Bigboy-9lb roo choking/coughing action while eating (never while drinking)/side to side head shaking/his breathing sounds like snoring...advice?

[KClivlaughlove]

Bigboy-9lb roo choking/coughing action while eating (never while drinking)/side to side head shaking/his breathing sounds like snoring...

We adopted him in and this poor boy has had a very very rough life! He was stuck out on a farm 3 miles outside of town during the fall, winter & spring (end of 2023-2024). NO water, NO food, NO shelter from the weather (Central Utah) yet him, 1 other roo & 4 hens survived of approx 25 in the flock. NO IT WAS NOT ME WHO DID THIS TO THEM!
Anyhow, we ended up with (only) him and we've been treating him for each condition as we find it.
Treated for minimal lice and really bad scaly leg mites with ivermectin (.045ml per lb) on 12/25. Still have a follow up dose on Jan 4th, making it 10 days from 1st dose.
Treating for thrush (we believe, because it's not at all stinky, and it's on the roof of his mouth. He did have 2 large clumps (looked like 2 dark yellow pieces of corn) stuck between the very back roof of his mouth and the very top of where his throat starts to go down. I did remove them but as soon as they released, they went right down the hatch!
Treating with Miconazole Nitrate Cream 2%.
(I'm not sure of how much I should be giving him on this one so could be why he is not getting better).
No runny nose, no watery or swollen eyes, no stench at all!
He eats and drinks great (aside from the choke/cough action...which is how I came to notice it upon close inspection).
I do have Tylan 200 injectable I would like to give to him orally, but again I'm not sure of the dosage on this either.
Any suggestions and/or advice would be greatly appreciated with regards to any and all of the above stated going on with him. I will say now a vet is not an option, so no one wastes their time commenting to take him to a vet.
Outside of the issue stated above he's doing super great, his activity levels are normal his eating and drinking is normal and his ability and attention overseeing the flock is also normal.
They have an 8x8x8 (heated during the winter and A/C during the summer), well ventilated & cleaned (poop removal/egg retrieval/ect every single day! They are only in their locked in their coop at night and/or if it's raining or snowing...the remainder of the time they are free range on a huge wide open fenced backyard (however, spend 80% of the out time either taking turns on dads lap, or all laying around him out under our carport! He beyond spoils them!
Thank you in advance for your help and support!

 

[alinas2010]

Bigboy-9lb roo choking/coughing action while eating (never while drinking)/side to side head shaking/his breathing sounds like snoring...

We adopted him in and this poor boy has had a very very rough life! He was stuck out on a farm 3 miles outside of town during the fall, winter & spring (end of 2023-2024). NO water, NO food, NO shelter from the weather (Central Utah) yet him, 1 other roo & 4 hens survived of approx 25 in the flock. NO IT WAS NOT ME WHO DID THIS TO THEM!
Anyhow, we ended up with (only) him and we've been treating him for each condition as we find it.
Treated for minimal lice and really bad scaly leg mites with ivermectin (.045ml per lb) on 12/25. Still have a follow up dose on Jan 4th, making it 10 days from 1st dose.
Treating for thrush (we believe, because it's not at all stinky, and it's on the roof of his mouth. He did have 2 large clumps (looked like 2 dark yellow pieces of corn) stuck between the very back roof of his mouth and the very top of where his throat starts to go down. I did remove them but as soon as they released, they went right down the hatch!
Treating with Miconazole Nitrate Cream 2%.
(I'm not sure of how much I should be giving him on this one so could be why he is not getting better).
No runny nose, no watery or swollen eyes, no stench at all!
He eats and drinks great (aside from the choke/cough action...which is how I came to notice it upon close inspection).
I do have Tylan 200 injectable I would like to give to him orally, but again I'm not sure of the dosage on this either.
Any suggestions and/or advice would be greatly appreciated with regards to any and all of the above stated going on with him. I will say now a vet is not an option, so no one wastes their time commenting to take him to a vet.
Outside of the issue stated above he's doing super great, his activity levels are normal his eating and drinking is normal and his ability and attention overseeing the flock is also normal.
They have an 8x8x8 (heated during the winter and A/C during the summer), well ventilated & cleaned (poop removal/egg retrieval/ect every single day! They are only in their locked in their coop at night and/or if it's raining or snowing...the remainder of the time they are free range on a huge wide open fenced backyard (however, spend 80% of the out time either taking turns on dads lap, or all laying around him out under our carport! He beyond spoils them!
Thank you in advance for your help and support!

Wow what a sad life for that flock! I’m so glad you rescued them this poor little guy! But so sorry you’re having to go through this now. Do you know how old he is?

Are you familiar with canker? Is it possible he could have that and that is causing the white lesions? If this is what he has, the lesions can grow into the airway and affect breathing, possibly causing the wheezing you’re hearing and lesions on the roof of his mouth you’re seeing. Did the pieces inside his mouth bleed when you removed them? Would you be able to post pictures of him, his face and inside his mouth if possible? That could really help others with a diagnosis and treatment.

 

[AGeese]

What about the crop?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Bigboy-9lb roo choking/coughing action while eating (never while drinking)/side to side head shaking/his breathing sounds like snoring...

Treated for minimal lice and really bad scaly leg mites with ivermectin (.045ml per lb) on 12/25. Still have a follow up dose on Jan 4th, making it 10 days from 1st dose.

Can you please get photos of the rooster and the inside of his beak?

He has lice or mites?
If he has Lice, then it would likely be a good idea to treat with a Permethrin based poultry dust. While Ivermectin is effective for Mites since they consume the blood (bite the bird and get a dose of Ivermectin), Lice mainly consume feather debris, dander and sometimes blood.

Treating for thrush (we believe, because it's not at all stinky, and it's on the roof of his mouth. He did have 2 large clumps (looked like 2 dark yellow pieces of corn) stuck between the very back roof of his mouth and the very top of where his throat starts to go down. I did remove them but as soon as they released, they went right down the hatch!
Treating with Miconazole Nitrate Cream 2%.

If he's having that much trouble swallowing/eating, it may be thrush, but it's also invaded the esophagus. Miconazole may treat a severe case, but Nystatin or even Acidified Copper Sulfate may be a better choice.
Is the Choanal slit (roof of beak) still impacted with material?

I do have Tylan 200 injectable I would like to give to him orally, but again I'm not sure of the dosage on this either.

Tylan is usually used to treat Symptoms of respiratory disease like Mycoplasma. Does he have Symptoms? I realize you are seeing choking and hearing "snoring", but if he's got material inside the beak that is Thrush (Fungal/Yeast), then an antibiotic may worsen the condition.

If you still feel you want to use an antibiotic. Tylan dosing is 10-40mg/kg given orally 3 times a day for 5 days in a row.

Check his crop to see if it's emptying overnight. Sounds like he's eating normally and active, you've had him most of 2024 and he's been doing o.k.? Have you added new birds recently?

fall, winter & spring (end of 2023-2024).

Outside of the issue stated above he's doing super great, his activity levels are normal his eating and drinking is normal and his ability and attention overseeing the flock is also normal.

 

[dawg53]

Thrush can be found in the crop, gizzard and possibly on further down, including canker. I've dealt with yeast infections in my old Buff Leghorn rooster. It doesnt permanently go away and requires continued treatments over time.
Other symptoms you might see are gurgling when he crows, difficulty swallowing feed, mucus/saliva in the mouth and in esophagus, drinking water excessively.
Antibiotics shouldnt be used while treating fungal issues unless it is absolutely necessary.
I recommend using Acidified Copper Sulfate. It will clear it up until you see symptoms again which varies with your environment. Here where I live in Florida, I have to treat my rooster once every 4 or 5 months with the Acidified Copper Sulfate (ACS.) We have a warm/mostly wet environment.
In between times I use an Epsom Salts solution albeit a temporary fix with less treatment time of 3 days.

Here's where you can order ACS:
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/acidified-copper-sulfate/

Here's the instructions on how to mix and use ACS. See post #4 in this link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/canker-or-fowlpox.1648534/#post-28263234

 

[KClivlaughlove]

Wow what a sad life for that flock! I’m so glad you rescued them this poor little guy! But so sorry you’re having to go through this now. Do you know how old he is?

Are you familiar with canker? Is it possible he could have that and that is causing the white lesions? If this is what he has, the lesions can grow into the airway and affect breathing, possibly causing the wheezing you’re hearing and lesions on the roof of his mouth you’re seeing. Did the pieces inside his mouth bleed when you removed them? Would you be able to post pictures of him, his face and inside his mouth if possible? That could really help others with a diagnosis and treatme

Wow what a sad life for that flock! I’m so glad you rescued them this poor little guy! But so sorry you’re having to go through this now. Do you know how old he is?

Are you familiar with canker? Is it possible he could have that and that is causing the white lesions? If this is what he has, the lesions can grow into the airway and affect breathing, possibly causing the wheezing you’re hearing and lesions on the roof of his mouth you’re seeing. Did the pieces inside his mouth bleed when you removed them? Would you be able to post pictures of him, his face and inside his mouth if possible? That could really help others with a diagnosis and treatment.

I am trying to get pics onto here but it will not work. Any suggestions? I got some great pics!
To my understanding canker stinks and there is zero smell. So I had ruled the canker out. Correct me if I'm wrong though please!
The large pieces removed did NOT cause any bleeding whatsoever.

 

[KClivlaughlove]

Can you please get photos of the rooster and the inside of his beak?

He has lice or mites?
If he has Lice, then it would likely be a good idea to treat with a Permethrin based poultry dust. While Ivermectin is effective for Mites since they consume the blood (bite the bird and get a dose of Ivermectin), Lice mainly consume feather debris, dander and sometimes blood.

If he's having that much trouble swallowing/eating, it may be thrush, but it's also invaded the esophagus. Miconazole may treat a severe case, but Nystatin or even Acidified Copper Sulfate may be a better choice.
Is the Choanal slit (roof of beak) still impacted with material?

Tylan is usually used to treat Symptoms of respiratory disease like Mycoplasma. Does he have Symptoms? I realize you are seeing choking and hearing "snoring", but if he's got material inside the beak that is Thrush (Fungal/Yeast), then an antibiotic may worsen the condition.

If you still feel you want to use an antibiotic. Tylan dosing is 10-40mg/kg given orally 3 times a day for 5 days in a row.

Check his crop to see if it's emptying overnight. Sounds like he's eating normally and active, you've had him most of 2024 and he's been doing o.k.? Have you added new birds recently?

I have great pics! I've been trying to get them uploaded but it will not work. Any suggestions on what I can do to get them uploaded onto here so you all can better help me?
I believe it to be lice. Didn't see any on any of my flock until about 2 weeks after having these inty tiny lil crawling things on my phone screen (literally never would have noticed had my phone not been on dark mode). They were so little I could not even get a pic, it shows up as tiny dot, when I zoom in it just turns into a blob. However, a week after noticing those tiny ones seen on my phone screen around the ears and eyes...we did then see the actual lice but in a baby size (nothing like when we had that flock wide infestation from having brought in a newbie). So I'm guessing it was eggs and the baby lice were born and then growing by the time we seen the actual lice bug.
The cream I'd used approx 4 times (not knowing any dosages, but knowing I had to do something...I just squoze it out onto my fingertip and put it into his beak). Has done made an incredible difference! Whereas when first noticed the stuff you'll see in the pictures once I'm able to finally get them uploaded is literally about a 10th of what was there at the beginning when noticing it!
The slit thing you're talking about at the top of the roof of the mouth is not compacted there's a small amount of slimmery at the very back as you can see in the pictures again once I'm able to get them uploaded.

Also got some pictures of his feet to show the deformations and I don't know if he lost his toes to frostbite or what has caused it. It may been from the scaly leg mites, I couldn't tell you to be completely honest. I don't know anything more than it was a very rough horrid winter this boy had to suffer through out on that ranch with no shelter no water no food nothing. I'm still shocked to the belief that he is alive at all!
And that is correct...he is eating great (with the exception of having a hard time with the coughing/choking actions), he's active & acting perfectly normal and has normal poop.
Yes his crop is emptying as it should.
Lastly I just wanted to throw in and it may have been in your message or somebody else's but I did want to throw in there that he is not making any abnormal sounds during crowing. Nor is there any kind of wheezing or abnormalities in his breathing sounds (with the exception of the "snoring" sound and it's only once he's gotten into a fully relaxed state such as sitting on our laps , sun bathing,or something similar).

 

[KClivlaughlove]

Got it! Last pic shows the slit empty with exception of the very back where it ends. Also shows that his eyes, nasal & face are not swollen.

 

[KClivlaughlove]

Here's images of his poor deformed feet.

 

[alinas2010]

I am trying to get pics onto here but it will not work. Any suggestions? I got some great pics!
To my understanding canker stinks and there is zero smell. So I had ruled the canker out. Correct me if I'm wrong though please!
The large pieces removed did NOT cause any bleeding whatsoever.

I think you’re right, but I don’t have personal experience with canker. I know there’s usually excessive saliva and can be a puny appetite along with canker, so the yeast infection may be more accurate. Let’s see what the others have to say with the pictures. To be honest with you, I would follow the advice that the educators @Wyorp Rock and @dawg53 have given because they have great knowledge on injuries and illness.

I’m glad to hear he seems to be recovering. So grateful you were able to help him get on the right track. I’ll let the experts here give more of their input on him and any further steps for care. Great pics, thanks! He looks like a handsome little fellow.