The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Pedwardine on May 25, 2018, 06:05:07 pm
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Well it would be my favourite boy. Harry, who usually comes dashing up to me for a cuddle, is not himself. He's lost some weight, has a paler comb and wattles and comb is dry looking too. He's still eating (has a garden blend by Bearts and very eager for mealworms today) and drinking and is currently being wormed plus has antibiotics in his water. Absolutely zero parasites on him and none in his nightime enclosure which is simply meshed panels with a perch and a tarp roof. Nowhere for nasties to hide! No gaping or obvious discomfort. No injuries. His crop is nice and squishy. He's just not right, keeping himself in mostly one safe spot all day until I pick him up and put him to bed. He lives with three other boys, his sons, who used to defer to him but are now squabbling for hierarchy. Don't know what else to do but heartbroken at the thought of losing him. He's around five years old.
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Five years old is a good age for a cockerel Pedwardine and he could just be old. Antibiotics destroy the gut flora so it would be an idea to give him Avipro Avian (which is a probiotic) 2 days after the course finishes. It helps to check his poo and to do that he would need to be isolated overnight- a dog crate would do.
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Harry hasn't improved. I've tried probiotics for several days and the weight is just falling off him. His crop is half full but doesn't seem to be shifting to the gizzard. What's coming out of his other end is yellow liquid, presumab?y just the probiotics getting through? He's been wormed. There are no parasites on him. It just seemed to happen so suddenly. He looks utterly miserable.
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I would think at that age he has just lost his top position in the flock, and it is his time to go… from what you describe he is not looking good and I would have by now dispatched him ...