Rooster down

[15WildTurkey]

A friend has an ill silky Rooster. Poor Michael is unable to stand, started wobbly now down completely. They were feeding layer. I immediately thought excessive calcium. They have since switched to all flock with oyster shell for the ladies. Can he recover from this. Food switch happened a week ago but he is still basically immobile. Is there anything they can do to flush excess calcium and help restrengthen his bones?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I don't think layer feed is the culprit here. I've had plenty of roosters and they did fine on layer feed. I'm thinking it's an illness of some sort. I'm not an avian vet though, so I can't make a suggestion. Hopefully someone will come along to help soon.

 

[15WildTurkey]

Thanks BuckEye You could be right. They said their other rooster had some wobbliness a while back but seemed to come right by himself.
when it was only the roosters it got me thinking about the calcium. I know I’ve had Roos on later feed previously without any seeming ill effect but now I do all flock and oyster shell. The boysnever touch the oyster shells so they certainly don’t need the extra calcium. I wonder if boosting his phosphorus a little might help.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I hope you can find answers soon. Best of luck!

 

[15WildTurkey]

Thanks. I feel bad for him. He’s a sweet friendly rooster.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A friend has an ill silky Rooster. Poor Michael is unable to stand, started wobbly now down completely. They were feeding layer. I immediately thought excessive calcium. They have since switched to all flock with oyster shell for the ladies. Can he recover from this. Food switch happened a week ago but he is still basically immobile. Is there anything they can do to flush excess calcium and help restrengthen his bones?
Thanks in advance.

How old is the rooster?
If you can get a video of him, it may be helpful - if not photos?

Wobbly and then going down completely - for a Silkie, I would give Vitamin E (400IU) and B-Complex (1/4 tablet) daily. Give him some egg daily as well.

Do you know if he was vaccinated for Marek's? This is something that always comes to mind, hopefully it's not, but here's some reading for you https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Check for lice/mites and Scaly Leg mites too. Any chance he was injured/pecked on the head/had been fighting another rooster or ate something moldy, rotten or toxic?
Just some other thoughts there.

 

[15WildTurkey]

How old is the rooster?
If you can get a video of him, it may be helpful - if not photos?

Wobbly and then going down completely - for a Silkie, I would give Vitamin E (400IU) and B-Complex (1/4 tablet) daily. Give him some egg daily as well.

Do you know if he was vaccinated for Marek's? This is something that always comes to mind, hopefully it's not, but here's some reading for you https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Check for lice/mites and Scaly Leg mites too. Any chance he was injured/pecked on the head/had been fighting another rooster or ate something moldy, rotten or toxic?
Just some other thoughts there.

Firstly, thanks.
I asked about Mareks. They don’t know but doubt it. He was a rescue. He’s about 2.
and yes the girl just called me tonight about mites. She was spending some time with him and noticed he had “little orange mites” she’s going on meds run to tractor supply tomorrow. I’ve suggested Sevin, DE, ivermectin pour-on and total clean out of coop, spray down with permethrin then dust nooks and crannies with Sevin. What do you think of that?
I have Vit e gel with selenium also fortified B vits. B vits in his water and E gel in his food?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If he's weak, then I would use either the Sevin or Permethrin to treat him for the mites.
Ivermectin is good too - but choose only one of those to treat him LOL

DE, forget that - it's not going to be effective.

The Vit E w/ Selenium - is that a goat gel or something? The worry is the Selenium - too much can be toxic - so I don't know what dosing for that would be. For an adult large fowl I *think* the max daily for Selenium is 25mcg (note that is MICRO, not Milli grams) and feed already contains a little Selenium. This is why most of us recommend egg or tuna for Selenium.

What's the fortified B vits? If it has B1, etc. then likely those are fine.

 

[15WildTurkey]

Yes the stuff I have is for goats. I’ll tell her to pick up reg human Vit E capsules. To be safe. Which do you think she should do? I’m thinking treat the coop with permethrin and Sevin. Treat him with ivermectin. Treat all the birds with ivermectin. Give them a dust bath with De and a sprinkling of Sevin. Sound like a solid plan?
the b vits are injectable but I give it in water to my ducks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes the stuff I have is for goats. I’ll tell her to pick up reg human Vit E capsules. To be safe. Which do you think she should do? I’m thinking treat the coop with permethrin and Sevin. Treat him with ivermectin. Treat all the birds with ivermectin. Give them a dust bath with De and a sprinkling of Sevin. Sound like a solid plan?
the b vits are injectable but I give it in water to my ducks.

For the rooster, yes I would use the Ivermectin Pour On - dose is 1 mg/kg which is 0.09 ml per pound - apply to the base of the neck, it needs to come into contact with the skin. Repeat in 10-14 days.

The rest of the birds...Sevin if that's what you have. Ivermectin is *not approved* for use in poultry, so...an egg withdrawal period may need to be considered. Since there is no approved timeline, it seems the general consensus is 30 days after last treatment so you are looking at up to 45 days. It really depends on how comfortable you/your friend is with using the medication/drug sensitivity, etc. Ya'll discuss it and do some research - Ivermectin would be an effective treatment for lice/mites.

Coop - yes, Permethrin or Sevin, repeat in 7 day intervals.

Good deal on the B vitamins.

It's nice of you to help your friend with this.