Introduction (and goodbye) to Roo Boy the Wyandotte cockerel

Last year in preparation for the bird babies arrival I tried to absorb as much information as I could.

One of the things I came across quite often were those lists '5 things I wish I'd known before getting chickens', honestly most are lovely. A lot of people talk about not realising how much they would love their chickies, how they didn't know they would get so attached or how relaxing it can be to watch them bok boking around the garden, chasing each other, searching for treats (destroying the tomatoes...). Fluffy butted birds so full of personality.
I do love reading about people who love their animals!

If I were to write a list, it would include the joys of loving your bird buddies, but number one on that list would have to be

I had no idea how hard it would be dealing with illness in chickens and ducks.

I forget exactly when we discovered Roo was a little boy, but he must only have been about 2 weeks old. His little pink waddle and comb, thicker legs and upright stance gave him away, for ages he had looked so much like his brooder sisters.
He could be bossy, and I remember telling him off for picking on Blue but mostly he was a fair chicken leader. A Gold laced Wyandotte with a few little white spots here and there on his feathers.

2 weeks old gold laced Wyandotte cockerel

The idea of 'no boys club' had become, 'well, the boy ducks are quiet anyway. It would't hurt to keep one' and 'let's see how we go with a rooster after all. If he's loud we can deal with it then' 

But.. looks and personality wise Chuck won hands down, if we kept a boy it wouldn't be Roo.
Trying not to get too attached before he was eventually sold or eaten we simply called him Roo Boy until that became his name.
That doesn't mean we ignored him or he didn't get treats and affection of course.

cuddles with sleepy Roo

It was a busy Spring and Summer looking after 10 rapidly growing birds. Keeping on top of brooder cleaning, feeding, keeping water clean, trying to get the coop sorted, giving everyone outdoor time when possible... 

I wish I had paid more attention to the little bugger.
I do remember sitting in the coop after they had all just moved in, the chicks all started their evening chick pile. Purring away and trying to be in the middle, Roo tried to squeeze under Whitney duck but she told him off. 

Sometimes the chick pile would squash against me until I left them so I could worry about other things.

6 week Wyandotte cockerel Roo (at back, right)

with his girlfriends Blue (to his left), Lizzy (centre) and Lacey (front

6 week Wyandotte dust bath party
Roo is second from the front, you can see how big his comb is when he turns

 

December, in the evening the birds clambered into the coop as usual, treats before bed time! everyone scurried around claiming theirs... except Roo who scooted past and straight to the chick pile corner. Weird, oh well, when the chicks decide it is bed time they are often more interested in sleep than food. He's probably just tired?
Nope, the next morning while his friends foraged he puffed up quietly beside the coop door and barely moved. Crud! we rushed him inside, and made a hospital box from a cardboard box with wire mesh windows.
It was the first signs he had shown us he was ill, but he was all puffed up, eyes closed, suddenly bright green poop. He wasn't interested in food or water.
I had made plans to collect first aid items, but at that stage it hadn't happened so we raced around town for supplies. Unfortunately not many useful stores are open on the weekend past 12 on a Saturday. We managed to find a wormer, but I had to order medication for coccidiosis so I also ordered a wound spray, syringes and a vitamin supplement (i now have a much better first aid kit for the birds than myself!)

It was a difficult time.We hand fed Roo scrambled egg and helped him drink. I tried adding vitamins and electrolytes to his water. Wormed him, carried him outside with me for fresh air, cleaned his hospital box and googled frantically for answers. What was wrong with him?
By now he didn't move much and miss A suspected he had a fever so we gave him cool baths.
The internet taught me his symptoms could be caused by many things. We wormed him and started him on a coccidiosis medication.
We had been unable to get him to a vet earlier and on Christmas Eve, Lacey Chick made some blood poops and puffed up in the coop. Finally free of work I called around, thankfully living in a rural location meant there were still vets open that saw chickens.

Roo was quite thin, he hadn't been eating for a while, he recieved an antihistamine for his fever and antibiotics (baytril I think) he had coccidiosis, a rather unpleasant parasitic organism - plus a secondary infection, I understood that the medication was to give him a chance.. not that he would definately get better from here.
Both Chickies also came home with 5 days of antibiotics and Baycox (for coccidiosis) to treat their water.

All the sparrows and wild birds, the field mice and other visiting animals can bring in disease and sickness, we cleaned up in the yard where our babies free range and trim bushes where the mice hide, I gave the coop a good clean out and scrubbed the floor. The healthy birds had their water treated with coxiprol and the ducks were let out during the day so they didn't drink too much of it (they had clean water outside)
Roo and Lacey had a big hospital box to share inside, with sick birds it is important to separate them from their flock friends, healthy birds can attack sick birds to keep them away from the flock, also we didn't like the idea of passing illness to the healthy chicks.
I gave our girl a soft toy for company as Roo spent all his time sleeping, she was not interested but he often cuddled into it. She was far too busy eating or smooshing against Roo.

Roo (left) cuddles his soft toy friend
Lacey rests between eating

Daily we would mix up medicated water and syringe the antibiotics into Roo and Lacey as the vet had shown us, Lacey fought and complained where Roo was mostly compliant. As often as possible we would carry the hospital box out into the warm sunshine of the fenced off front yard. At first Lacey stayed close but began to wander and forage, Roo rested by me and ate the food I managed to place in his mouth that Lacey wasn't stealing out of my hand. He decided at one point he had had enough! glaring at me he shuffled into the bush to nap. It was the most I had seen him move for quite a few days now.
Lacey tromped in after him to see what wonders he had found, she was becoming jealous of his special treatment and would often plant herself between me and the boy.
The rest of the flock would spy us through the fence and encourage their sick friends to get back.

We had been talking for at least a few days over what to do. At what point are you keeping the poor guy alive trying to help him get better, because you are worried about letting him go? we loved that puff ball, and decided to at least wait until the antibiotic course was finished to make a decision.

Lacey bounced back to her happy, chirpy, pretty self. Roo seemed to get a bit better, but only for a little while.
His poops weren't bright green but he wasn't digesting food, he had stopped preening, still no interest in food.

I will always remember the second to last day of the antibiotics, I took the chickies out to the front yard, Lacey raced off to eat the fuschia flowers which she loves, Roo laid on the grass. It was the first time I noticed his beautiful iridescent green tail feathers coming in. He would have been such a pretty boy.
'He looks so sad' T said, and he did. A ball of bones, fluff and sadness.

And we knew it was time.

The next morning I called a work friend who also keeps chickens, miss A could not bear to watch but I stayed. He passed quickly and did not suffer.
We laid him to rest in the flower garden with his soft toy friend while Lacey peeped around confused.
I'm sorry little guy.

Roo boy sunbathes in the coop

Roo has gone and not how I had pictured he would leave us, but taught us a lot!
Miss A noticed he would peck the air a lot, and looking into it we found that often sick birds will pretend to eat to hide illness. Thinking back it had been strange for a while that while offering treats Roo would just peck your hand really hard rather than eating or peck around food.
As prey animals chickens and ducks will do their absolute best to hide sickness, they won't be noticeably sick until they are *very* sick... it's important to keep an eye on your flock. Watch for changes in behaviour, lack of appetite, check them for mites, check their combs, waddles and whether they are under or over weight, look at their feet and remember to watch their poop! but do keep in mind that some foods can make it funny colours, and them drinking a lot can make it runny. Also! coral coloured urates are normal in poop... in fact there is a huge range of *normal* for poultry poops...
It is good to learn what is normal for *your* flock, some birds are just shy and quiet (Stevie), some just make really odd noises because (Sunny, I'm looking at you here!) where some are more out going and crazy (Bonnie...).
It can be a good idea to have a first aid kit ready to go and finding out whether there is a vet in your area that sees chickens is a good idea. Just in case.