You need to take him to a vet, or try and diagnose him ASAP. Chickens, being prey animals, hide illness until they are VERY sick, so don't wait.

I've got a chicken info site, here is the page on health and how to check him over. Once you do, post here with what you find, and we can give you more specific advice. :)

http://jackshenhouse.com/VSChickHealth.htm

Scroll down to 'Chicken Common Sense and Diagnosing Problems' and go from there. Meanwhile, keep him warm and quiet, and make sure he's eating and drinking.

Check him over and let us know more info!

Velvet ~:>

thanks so much Velvet. I browsed throu your webpages and i bookmarked them. it's wonderful site, thanks so much. i'm in the process of trying to get him to a vet. Found a couple in the area. I now know it's diahrrea, at least. it's super liquidish and yellowish... he is trying to eat some greens and is drinking water, but it immediatly comes out... thanks so much for all your help and info, Laura

Hmmm...well, it could be that he ate something that made him ill, or it's an illness caused by a bacterial or protazoan infection. Check your yard for any possible toxins, be they plant or whatever. Coccidiosis is pretty common, as are bacterial infections such as Fowl Cholora and Fowl Typhoid.

You may want to go ahead and treat him for Coccidiosis. You can get medication for it at most pet stores that cater to birds/reptiles and some feed stores. I use Sulmet, which is a coccistat liquid that gets mixed into the birds' drinking water.

Coccidiosis is an illness caused by a protazoa, and one of the symptoms is bloody, watery poops. MSU has a GREAT poultry site with more info to help you diagnose Pluto, here:

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/dismain.htm

You can also cover your bases by giving him an over-the-counter bird antibiotic called Ornacyn--it's teetracycline based and available at most pet/bird/reptile/feed stores. It can safely be used in conjection with the coccistat if you want.

What you can do in the meantime is keep him warm and quiet, and offer him any goodies you can get him to eat, to keep nutrition in him. Unflavored Pedialyte (get it in the baby aisle at the grocery store) will help boost his electrolytes.

Plain yogurt with active cultures can help restore the 'good' bacteria in his gut, especially good after an antibiotic treatment, which kills off ALL bacteria, good AND bad.. There is also a product for birds called BeneBac--a gel that is straight 'good' cultures that you just squirt into their beak.

Velvet ~:>

laura,
you may want to isolate him from the rest of the group until you figure out what the problem is. You wouldnt want him to infect the others if its contagious. You may find some useful information at the following link below.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/birdbiosecurity/index.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: animal health and biosecurity resources

Looking at it all from the biology end of things its probably the pecking order that leads to them hiding illness, not the prey animal issue. Cattle are prey animals and do not hide illness particularly well.

How's Pluto?

My rooster Headbanger is sick
He has lost all colour in his comb, white in fact.
he is eating and drinking but very lathargic.
he is wormed and has sulfur in his feed.
he has lost alot of weight.
can anyone help with what this might be?