8 month old Auracana rooster dying from what?

[jessupfamily]

I'm asking for a friend without internet. Her 8 month old rooster has not been crowing for the last week and a half. And hasn't mated in about the same time period. He now just lays in one place and will stand if prodded to and then lays back down. He also has pasty bottom. He looks normal otherwise. They have separated him until they know what's going on. He's had plenty of water and feed, scraps and free range area. Everything has been the same until she introduced 12 older (1-2 year old) hens into the flock. They lost one of the new hens a week after they got them and they assumed the others had hurt her. (Maybe not?) He has not been pecked or kept from the food and water. The new hens were bought from people who breed and sell chickens for a living. They were said to be healthy and appeared so. Do you think this ties in? They love their rooster (his name is Pack-man) and their children are praying he survives. Any help would be a blessing! They also want to know if they should not eat their eggs until they know if their new hens are sick or not?
Amy J.

 

[chicknmania]

Yes, there's a good chance the new chickens brought something with them. You should always isolate new ones for a month, anyway, before introducing them to the others. We learned that the hard way, too. If he is still drinking on his own she could try putting Oxytet or Terramycin (4 tsp per gallon) in the water; you can get Terramycin at the feed store or TSC. If he's not drinking you could try getting a little saline into him by (and I have not tried this) drizzling some through his nostrils, so it will reach his mouth. If she knows how to open his beak she could try dropping some on his tongue. The saline is supposed to help, but as I said I have never tried to do this. Is this a commercial breeder, or a backyard breeder? If she still has the dead hen, and it has been less than twenty four hours that she died, tell her to get a necropsy done, if she can.

 

[chicknmania]

I don't know of any disease that is transmitted through the eggs. Definitely segregate the rooster away from the rest of the flock, til he is better.

 

[Grace Boyer]

If they want to try medicating him, they can put the medicine in a syringe and open his beak by pushing gently in each side, but will have to be quick about getting the medicine in. If he's tame enough, he shouldn't mind it too much.
Wish I could help you figure out what's wrong with him, but I've never seen anything like what you described. Hope the rooster gets better.


P.S. Thank you for putting the scripture verse on your post. It's refeshing to run across people who aren't afraid to share their Faith.

 

[SpottedCrow]

It's very likely that the new birds brought in a bug that your friend's established flocked wasn't accustomed to.
You should ALWAYS quarantine new birds for 3 or more weeks. That way you'll see if the new birds are sick and can take care of them before you put them all together.

 

[jessupfamily]

"Pack-man" died last night and they now have 2 more sick hens. Called a vet, he said he believes the new chickens brought in a parasite. They are putting antibiotics in the water in the meantime. They are taking in the next hen to die (one is definitely not making it). He will run the labs and tell them for sure what they are dealing with. Will update as soon I hear something.
Thanks for the input for them, they are really heartbroken over this!
Amy J.

 

[chicknmania]

How sad, we are so sorry for you here! Best of luck, I hope it is nothing that can't be cured with the right treatment for the rest of them. Just so you know for the future, you can get a Necropsy through your State Ag Department (at least I believe that's true for most states) and though they may charge you, it's cheaper than a vet and you can get a lot of veterinary advice through them. In some States it's even free. Our vet referred us to the State, because we would go bankrupt trying to take every sick chicken to the vet!

 

[SpottedCrow]

I'm sorry that they lost the roo too...Get that necropsy done PDQ and that will point you towards the way to go to treat them correctly.