Experienced opinions needed!

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:42 pm

Uh oh! Two weeks ago I bought a pair of young bantams. They were mixed and my intention was to kill the rooster as soon as I got home. When I took him out of the box I saw that he had a lot of buff Brahma in him, was about six months old and he was really friendly. I kept him because I wanted to mix him later, I like buff Brahma bantams. A few days ago I saw him with his tail down but other than that everything looked fine, he picked up when he saw me watching him. Forgot about it for a few days until Monday night he got into the nest to sleep. Normally he likes to sleep as high up as he can get. I put him on a lower perch for the night, I thought maybe he fell off and it was too dark to get back up. The next day I saw that he had gone back to the nest during the night to sleep. I noticed he was holding his tail down and sometimes his head down as well. He also would puff his brest up like a pigeon sometimes as if in pain like he swallowed a piece of glass or something. He also started walking like he was in pain so I took him out and killed him. I couldn't find anything, no runny nose or eyes, no diarrhea, no coughing or sneezing. I was thinking maybe Marek's but he was a good weight, lots of meat on his breast bone. The only thing I found was that his crop was completely empty, not even any water. What do you think, disease or something else? I am watching the little hen closely but so far she seems strong and happily eats like a little pig.

ross · Post by **ross** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:48 pm

Stroke , poison just guessin . Luck

Post by **Killerbunny** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:13 pm

Maybe you could try giving him a little sugar water with vits from a syringe to perk him up enough to eat? Good luck.

tcamp · Post by **tcamp** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:14 pm

Sometimes the strangest things take them, and we never figure out what it was. I had a Buff Brahma standard too last year that suddenly got lethargic, wouldn't roost...I figured maybe he was just too hot or something. I gave him a big pan of water and he jumped in and stood in it all day, then died.

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:32 pm

Killerbunny wrote:QR_BBPOST Maybe you could try giving him a little sugar water with vits from a syringe to perk him up enough to eat? Good luck.

Ok I did what you said KB but he's still dead, probably doesn't help that he is missing his head.... lol lol lol, you must have skipped part of my posts.

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:37 pm

tcamp wrote:QR_BBPOST Sometimes the strangest things take them, and we never figure out what it was. I had a Buff Brahma standard too last year that suddenly got lethargic, wouldn't roost...I figured maybe he was just too hot or something. I gave him a big pan of water and he jumped in and stood in it all day, then died.

Yup that's what I am hoping, just some strange fluke and not some new disease. Now when I think of it, he didn't crow that much, odd for a young rooster. Hen still looks good, very alert so hopefully nothing comes of this.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:26 pm

Yup, I missed that part. Safest way!

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 11:14 pm

This morning I walked in and the little hen was standing in a strange position, wings down and I was thinking oh

! Then suddenly whew, the sun was shining in and she was just warming herself, keep calm and carry on. I even can see that her comb is turning pink so she must be getting closer to laying age.