Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Welp. This sucks. I have a rooster that looks to have scoliosis of some sort. He's young, so it's possible it's something else, but nothing seems to be helping (vitamins, antibiotics) and he's just getting more and more twisted up looking:( I googled like crazy and nothing seems to fit. Even mereks doesn't fit what I'm looking at. I'm not sure what to do here, but it seems like the best option is to put the little guy down. And herein lies the problem. I can't do it. I read enough on how to go about culling him...but I can't detach enough to do it. So my question is this, can anyone help me? I will drive to you if you live within a half hour radius of Cambridge. This sounds silly, I know lol, but I just can't do it. I'd be too nervous and I'll mess something up and he'd suffer. Ugh. This blows

I am not close to you but I understand and hope someone can help you. I too hate this job. Hugs!

I understand how you feel. Do you have a vet in your area that could euthanize him? It will likely cost a bit, but would be a humane alternative if you can't do it yourself.

is he stargazing? looking up with a twisted neck?sometimes injecting vit b helps that. wish i were closer i would help you out. alas i am 2 hours away roughly.

... if it is stargazing, you can try mixing debittered brewers yeast in with his feed. It's a very good source of vit b and selenium and easy to source: I get mine at Bulk Barn.

It's definitely not wry neck or tail or wry anything. It honestly just looks like he's got scoliosis, but I don't think there such a thing for a bird. But it's been about 3 weeks and it's not getting better. It was where he would walk with this weird methodical movement. Nothing like I've ever seen in any videos or anything. He wasn't dangling a leg behind like Mareks, but maybe that's what this is? I looked at his follicles and they look normal. His eyes aren't turning grey, but the iris does look misshapen compared to last week. Pupils look fine. He can stand still, but not tall and he's hunched to one side. And his feet arent flat on the ground. They open when I pick him up, but then go back to being all lame when I put him down. Definitely not bumble foot. He's eating and drinking, so I think that's why I'm baffled. I know it's a neuro thing, I just don't know what. But I know what has to be done before it gets to the point where he can't eat.

I went outside, got a tote and a broom stick ready. I was going to do this just like the folks in the YouTube videos. I was confident and pushed my feelings aside. .... And then I went to get him, picked him up, felt where the head meets the neck, he let out a little squak, I put him back down, left the coop, shut the door and said "nope!". So ya....i suck at this lol. And it bugs me because I know I'm supposed to care more about his crappy quality of life more than my own feelings, but I'm struggling with it. Any advice?? My husband has a hatchet, but I really don't think I'll be able to do it that way either. Basically, I don't want to screw it up. I'd feel better if I knew for certain the head would dislocate the very first pull or swing of the axe.

Also, this is his second week on superboost and Polysol baby drops, and he's gotten less mobile with every passing day.

Welp. It's done. That was awful. The husband helped. Here's the weird thing. I expected there to be fairly violent convulsions afterwards, but there really wasn't. Maybe 15 seconds worth, but not like in the videos. I hope that's a good thing and not a sign that he didn't die as fast as he should have.
Another weird thing is that I didn't react as I thought I would. After it was done, I felt this sense of calm. Is that odd? I felt sad, but not crying my eyes out sad.

Anyway, we are now forced to be a closed flock, which sucks because I only have two ladies left and can now only "adopt" mareks vaccinated adults or chicks, which I'm sure is hard to find and trust. Ugh. Definitely didn't see this coming when I took on chicken keeping.

Ladychicken wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 03, 2019 2:15 pm

Another weird thing is that I didn't react as I thought I would. After it was done, I felt this sense of calm. Is that odd? I felt sad, but not crying my eyes out sad.

Not odd at all, it's a result of doing the right thing.

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You may want to send him to Guelph see above thread to set your mind at rest. Marks is a shedding vaccine and I don't vaccinate for it only Infectious Laryngotracheitis. I rely on a chickens with natural immunity to Mareks which is a lot of them.
You will at least sleep better not having the worry of him being sick, you did the right thing and you know it. I still hate doing this when I have to. One favourite bird I had to get a neighbour to do because I was having such a hard time (Lucky the Rooster)