Solitary chicken - need advice

[MillyJude]

Hi

 

We have a poorly cockerel, about 22wks old, started looking lethargic about a week ago. Took him to the vets on friday and they said heart/lungs sound fine, so prescribed baytrill for 7 days, 1ml twice a day.

 

But he is not eating drinking much at all and yesterday looked very weak, so we brought him indoors and put a heat lamp near him.

 

I am giving him a chick corn gruel every few hours, putting about 1/3 of a teaspoon on the back of his tongue, then he swallows it. About one teaspoon or so in total every couple of hours.

 

But does this all sound ok? I think if i had left him outside he would definitely have died, but have never nursed a chicken before.

 

Anything else i should be doing or stop doing?

 

Also, if he pulls through how should i reacclimatise him to the outside?

 

Thanks

[Redwing]

That doesnt sound too good poor chap

 

Are there any other symptoms? is he poo-ing normally and regularly? is his crop full or empty and does it change from one to the other? is it squishy? how are his eyes and nostrils? and does his breath smell?

 

I'm not sure why the vet prescribed Baytril if the lungs sounded ok... any noise from his chest at all? is it clicky when he breathes?

 

How is his weight? and can he walk and support himself ok

 

Personally I would say it sounds more like coccidiosis. Even if it isnt the medication often used for this (Coxoid) actually does seem to sort out all manner of digestive and thriftiness problems but i wouldnt want to go against what your vet has suggested and wouldnt recommend dosing with anything other than what they have given you

 

It could also be a sad case where a bird just doesnt thrive (and this does happen)

 

Another option is Northern Fowl mite (grey 'ash' around vent) or red mite in the coop both of which will bring down a young bird very easily

 

If he is swallowing the sloppy feed then let him have it but stroke his throat so he swallows it properly or it may go down the wrong way. Water carefully syringed in would be a good idea and if he isnt drinking you can syringe in the Baytril treated water (dont syringe it undiluted) sometimes a little ribena in the water encourages them to drink

 

When he is better switch off the lamp but still keep him in doors for a few days, then out to a garage or shed (well ventilated) then out in the day then out full time - always choose a day without extreme weather

[MillyJude]

He had white watery diahhrea, nothing at all now.

 

His eyes and nose look fine, his crop seems to go up and down although it felt a bit squishy first thing this morning.

 

I have smelt his breath and it seems ok, he smells a bit generally but not badly.

 

He is a bit wheezy and he cant really stand anymore.

 

They gave him the baytrill in the absence of any other ideas i think. They mentioned coccidiosis but they didnt have the medication in for that so they said to wait and see how he did on the baytrill.

 

There is no blood in his poo, why do you think it sound like coccidiosis?

 

Thanks for your help

[MillyJude]

Sorry realised there is some other relevant information i should include-

 

We got him two weeks ago from a local breeder, we got two hens at the same time, one of which was sneezing slightly, but fine apart from that.

 

I spoke to the breeder yesterday and he said it could be a respiratory infection (with the hen) and to get some tylan for them all. So i am booked in the vets tomorrow for her , i have checked and they have tylan in stock.

 

But the cockerel came from the same pen as the sneezy hen so is this likely to be the cause of his illness? Would baytrill help that?

 

Thanks

[Redwing]

That explains the Baytril a bit better if he is wheezy and the other hens were ill. Tylan is a different antibiotic and sometimes that does help things, all of the birds should be treated as per the breeders instructions, too many vets only give enough to treat the obviously sick bird!

 

The watery poo/no poo get confuse matters as it can be a sign that they simply havent eaten or can be a sign of upset inside

 

Cocci doesnt always present as blood in the poo, its my first suspect when a young bird gets quite suddenly pulled down by something. Coxoid (not licenced for chickens in the UK) does seem to 'reboot' the bird's system and get things back on track and get them back eating, its incredibly useful stuff and available over the counter (not that I am saying give it a try....)

 

Having said that your other information does make sense and would explain why the vet has taken the course he/she has

[MillyJude]

Thanks

 

I have ordered some, although from what ive read i cant give baytrill and coxoid together, so will have to choose which to give when it comes

 

I worry it could be sour crop, and the food im putting in is making it worse, he smells a little, but sort of all over, not from his mouth. His crop seemed squishy this morning but didnt before i started feeding him yesterday. I dont want to tip him upside down though cos he is so weak i think that would finish him off.

 

Any less violent things i could do?

[MillyJude]

Sorry also meant to say than you very much for your help,

[MillyJude]

Dont think it is sour crop, as i squeezed his crop and smelt his mouth and i could smell nothing,

 

But he looks really miserable, i don't know whether to keep trying, and give him the coxoid when it comes, or if its kinder to just take him to the vets to be pts

[Redwing]

Hmm very tricky

 

How many days have you got left of the Baytril?

 

Personally I would be trying the Coxoid if I could get it locally or ask the vet if they have the approved chicken version in stock now. I wouldn't normally recommend that with the Baytril but as a last ditch attempt it's worth a try as it would make a difference very quickly and not prolong any suffering too long

 

If you have no plans to keep the cockerel anyway I would let him go now, passing him on to a new home would be risky after this

[Redwing]

Where roughly are you based? There may be someone experienced nearby who can take a look

[MillyJude]

We are near Ipswich, in Suffolk

 

I'll give him the coxoid as soon as it comes i think,

 

We definitely want to keep him, we got him to look after our girls, we are rural so there is no problem with the noise,

 

so if he pulls through he has a lovely life ahead of him with all his girls, just hope he can make it,

 

Thanks for your help

[miller30]

Hi I get my coxoid from ebay next day normally so very fast I hope your boy recovers I just had to cull a 7 week old he caught a chill and coccidiosis even though he was a boy I still gave him a chance he seemed to pic up then 2 days later went down hill again so I called it a day as redwing says coxoid is good stuff goodluck leanne

[MillyJude]

Been to the vet this morning, he thinks the hens may have my mycoplasma, and has given me some tylan for them.

 

The coxiod has arrived, and have given him some. I diluted it to the strength it advises on the bottle then syringed him about 15ml of it, is that ok? I was planning to do that every few hours and see how he goes over the next day or so.

 

I may give him the tylan too, he is pretty sick so it cant hurt, the baytrill has run out now.

 

The vet gave me some metacam for him, so he is on that too, its like an episode or ER round here at the moment

[Patricia W]

I do hope he makes it. You ought to feedback to the place you got them from.

[Redwing]

If the vet has given Tylan then I would start him on that. Lets hope its not Myco as that can surface again and again dont forget to treat all of the birds with the Tylan even if they havent had contact with him recently

 

Go careful with the syringing, even 1ml at a time is fine and useful

 

Take care not to stress the bird out or give too much in one go

 

Fingers crossed for the poor boy - I agree with Patricia I would be mentioning it to the breeder, you may have bought the birds when they were well but these things are bought to the surface by stress (like moving) so its worth advising them of the problems you have had - even if you dont want to complain as such its good for them to know that there has been a problem and if they let the birds go knowing this they may well be more careful next time

[MillyJude]

Thanks

 

The breeder knows cos i told him on Sunday about everything, he was very helpful. The vet said myco is very common and they can even catch it from garden birds so i'm not too cross with the breeder i dont think.

 

He is on all the meds, and chick corn mush. He is a bit fed up with it tbh, how much food/water can he survive on cos i don't want to give him more than he needs ?

[MillyJude]

He has just died

 

Poor boy and now the other hen we got with him has started sneezing, but she has already been on the tylan for a day so hopefully she will be ok?

 

Should i syringe her with some to make sure she gets it? Or just make up a mash for the sneezy ones to make sure they are eating?

[Purplemaniacs]

Ah I am so sorry to read that he has died. Such a shame.

 

I hope the other one is ok, sorry no advice I am afraid I don't know the answer.

 

Chrissie

[Patricia W]

I'm so sorry. I hope your others are OK

[gavclojak]

Bless him, he put up a fight to stay with you! You did all you could do and more x

[Luvachicken]

That is very sad. I'm sorry.

I agree with gavclojak that he certainly put up a fight and you did your very best for him xx

[newcountrygirl]

so sorry to hear this. I lost my favourite little chicken this week too. You did everything you could for him.

[hilda-and-evadne]

I am sorry your cockerel died so soon and despite all your care.

 

I have two cuckoo marans cockerels I have to rehome; I'd be happy to give you one or both. They are both hatched (last summer) from eggs that were laid in the Orkneys, then raised here on organic feed, and are strong and alert and healthy and used to being handled.

[redsunset]

Am so sorry to read your wee boy died. I hope the others rally round and will be ok. Chook keeping is never without it's trials and again so sorry.

[MillyJude]

Thank you for all your replies

 

The other hens are all fine now even the one that was really poorly, tylan is amazing stuff.

 

We are going to leave it for a while to all settle down and them maybe get a cockerel again for the girls, would really like to get another brahma cockerel, partly to remember Bertie and also cos they are lovely gentle birds.

 

Thanks again