HELP! Sick Rooster (two dead!)

[Eggcessive]

Permethrin garden dust from feed stores is an effective treatment for mites or lice. Reapply it in 7 days, then check again an after 7 more days to see if the mites are present. If one has them all probably will. The bedding should be emptied and new bedding added.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi! I noticed a few days ago that my bantam rooster looked kind of puffy, a little lethargic, quiet, and his comb was kind of purple-ish. His tail was also cocked to one side which is not normal for him. He unfortunately died the next day. The next day, my other rooster was totally fine. Eating, drinking, totally normal. I go out this morning to let them out, and he was dead. Another one of my roosters is acting funny. Same symtoms as the first one. I gave him Corid (just in case it's coccidiosis), gave him an egg yolk, and Nutra Drench. What else should I do? He is currently seperated from my other chickens. I sanitized the coop, and gave all the chickens the same treatment as the rooster. Please help!

Do the hens and roosters share the same tractor?
Lice are unlikely to kill a rooster given the commonest chicken lice eat dander bascally. They are irritating because they move around, not because they bite.
Mites again would need a major infestation which you would notice on the dead roosters as you would with lice.
You write you saw a few mites. Have you checked the others for mites?
Northern fowl mites can kill a chicken but the process is slow apparently and the keepr would notice, or should notice long before the chicken drops dead.
My view is you need to be looking for something that only your roosters do. It could be a place, a feeder, a plant they eat that the hens dont for examples if the hens are fine.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'll see if I can get a picture of him for you.

He is about 2 years old.

I have temporarily been feeding them the Purina layer crumbles (I believe it's the 16% protein kind), because my feed store didn't have the Kalmbach crumbles.

Yes, I have checked for injuries. I did notice that his comb was bloody (it looks like he got into a fight with another rooster). I cleaned it.

Yes, his crop has been emptying normally at night.

Possibly. Although, I do check my feed for mold, and make sure my chickens don't get anything that's toxic to them.

I have my chickens in a spacious chicken tractor that is insulated. I have about 40 hens and now I have 4 roosters.

I did see a few mites on him. I treated him for that.

Can you post photos of the housing, inside and out?
They are all in a tractor, do they come out for sunshine/to roam around?

I agree, I'd look at what the roosters may be consuming, if this is only affecting them.

The current one seems to have been in a fight with the others. Even with 40hens, some roosters can be quite territorial. Could the others have been injured from fighting or perhaps became weak by being kept from food/water.

You are seeing Mites instead of lice correct? I'd make sure to dust the sick one very well with a Permethrin based poultry dust. It would be wise to treat all the birds too.
If you are dealing with Mites, then the housing needs to be treated, this is important since the Mites can infest the housing and even if you are able to kill what you find on the birds, the birds will quickly become reinfested unless the Mites are eliminated from the coop/housing.
A permethrin based spray is usually easy to source. For large areas like housing, I'd buy the concentrate, then mix in a sprayer according to directions on the label. Spray housing in 5-7day intervals for several weeks to begin eradicating the Mites. Be sure to get into nooks/crannies of the housing, the nesting boxes, roosting bars, etc. Mites can be hard to get rid of, so you may find you need to treat the housing often.

 

[TheChickenFanatic]

UPDATE: Rooster seems to be doing better than he was. He is eating and drinking normally. He is opening his mouth and shutting it a lot.

Another hen isn't doing good though. This morning, she was totally fine, but I just went out there to shut the door, and she isn't doing good at all. She looks like she's about to die. What do I do? Please help me!! I don't want to lose any more chickens.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

UPDATE: Rooster seems to be doing better than he was. He is eating and drinking normally. He is opening his mouth and shutting it a lot.

Another hen isn't doing good though. This morning, she was totally fine, but I just went out there to shut the door, and she isn't doing good at all. She looks like she's about to die. What do I do? Please help me!! I don't want to lose any more chickens.

I'm very sorry your hen is not doing well now.

Can you get photos of her and the rooster please, if you have photos of the poop that may help too.

You mention she looks like she's about to die, should she have laid an egg today and hasn't?
Is she responsive to you at all?
Is she gasping or laying down very silent?
If you hold a little cup of sugar water to her beak can she drink on her own?

Your rooster is opening his beak a lot. Can you feel his crop for us and tell us what it's like - is it empty, hard, soft, squishy, fluid filled or doughy feeling?
Can you look inside his beak to see if there are any lesions, canker, yellow or white crusty material or mucous?

We will try to help you the best we can. The more info you can provide may give us a clue along with photos of the birds, housing and feed.

 

[Altairsky]

My rooster was quiet, crooked tail and purple comb, it was coccidiosis. Treated him with corid and he was like new in 24 hours.
When one bird has coccidiosis, you need to treat the whole flock.

 

[TheChickenFanatic]

I'm very sorry your hen is not doing well now.

Can you get photos of her and the rooster please, if you have photos of the poop that may help too.

You mention she looks like she's about to die, should she have laid an egg today and hasn't?
Is she responsive to you at all?
Is she gasping or laying down very silent?
If you hold a little cup of sugar water to her beak can she drink on her own?

Your rooster is opening his beak a lot. Can you feel his crop for us and tell us what it's like - is it empty, hard, soft, squishy, fluid filled or doughy feeling?
Can you look inside his beak to see if there are any lesions, canker, yellow or white crusty material or mucous?

We will try to help you the best we can. The more info you can provide may give us a clue along with photos of the birds, housing and feed.

Yeah, let me get a pic for you.

She's a 4 month old silkie, so she isn't laying yet.

Not really responsive. When I picked her up, she made some chirpy noises. Not really moving at all. She is breathing pretty heavily, laying down.

She will not drink on her own. I have been dropping small droplets of sugar water on her beak, and she'll swallow. She doesn't drink on her own.

Let me go feel my rooster's crop real quick and I'll tell you.

 

[TheChickenFanatic]

My rooster was quiet, crooked tail and purple comb, it was coccidiosis. Treated him with corid and he was like new in 24 hours.
When one bird has coccidiosis, you need to treat the whole flock.

That was my first thought, too, so I treated my whole flock with Corid (including this silkie hen and rooster).

 

[TheChickenFanatic]

Here's the silkie hen. This was the best pic I got of her. It was raining today and cold, and she was shaking, so I put her in a separate coop with a heat lamp.

 

[TheChickenFanatic]

And here's the rooster. I felt his crop and it feels mostly empty (but he just ate), and it kind of felt squishy and doughy.