Can a chicken have a concussion? Will he survive?

[GuineaMama]

Last night as it was getting dark, my husband went to put one of the little Cornish pullets up on the roost as she won't get up there herself. She prefers the fence rail but we can't let her sleep there as a coon would surely get her. Anyway, when he set the pullet on the roost it startled one of the young guineas that are in the pen with them, which in turn scared the Polish cockerel causing him to fly straight up hitting his head hard on the plywood board at the top of the pen. The cockerel then fell straight to the ground and flopped around like he was having a seizure.

We gently picked him up and looked him over. He didn't have any open head wound, and could hold his head up though he was very dazed, and shaking. We put him in the dog house we converted to a coop, inside one of the nest boxes. This morning he was standing up, but when he tries to move he wobbles all over the place. Since we had to go to work today and didn't want to leave him where the other chickens could pester him I put him in the small pen inside the bigger one, with water and feed. When I left he was just standing staring at the wall of the pen next to the waterer. But if you try to touch him or move him he goes all spastic like he's having another seizure.

I'm hoping that he just got a hard knock on the head and will be ok, but I'm not sure. Can chickens have concussions? Will he be ok or am I going to have to put him down?

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Sounds like a head injury. I would just make sure he is eating and drinking and see how he is in a couple days. I don't think there's much you can do for something like this.

 

[GuineaMama]

That's about all we can do. I'm hoping that by putting him in the little pen where he can't be pestered by the others he will just rest and heal. He has plenty of water and feed close by so he doesn't have to move around much if he doesn't want to.