Need advice on rescuing rooster

[Bettyboop7499]

Could you please update us, how's the rooster? Did you "rescue" him or report it?

Hey BYC, we are doing a test on the thread below regarding this issue of updates. Please check it out!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-have-an-issue.1265299/#post-20320085

 

[RodNTN]

Hey BYC, we are doing a test on the thread below regarding this issue of updates. Please check it out!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-have-an-issue.1265299/#post-20320085

As soon as I asked for an update I thought of that thread! Very useful

 

[beachbumbecks]

Aloha, any update? Sounds like he needs to be taken out of that situation for sure. And you cannot just "stay out of it." Asking to buy him is a good option, but if they so no, then...if he disappears they might come knocking. I would try the buying option first. But you need to offer a good amount of money. We have cockfighting rings in Hawaii, and I know that people will by roosters for 100 dollars or more. You can report it too. It does not mean that other people down the street will get into trouble.

 

[terrilynne79]

Sorry for not updating... Finally brought SPIKE home today. The guy was not interested in letting me buy the rooster but then I got a call today. Their dog got a hold of him, he wasn't eating and they didn't think he would live. They didn't know what to do-he said I could have him if I still wanted him.

I didn't want to let him suffer or die in that little cage so we went over with a box and an old baby blanket and fresh bedding. I totally prepared the kids for the fact we might be picking him up just to put him down.

I didn't think he was alive when we walked up and the flies were awful. We scooped him up and he rested his head on my arm. He felt hot like a fever. He was not just attacked by their dog, it must of been days ago and they let him fester in that dirty cage. We raced him home and got to work.

His wounds are bad-infected and covered in maggots and little flies. I got out all my first aid stuff and the kids went to setting up the separate coop and run with fresh bedding and necessities. I bathed him repeatedly and cleaned the puncture wounds the best i could. Then I mixed him scrambled eggs and some mashed fruit with antibiotic. He'd only eat it from my hand but we got it in him. The next 2hours I just keep feeding him from my hand and flushing his wounds out with a squirt bottle.

My son carried him to go see our girls. He set him down by the fence on their run and got him set up with actual chicken food. We're keeping them separate so they can't peck his wounds but have the 2 runs side by side.
He perked right up in front of the hens and started walking!!-though with a heavy limp. The leg does not look broken though. He wasn't fever hot anymore when I set him in his coop. He curled right up in the fresh straw my son set up for him. Tomorrow morning, we will repeat bathing and antibiotic.

He's got a long way to go but seeing him strut and trying to look pretty in front of the girls makes me hopeful. And if he doesn't make it, at least he will know what it feels like to be spoiled for whatever time he has left. The kids decided they wanted to name him regardless of his odds and give him a tough "fighters"name so Spike he is (my little girl loves Gremlins)

And if anyone knows anything else I could be doing for him, I appreciate the advice.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Bless you for rescuing that rooster!
Sounds like he has fly strike. Good that you cleaned his wounds but you will need to keep him indoors so that the flies don’t get to him. If he is hit it sounds like he has an infection. Giving him some nutri drench orally could definitely help him. You can find nutri drench at Tractor Supply Co.
Did you take pictures of him before you cleaned him? What about when you went to pick him up? Did the man have other chickens on the property? How is Spike doing now?
@KikisGirls

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

Sorry for not updating... Finally brought SPIKE home today. The guy was not interested in letting me buy the rooster but then I got a call today. Their dog got a hold of him, he wasn't eating and they didn't think he would live. They didn't know what to do-he said I could have him if I still wanted him.

I didn't want to let him suffer or die in that little cage so we went over with a box and an old baby blanket and fresh bedding. I totally prepared the kids for the fact we might be picking him up just to put him down.

I didn't think he was alive when we walked up and the flies were awful. We scooped him up and he rested his head on my arm. He felt hot like a fever. He was not just attacked by their dog, it must of been days ago and they let him fester in that dirty cage. We raced him home and got to work.

His wounds are bad-infected and covered in maggots and little flies. I got out all my first aid stuff and the kids went to setting up the separate coop and run with fresh bedding and necessities. I bathed him repeatedly and cleaned the puncture wounds the best i could. Then I mixed him scrambled eggs and some mashed fruit with antibiotic. He'd only eat it from my hand but we got it in him. The next 2hours I just keep feeding him from my hand and flushing his wounds out with a squirt bottle.

My son carried him to go see our girls. He set him down by the fence on their run and got him set up with actual chicken food. We're keeping them separate so they can't peck his wounds but have the 2 runs side by side.
He perked right up in front of the hens and started walking!!-though with a heavy limp. The leg does not look broken though. He wasn't fever hot anymore when I set him in his coop. He curled right up in the fresh straw my son set up for him. Tomorrow morning, we will repeat bathing and antibiotic.

He's got a long way to go but seeing him strut and trying to look pretty in front of the girls makes me hopeful. And if he doesn't make it, at least he will know what it feels like to be spoiled for whatever time he has left. The kids decided they wanted to name him regardless of his odds and give him a tough "fighters"name so Spike he is (my little girl loves Gremlins)

And if anyone knows anything else I could be doing for him, I appreciate the advice.

It makes me sick just thinking about what that poor bird had to go through. What a blockhead!
I hope he gets better.
It’s amazing that yous saves his life from that grim man.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

Poor Spike. So glad that even if he doesn't make it he'll know what being a backyard chicken should really be like. Really hoping he pulls through with the wonderful care you all are giving him.

 

[Alibreit]

Thank you for the update.
It is very cute that one of the best medicines for him was getting to strut for the hens.

 

[terrilynne79]

Bless you for rescuing that rooster!
Sounds like he has fly strike. Good that you cleaned his wounds but you will need to keep him indoors so that the flies don’t get to him. If he is hit it sounds like he has an infection. Giving him some nutri drench orally could definitely help him. You can find nutri drench at Tractor Supply Co.
Did you take pictures of him before you cleaned him? What about when you went to pick him up? Did the man have other chickens on the property? How is Spike doing now?
@KikisGirls

Thanks, I will head to tractor supply in the morning after I check on him and give him antibiotic. All of this was just this afternoon so since securing him in his coop, I've just peaked at him once to be sure he's still breathing.

The guy had no other chickens. So this little guy was so lonely, but at least there's no others in his care. The neighbors will call me if he turns up with another one and he will be reported with pictures they took and thanks to your suggestion-pictures I will take to document this roosters treatment.

 

[Morrigan]

Thank you for taking Spike in. We are all pulling for him. I can't imagine the coldness in one's heart to treat a living creature in the way your neighbor did.