Cockerel lost his crow?!

[poiuytrewq]

Why would this happen?
I hadn’t noticed at first but OH says it happened a few weeks ago. He still tries but sounds like he lost his voice! Do chickens loose their voice for some reason?

 

[Redders]

Could be start of a respiratory illness or a gape worm infection?

 

[poiuytrewq]

Never heard of gape worm. I’ll look it up thanks.
No vet would thank me for taking him to look at ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’ve looked up both. He shows absolutely no signs of any kind of respiratory problem other than his crow so i *think I’m safe to rule that out. Gape worm I did see can have very intermittent symptoms so may be that. The site I saw recommended a worm count kit.
I’m assuming I don’t have to somehow just get his poo? Is it a sample of the flock and treat all?

 

[Redders]

Yeah, if one has it they likely all have it. I would treat and see how you get on. Birds are tricky to see signs of illness in due to the prey species effect - if you look ill you get eaten first, so by the time you see signs of illness they are usually pretty sick. So can’t really rule out resp illness with out listening to lungs and air sacs and tests, I would consider that if gape worm treatment didn’t help.

 

[Redders]

Also check environment - ensure good airflow is nesting/sleeping/enclosed areas, make sure no damp areas etc

 

[poiuytrewq]

Will do! Thanks so much for that advice

 

[Clodagh]

If its gapeworm you need to worm them but at twice the recommended rate. Not vermox or anything herbal but flubenvet. The prepared pellets you can get are not strong enough for gape so you need to mix the powder into their food. Use a bit of corn oil to make it stick.
Firstly I would try a decent tonic like herban for a few days and see if he is just under the weather.