. Without any technical words..it is plainly a parasite (a protozoan). It is not like the internal parasites like roundworms and does not respond to normal deworming. This protozoan is transmitted from an infected bird to another through water contact. There was a lot of trouble with this in the carrier pigeon and racing pigeon world (I have a link with some techincal research info on if anyone is interested). Not only do you need to think about your flocks drinking from the water sources you have for them, but wild birds as well. If it is at all possible that they could share water sources with wild birds then it is possible to get an infected bird in your flock.

There are 2 trains of thought about the water, you can refresh the water so that it does not sit for more than 2 hours or use a sanitizer (like chlorhexidine or oxine) or Apple cidar vinegar. The ACV makes the water too acidic for the trichomonas to multiply and the oxine and chlorhexidine work in a different fashion with the same results. These water additives work on a plethera of other bacteriums and parasites that use water to mutliply or spread. So all around, a good idea. Which leads me to ponder about whether the same can be said for running water sources (like lakes vs creeks or rivers).

Signs of illness:

Yellow plaque that forms in the mouth..can be in the back of the throat, side of mouth, roof of mouth. You may see a bird that seems to have trouble eating or a misaligned beak or even a shriveled waddle or uneven look to the face when comparing one side to the other. The plaque forms as the body tries to make an immune response to the protozoan. This plaque can be the death of the bird. It can block the wind pipe or make it too difficult to get food to the back of the throat to swallow. You may only see that the bird is getting thin..this is when you MUST, no matter how difficult, look in the mouth. If this is left unnoticed or untreated it can spread to the organs and cause organ damage and eventually death. This is what makes this disease so tough, early detection is everything. I believe that my hen had been showing signs for many months before I had the right advice that lead to her diagnosis. (hind sight is 20/20) Of course, there ways to swab and culture the throat, but this can be expensive and most of the time you need to know what you suspect the problem is, to be sure you run the right test.

Treatment:

Metronidazole to kill the trichomonas and supportive therapy to be sure they get all the nutrients they need. This may include tube feeding or finding foods that the bird can successfully eat on it's own. The bird should be able to drink unless the beak is severely misaligned. As with any disease, it is important to provide vitamins and additional protein to help the immine system do it's job. Vitamin supplements to add to the water are available. When it comes to giving medications to a bird, like the metronidazole (in this case), should not be given in water. It is proven to decrease the amount of water intake and decrease the dosage that the bird gets. Lowered dosages of medications may not work. It is easily done if tube feeding..you can simply add to the food. If not tube feeding then you will need to be creative, mix with foods that the bird will gobble up every bit.

Note on tube feeding: This should be done with instruction and can cause food to accidentally enter the lungs, in effect, suffocating the bird. Prior education is a must before attempting. Only if the bird cannot or will not eat any food on it's own.

Swab any plaque you can see with Iodine (povidone, betadine..same stuff) you may need to swab way back in the throat if you can see plaque there. Swab twice daily atleast, 3 or 4 times is better.

Treatment can be difficult since the bird will likely be doing pretty well and fighting you if you caught it early. But persistance will win over the disease. It is always easier when the birds are so ill that they don't have the energy to fight you, but that is a bad prognosis. 

Conclusion:

I have learned about this on my own, with help from several chicken vets and friends. My experience was not a good one and my beautiful hen passed away, but I learned a lot. After 2 weeks of medicating and tube feeding her body gave up and in the end, she had been ill so much longer than I thought, that it had spread to her internal organs. I have been fortunate to have learned enough to save the rest of my flock that had been with her through many months of her dealing with this (and me not knowing). I suspect that she got it form a wild bird cause I used to put their waterers out in the middle of the yard where any bird could drink out of them (and would, I thought it was cute that the wild birds would use the chicken waterers). I have now switched to plastic waterers, use oxine (and will use ACV when I run out of that) and I am always inspecting my chickens mouths. I am being very vigilant so that I do not have to go down this road again.

Let me just add that it stunk really bad like foul garbage.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Sorry for your loss.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Sorry for your loses.Thanx for sharing with us what you have learned from this experience.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I looked at the bottle of vodka and it's 40% alcohol. A lot. I will look into something higher.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Birds infected with trich are carriers for life. The best way to prevent it from spreading is by adding 1/8 teaspoon acidified copper sulfate per one gallon of water for 3 days in a row once a month. Make sure they are plastic waterers and do not add anything to the mixture including ACV. Make it fresh daily.


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

This may seem overkill but is a longstanding practice when it comes to drinkers and feed troughs. Quatrinary ammonium was the sanitizer used by poultry keepers for many years. Oxine AH is a common sanitizer used today. Food production requires the use of many safe sanitizers that are very effective. 

What I do is rinse drinkers each evening afterI lock my birds in for the night. I then spray activated Oxine sanitizer on the drinkers inside and out. I let it sit until morning, rinse and fill, then set them out for the birds. I keep a scrub brush to remove any algae that may form, but don't see it very often. It is waste of money to buy cheap drinkers. I use the 3 gallon Little Giant ones with the screw top and have had one of them for 5 years, and it sits outside every day. I keep water stations in shady areas.

I keep drinkers on concrete blocks so birds can still reach comfortably, and the water will remain relatively clean most of the day. I check my birds at least twice a day, or when I'm working, it is the wife's job. If I see any specks of dirt or feed in waterers I dump that content out and allow the clean water to flow back in the trough. I don't feed birds off the ground. I feed them in hanging feeders or feed troughs. There has been much marketing of different water systems like mini versions of those who operate big grow houses. Those using water lines must be kept clean, and water should not sit in a receptacle where it will become stagnant. 

If wild birds can get to your bird's drinkers, find a way to stop it. That is a sure way for diseases to eventually enter your flock. Certain times of the year, I have finches getting in my pens which are covered all the way. I put alternate water sources for them around the property and it seems to help.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'll look into copper sulfate. Long time time since I've used it. 

Mike, you're right. There are 2 buckets out in the open , I need to move them. Crows are so smart. But combined with treating the water should do it.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Karen, if you decide to use the acidified copper sulfate, more is not better. It can burn them internally.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Thanks for the warning. 

Why 3 days a month?


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Thanks for the warning.
> 
> Why 3 days a month?


Instead of every day? Maybe copper toxicity?


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Since my rooster died from Canker, I assume it was brought in by the crows. And I think it's recommended to treat the rest of them. I look for ways of hiding the water from the crows but it's not possible. So if I treat the flock, I'll be treating the crow(s) as well. 

Not only do the crows steal eggs from 4 layers that free range, they now figured out how to steal eggs from the other flock of 5 hens. I had been wondering why my 4-5 egg a day crew has had no eggs.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Thanks for the warning.
> 
> Why 3 days a month?


To prevent the spread via waterer/via birds. Like Kathy said, any more will be toxic/burn internally.


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## MikeA_15 (Feb 21, 2016)

seminolewind said:


> Since my rooster died from Canker, I assume it was brought in by the crows. And I think it's recommended to treat the rest of them. I look for ways of hiding the water from the crows but it's not possible. So if I treat the flock, I'll be treating the crow(s) as well.
> 
> Not only do the crows steal eggs from 4 layers that free range, they now figured out how to steal eggs from the other flock of 5 hens. I had been wondering why my 4-5 egg a day crew has had no eggs.


 My rooster goes after crows and other animals as well. Try leaving the pen's gate open just enough for chickens to get in and out, but leave their water station in the pen. If your pen is covered the crows might find somewhere else.
Either that, or it is time to start blasting some crows. If it flies, crawls, walks and is a threat to my animals, it dies.


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