Her site is:

http://www.jackshenhouse.com/

Hope you kind find out what you need to help your Roo.

My Blog: http://msredneck.blogspot.com/

Thanks msmitoagain. :)

Yup, that's my site, the page you want on chicken health is here:

http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickHealth.htm

Is your roo 'gaping'--that is, stretching his neck out, opening his beak and 'yawning' constantly? If so, he may have Gapeworm. This could be the 'swallowing' action you've noticed. Check his poops, is he passing any worms? Is he eating and drinking normally?

The Ivermectin-based medication I've noted on my site. I use a product for horses, a paste wormer called Equimax which is 1.87% Ivermectin and 14.03% Praziquantel. It's a broad-spectrum wormer that kills nearly everything.

You need to take action NOW and treat him, don't wait to see how he does for a day or two. Chickens are a prey animal, and as such don't show an illness until they are VERY sick, so be aggressive in treatment.

Good luck! :)

Velvet ~:>

Thank You, Yes, he is eating and drinking just fine. Any time I go out there with treats he runs over like he is starving to death. He does not do that yawning thing or stick his neck out like you asked. I remember you talking about that before so I had been watching for that,,but he never does that. Since he is not doing this, does this mean he probably does not have gape worm??? I just hate to lose him. I am not sure what to do.

FYI - just be aware that any of the paste wormers for horses have ingredients that can, and probably will, be toxic to all dogs, and dogs can and will lick them up off the ground, a shoe, or anything else, so don't leave any dropped globs around, whether using the tubes for horses or for other animals.

OK, if you can rule out Gape, open his beak and check for signs of growths or fungus. Compare the inside of his mouth to that of a healthy bird (check the healthy one FIRST, to avoid giving them whatever he has) to help spot any differences. It could be a fungal infection in his mouth/throat, or something else like a respiratory illness.

Any watery discharge from his eyes or nares (nostrils)? Does he shake his head a lot? How is his balance?

Read that same page on my site, under the section called 'Chicken Common Sense And Diagnosing Problems' for more things to look for in helping narrow down what is going on. In the meantime, give him extra goodies such as scrambled eggs, cooked ground beef, diced grapes and raw corn on the cob to keep him eating and hydrated. You can give him unflavored Pedialyte (in the grocery store in the baby aisle) to drink to help boost his electrolytes, which is great for sick/stressed birds.

Velvet ~:>

Hi Velvet,,Thanks for your help. He is not shaking his head and his balance is fine. I am taking him to my farm vet today so he can look at him. I will keep you posted.

Hi everyone...Well, I tried to save my rooster by giving him ivermectin (pea size portion) for gape worm,,and I also gave him electrolytes in his water. It ended up he had a growth in his throat. He died within a couple days after the worm treatment. Everyone else is fine. All doing their chicken things out in the yard and laying eggs every day. He was my only rooster. I had him for 6 years. I ended up getting 4 more roosters about a week ago. 3 buff silkies, 1 white silkie and 1 mix bantam. One of the buff silkies is a hen. I will submit pics later. They are so cute. I am trying to get them aquainted with my bigger hens by keeping them in an outdoor pen that is attached to the coop so they can go in and out of the coop as they please. My bigger hens free range and they can see them all day through the fence. They are in a seperate stall inside the chicken coop and the others are in the main part of it. So, I Figure this is the best way to get them aquainted before letting them all mingle together. Chickens are such bullies !!

Aww, I'm sorry you lost your roo. :( If there was a growth in his throat there wasn't much you could have done for him yourself. Chickens are subject to something on the order of 300 types of growths/tumors, my vet tells me.

I'm glad you like your new Silkies, they are very sweet birds. :)

Velvet ~:>

Sorry to hear you lost your Old Boy.

You'll love the silkies. We have Black, White, Buff, Blue and have been breeding the different colors together and getting many beautiful colors. My favorite is a champagne colored hen from a White R x Buff H and a from a Buff R x Blue H produced a Blue bodied bird with buff saddle and coal black head. Great temperament and the young children getting their first chickens we always encourage them to get silkies-they are winter tough and very easy to care for.

We have a Serama hen that has the government import bands and ID tattoo dated 06-1999. She has arthritis and can't walk very much, we expect to find her dead one morning soon. Her previous owner tried to keep her in a wire corn-crib without any weather protection and they gave her and 11 others to us because they started the winter with 60+ birds and by february they had only 12 left.

Was afraid we would loose them all to frostbite of the combs, feet/toes and one Rooster lost a wing. She lost all but 2 toes on one foot-the other foot was just a nub. Only 2 of those birds are alive and both are on chicken SS-disability for rest of their lives.

Silkies lay a good size egg and most lay an egg each day. The hens will set on rocks 'til they hatch and are very good foster care parents. You will enjoy your new family additions.

Hi Velvet and Seramas, Thank you, I appreciate the posts. yes, I know I will love my silkies, I have had them in the past about 6 years ago. I had one white and one blue. I couldn't understand why the white silkie rooster was sitting on eggs for so long,,until I finally realized HE was a SHE..lol. Anyways, she hatched 6 chicks while we were away at a camp we rented on sebago lake here in maine. I would come home every day to feed and water them all and one day came home to find 6 little chicks running around in the coop. That is where my white silkie rooster came from who just died. He was hatched by the "white rooster" lol. Your right,,they WILL sit on rocks, I believe my blue silkie sat on rocks at one point. She was somewhat odd,,I think she was a little retarded,,or blind,,or something. I bought the both of them from a local breeder, and he was downsizing his flock. Currently I have 2 buff orpingtons who are very stubborn about setting. Right now, they are in a bin that I put shavings in for an extra spot for them to lay eggs, as some of my hens have been laying eggs in the woods instead of the nesting boxes,,the plastic bin about half the size of a large sized garbage bin is full of shavings and they love it in there. I took away the eggs yesterday and put new shavings in and took the hens off of the eggs. They are back in and sitting on invisible eggs. =). Anyhow, they are persistant. None of the eggs are fertile because of my rooster being sick for a while and not doing his rooster duties. They had been sitting on DOZENS of eggs for atleast a month or more. They are all great chickens,,very calm and friendly, even my white leghorn hens. They are all free ranging and have 5 acres to forage on and they use all of it. Well, I will stop babbling. Thanks for your responses.

Flowersnhens

I have a 9 month old Silky Rooster that has just stopped eating and crowing. It came on all of a sudden. His eyses are clear and he appears normal. He is no longer social and I've seperated him from the flock. I'm very concerned. Thankyou.
Dave

Does Anyone Know How To Actually Use The Equimax, I was Going To By Some From VioVet Website But Unsure On How To Use This?

Thanks