Is my rooster ok? Strange behaviour...

[EssleyJane]

Hi everyone,
I relatively new to chicken-keeping, so please bear with me!

I have five hens and one rooster, and the hens are laying everyday. But my rooster is acting a bit strange.

For a while now, all he does for most of the day is sit down on the grass, asleep. He eats well, I see him eat, and he mates with the hens. But he sits down, A LOT. And he makes a strange noise - kind of like a creaky door? A bit like he is snoring, or gurgling? Really hard to explain.... it's quite a quiet noise.

I picked him up earlier to check him over, he is growing new feathers (he is approx 8 months old, I think), but there is a vertical line down the middle of his chest that has no feathers. Is this normal? It's a bare ridge of yellow skin (the same colour as his legs).

He's been wormed today too.

I was reading online the other day about a roosters "job", which they said was to look after his hens and scout out food etc, and it didn't sound like him at all. He's always the first one in the food trough and pecks the hens out the way if they try to eat before he has finished!

Could there be something wrong with him? I've never owned a rooster before so I'm not sure what "normal" rooster behavious is!!
Are there things I should be checking him for? He eats pellets and corn just as the hens do, and the occasional papaya.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Sarah

Ps - as I write, he is just sitting down in a corner of the coop, not roaming the garden like the hens. Please help!

 

[terrilhb]

I don't know the answer. My roosters don't do it. But I will bump you up. Hope this helps.

And

From Georgia

 

[chickencrazy69]

this is normal the rooster is just becoming full grown and wait a couple months and his feathers should equal out and behavior seems normal to me and my rooster always does that the noises he does that to roosters make all kinds of weired nosies

 

[hannakat]

Just wanted to check in to ask how he's doing. I can just imagine how worried you are

My rooster is a bit mean but I know if he was acting like this, I'd be anxious.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, roosters will make lots of different noises, from an almost purring sound all the way to a growl. However, none of my roosters are lethargic acting, nor have they ever sounded like a creaky door.

How is he doing today?

 

[chicknmania]

Yeah, the lethargy would concern me, too, but not the other things. Look for other symptoms; maybe start him and the flock on some Aviacharge. Try treating him for lice or mites too in addition to the deworming. Our chickens, especially the roos, make a huge variety of weird noises; you will have fun learning what they mean. The gurgling might be a normal noise, but it could also be a sign of a respiratory condition, so watch for runny nose, watery or mattery looking eyes, swollen eyes, discolored comb, neurological symptoms. If you see ANYTHING, you need to separate him from the others immediately, start him on antibiotic, and probably the flock too, and disinfect everything you can, preferably with Oxine, though bleach will do. Too bad you can't post an audio clip....

Don't worry too much, but do be aware, because once they are obviously sick, they are very sick, and you can't waste any time at that point starting treatment.

 

[chicknmania]

btw, our Barred Cochin makes that creaky door noise whenever he hears or sees something he thinks is threatening....it's like a faint. EEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Funny, he's the only roo we have who does that

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I second a look over him to see if you see lice or mite damage to his body. Lice will stay on the chicken and look sorta yellowish colored, very tiny and they like to hang out around the vent area and lay their eggs on the feather shaft, close to the body - looks like a small clump of dried white poo. His skin around his vent/belly might be red. He will need to be dusted (and you flock) plus the coop and then again in 7-10 days to kill any nits who have hatched.

Lice and mites can and will suck a bird dry and kill them.


Another thing to take a look at are his legs/feet. How do the scales look on them?



Here is a bit of info on lice/mites:


http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0019.html

 

[honeydoll]

I wouldn't worry about the noise, unless it is an actual gurgle sound. Then that says mucus to me. Also the lethargy is concerning too. I am no expert, but I do know lethargy in chickens is often symptom of something wrong. I would watch him closely, see if lethargy becomes more and more. If he is eating and drinking that is a good sign. Some roos aren't the "perfect" man for the girls. One of my roos is very protective let's them eat first and all that; and another is down right mean and has the me first attitude, he would watch my hens get eaten by a coon and then eat the leftovers, not a good roo that way. I would watch for sneezing, coughing mucus. He could just come thru this ans you will never know what it was. Good luck.

 

[EssleyJane]

Thank you so much everyone for the replies.

I've been out to see Kelloggs (the rooster!) just now, he was just sitting down in the coop again doing nothing. He has eaten breakfast today though, which is good.

Ok, an update: The "creaky door" noise - he wasn't doing it just now, and the only times he's done it before is when I've been getting close to him - so perhaps like Chicknmania said he was doing it to warn me off.

As HorseFeatherz suggested, I have checked for lice/mites and there are none whatsoever. Vent area is perfectly clean with nothing suspicious, and normal colour.

I've not seen or heard him sneeze, cough or otherwise make any "illness" sounds. His comb is the normal red colour and he has shiny eyes, apart from a small blob of gunge in the corner of one eye. What could this possibly mean? An eye infection? A cold? Apart from this gloop his eye is shiny.

I checked under a lot of his feathers close to the skin, there's nothing out of the ordinary, his skin looks fine too. HorseFeatherz, his scales on his legs look ok, none of them seem to be damaged or anything. I'm not sure exactly what I should be looking for though? But there was nothing obvious.

I do occasionally see him out in the garden, rooting around, and he does eat. But he sits for most of the time. He has the energy to jump up onto the perch to sleep. I'm just worried that he sits and sleeps so much. Physically he looks ok apart from the one goopy eye.

Also I'd like to add that we are in rural Borneo, the nearest vets is two hours away and they really only deal with "domestic" pets (cats dogs etc), they don't have too much knowledge of other animals! Also medication is quite hard to find, out here the motto is kind of "let nature run it's course". I rescued Kelloggs from a place where they sell the animals for food - poor little thing only 6 months old being sold for someone's plate

Is there anything home-made I could give him to boost his defences or perk him up? I might not be able to get hold of antibiotics for him.
I want to do anything I can to help him.

Thanks again for all the brilliant replies