Early this morning at 6am, as I went outside to feed Solly's chickens (Solly is our mechanic/handyman), who free-range on our property and often visit my garden, I noticed that one of the roosters didn't look well at all. He was standing with his head lowered and eyes closed and even my approaching him didn't ellicit much of a response. I bent down, clasping him firmly around the chest and wings and he struggled feebly, so I took him inside, placed him in a basket and started looking through my medicine chest to see what's available.
Without taking him to a vet and not knowing what is wrong, my options are obviously limited, but I chose a broad-spectrum antibiotic which I keep in the refrigerator for emergency situations. I mixed the recommended dose in some water and administered it with a syringe into his mouth. He allowed me to open his mouth fairly easily, which worried me, but I made sure he was comfortable and closed the basket with a towel, as being in the dark quietens them down, allowing him to rest for two hours before I gave him another dose.
I checked on him often and when he was ready for his second lot of medicine, his head was up and it was a bit of a struggle getting his mouth open. Hooray!
Unless there are obvious symptoms like a wet vent, or heavy breathing, a swollen crop or disorientation and falling about, as in the case of Newcastle Disease, diagnosing a sick chicken is not always easy. The Dept. of Agriculture do come around to our farming community once a year to inoculate chickens against Newcastle, which is a big killer in the poultry industry and every year it's a hoot watching the officials chasing down Solly's chickens, which have access to 8.5ha (21 acres) of grassland! But they somehow manage to get it done and my chickens are a cinche, as they are kept inside the run as soon as we have the date that the officials are coming.
So I was pretty sure it wasn't Newcastle, which left.... what? Something he ate? His crop was totally empty, so that eliminated a few options, which left me with... nothing! So antibiotic it is.
By the time I administered his third dose a couple of hours later, my husband had to hold him so that I could do the job. Hooray! His eyes were brighter and after I closed the towel (thought I'd keep an eye on him for another couple of hours) he was clucking to himself (or me!), probably begging to be let out now!
After lunch he seemed a bit better so I took him outside and placed him in a walled area I have next to the pump house. My normal "hospital" coopwas not available, as Chook, the rooster that fights with Artemis, was in there until I could get that scenario sorted out. I put him down and as soon as I gave him some mixed fowl mix, he started pecking at it and I'm truly hoping he gets something into his crop. All the while he was in the basket he never passed any poops, probably because he hasn't eaten for a few days.His breast place was also sharper than it should be, a sure sign that he has not eaten and was thinning off.
Although Solly's chickens are quite wild, this rooster has always seemed quite tame, following me as I do my rounds in the mornings, always staying close to my feet as if waiting for an extra little something.
I placed a bowl of water near the food, adding some of the antibiotic, and by the time I left, closing the gate behind me, he seemed to be taking a little rest, a sign that doesn't please me at all, unless I just caught him with the third eye showing in the photograph. But I will be popping in every now and to check on him and I'm just hoping he's going to be OK...
A clearer view of the third eye...
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