Rescued Rooster - How To Help Save Elvis

[clanfortress]

We rescued this rooster, Elvis, from a farmer who took him on a trade and didn’t notice he was weak, not moving, etc. I don’t fault the farmer; he’s not a hobbyist but a realist. We’re bleeding hearts and we think we can help him so we arranged to take him.

We don’t know the breed beyond part serama (please let us know if you do!). He clearly has some red in him and almost some splash wheaten? He’s allegedly as big as he’s going to get so he’s maybe not micro serama but close. And is prob close to a year.

First night:

• Wouldn’t crow, cluck, anything & very exhausted
• He can’t seem to stand. He can flap his wings and he has strength in his feet but he’s not standing.
• No sign of trauma or breaks
• Lost an overgrown toenail so we put some antibiotic spray and trimmed the rest before they ripped too
• No signs of mites on legs or feathers
• Bright eyed and bright comb
• Might have pox on part of his waddles but will need to monitor
• We assumed as being new to the farmers flock he hadn’t found his place amongst the other roosters and probably hadn’t had much food or water
• Had watery poop
• We used a syringe to get water + nutridrench into him
• We made mushy food and got it in him — then he started eating with earnest!
• We started him in a round of dewormer (we don’t know that farm and we are mid working our flock)
• Gave him lots of love and an isolation cage

This morning:

• He’s eating and drinking on his own
• He crowed!!
• He somewhat stands now, but still seems to avoid it
• He’s trilling and chortling
• His wings, which he’ll beat for balance, seem… heavy/droopy?
• His tail is droopy
• Had a normal poop!
• Feed him some cooked eggs for a boost and continued with nutridrench in water.
• More love
• Continue the deworming treatment with the rest of the flock, but he remains in isolation

Should we be trying anything else? We think it might be vitamin and food deficiency but we want to try everything we can since he’s showing improvement before we resort to the city vet (not very familiar with chickens). We do have some other medicines but we don’t think he fits the bill (corrid and baytril). We’d like to try to treat him ourselves first if at all possible.

Does anyone know what’s up? Any suggestions? Should we try or do something different?

 

[CoopBoots]

Oh my gosh what a cutie!! I'm not much help... you're already doing what I'd be trying at this point, asking here to get a better idea what might be going on and providing supportive care.

I'm reaching a bit here, but it might be beneficial to him if he sees or hears other chickens while he's mostly alone. You could try playing chicken sounds on a phone or similar from time to time maybe? I just know they can get depressed and fare a bit worse when they are lacking in chicken companionship, so I try to keep them within sight and hearing of other birds when possible.

Best of luck and thanks for trying to help this sweetheart. Lucky little guy. <3

 

[clanfortress]

Oh my gosh what a cutie!! I'm not much help... you're already doing what I'd be trying at this point, asking here to get a better idea what might be going on and providing supportive care.

I'm reaching a bit here, but it might be beneficial to him if he sees or hears other chickens while he's mostly alone. You could try playing chicken sounds on a phone or similar from time to time maybe? I just know they can get depressed and fare a bit worse when they are lacking in chicken companionship, so I try to keep them within sight and hearing of other birds when possible.

Best of luck and thanks for trying to help this sweetheart. Lucky little guy. <3

Thank you!! We’ve been bringing the ladies by so he can meet them and he greets them with chirps and coos.

Also giving him some riboflavin just in case it’s a vitamin deficiency. :-/

We’re lucky to have him. Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

[MarlaMac]

He is a cutie. I can see why you would adopt him!I

I would keep him away from your flock for a couple of weeks until you are sure he is not bringing anything in that could be given to the rest. After you rule that out, and if he feels better, you can start the integration process - a couple of weeks of see, but don't touch, then supervised time together until everyone is comfortable with each other. I think it is easier to integrate a roo than a hen (just my opinion, others might think differently); hopefully, that will be your experience.

 

[fluffycrow]

What a cutie, thank you for taking him in! Crowing is a good sign! I cannot give any medical advice, but if he seems weak, it might be a good idea to give him some protein. I can see that he's eating some eggs, meat works great as well. I think you've set up a really nice plan! Good luck with him! He seems like a serama/serama cross to me, but that will become more evident as he heals

 

[Eggcessive]

How much riboflavin are you giving? Are those tablets? Riboflavin tablets may contain way too much. Riboflavin tablets have 100-200mg, while a b complex tablet has 10 mg. 1/4 tablet daily is plenty of b complex.
Keep him in quarantine. Not to scare you, but he could have symptoms of Mareks which is spread through feather dander. But he could just be severely dehydrated and needing food. The best food for him is a chicken feed, all flock or flock raiser, and a bit of egg for a treat. Let us know how he is getting along.

 

[The Welch Chickens]

He looks so sweet. Good luck with him!

 

[clanfortress]

How much riboflavin are you giving? Are those tablets? Riboflavin tablets may contain way too much. Riboflavin tablets have 100-200mg, while a b complex tablet has 10 mg. 1/4 tablet daily is plenty of b complex.
Keep him in quarantine. Not to scare you, but he could have symptoms of Mareks which is spread through feather dander. But he could just be severely dehydrated and needing food. The best food for him is a chicken feed, all flock or flock raiser, and a bit of egg for a treat. Let us know how he is getting along.

We take small scrapes off a 100mg tablet so I think we’re okay there (our prev bird vet taught us that one). Mareks was what we’re worried about so fingers crossed!!

Is there a riboflavin additive you suggest? Open to ideas!!

 

[clanfortress]

He is a cutie. I can see why you would adopt him!I

I would keep him away from your flock for a couple of weeks until you are sure he is not bringing anything in that could be given to the rest. After you rule that out, and if he feels better, you can start the integration process - a couple of weeks of see, but don't touch, then supervised time together until everyone is comfortable with each other. I think it is easier to integrate a roo than a hen (just my opinion, others might think differently); hopefully, that will be your experience.

Thank you for the tips!! He’s most likely going to be a house rooster but he’ll be able to free range with the girls when he’s better so this is a great integration plan.

 

[Whittni]

Did he make it?