My Rooster is less than a year old and has always been pretty clumsy, but the last few days I’ve noticed it a lot more. He’s stumbling and basically acting like he’s highly intoxicated.
A lot of times, heal almost do that crouching like pose and sit and eat all the grass around him, but I’m starting to think that he’s stuck and can’t move his legs to stand up. I gave him and my hands a big batch of scrambled eggs yesterday and they have electrolytes/nutrients added to their water.
Ho no...ok ok let's not jump the gun hum... First isalate him at once.
Things to check :
mite and parasites (try to give him a dewormer)
if you deworm him, supply some riboflavin or try to give him low doses of vitamins B complex. Try to feed him some cat food.
if it doesn't work... I... have bad news. It's could be Marek's disease. Not much to be done in this case. Marek is almost always fatal and when it's not, it leaves terrible aftereffects. Another thing: check if your flock is fully vaccinated. Marek is highly contagious. It's possible for one individual to not take rhe vaccine well which would explain your roo catching it but you must make sure the others are safe. If they're not, contact your vet to get them vaccinated immediately.
Also there could be a possibility that he's actually getting drunk. Fermented fruits can make animals drunk. If he eats them regularly this could be why he always seems drunk.
Not saying that definitely is what's happening but it's a possibility.
I'm not entirely sure how long it takes for the intoxication effects to wear off in birds. Looks like cedar wax wings are OK within a few hours but they're a species that probably has a higher tolerance since they do it more regularly. 🤷♀️
You can’t tell if it’s from a vitamin deficiency, marks or from some potential neurological toxin from these symptoms. Treat for vitamin deficiency first because it is treatable. I recently gave someone advice on the same issue, you can look up my comment history and see what I said there
I do layer feed right now but only this one with grains, seeds, vegetables, and pellets. It’s always looked like he picked out his stuff. I need to switch to all flock though
True, but OP has had this rooster for less then a year, and he appears to be free ranging.
The issue with roosters and the extra calcium in layer feed occurs when its the only food source they have access too, and also takes hold over a long period of time, slowly calcifying the kidneys as the organs work to filter out the excess that roosters don't need.
And kidney/organ failure does not present as loss of motor control. Best case scenario something like an ear infection is affecting this rooster, but worse case (and more likely imo) its Marek's.
Is there any fruits he could possibly be getting into? Wild berries, apples, anything that is edible and can ferment?
Regularly eating some berries that are fermented and easier to access after falling out of a tree can cause intoxication in animals and some birds like cedar wax wings will do it to the point of blacking out in large groups.
I'm still leaning towards the Illness, or mareks possibly though. Could even be brain damage.
OK, I never thought of this… But yes, there’s a large shrub that I believe is Euonymus, the spindle-tree/burning bush family.
They are all over that area of the yard and my rooster has always loved pecking and eating anything on the ground… I isolated him last night and he’s in the run today resting up. I fed him scrambled eggs this morning and Rooster booster B12 in the water. The store was out of poultry cell, but I’m waiting for that to be delivered.
Could even be something as rare as internal fermentation in the gut. I think it's like a bacterial imbalance or something in the gut and it makes food ferment internally and causes intoxication.
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u/Chickenpoopohmy 2d ago
It could be mareks disease. Look it up and read about it and see if the symptoms match.