Need immediate help to save juvenile roo

[Kyzmette]

Feed him crumble mashed with cooked egg yolk and plain yogurt for protein. Get the vitamins and electrolytes in him, and you might want to consider E and a liquid B complex, too. If you want to go all out, grind up selenium and include just a few grains to help with E absorption, but only give it to him for a week or two because too much isn't good for them. Chickens who are ill or injured succumb to vitamin deficiency easily, and the results can be worse than the original injury.

Give him a very thorough going over, looking under his feathers for wounds, especially around the head.

 

[Anela]

He seems to be improving by the hour. I have a clutch of chicks so I mixed some chick starter (for the higher nutrient value) with some of the electrolytes and he ate a little of it off a spoon. He ate more of the orange and he's drinking the electrolytes completely on his own now. I hold up the cup and he dips his head in and then tilts his head back just like he's supposed to. YAY

He still can't stand but he is grabbing my fingers with his feet now and he wasn't when he first arrived. He's also starting to peck at my clothes when I'm holding him.

He's still nodding off suddenly but I'm hoping he just needs to sleep. We moved him from the bigger enclosure we had set up for him to a smaller one so he can't move as much. He freaks out when he tries to move and can't properly so we're going to limit his movement and increase his area as he improves.

He'll be sleeping right next to my bed so I can hear him if there's a problem overnight.

I'll update again tomorrow - hopefully with more good news.

Thanks to everyone.

P.S. I'll be getting him some plain yogurt tomorrow - unless raspberry Danimal smoothies would work? My 10 year old daughter has volunteered hers.

 

[Anela]

Oh, and no injuries that we can see other than the ones I already mentioned. No bruising either except around his face. I'll be checking him again tomorrow. He's also had a warm bath and no sign of mites or lice.

This was taken a couple hours ago.

 

[memphis]

Aww...Poor guy! Wonder if he could be in shock. Please keep us posted. He's lucky to have you.

 

[ten chicks]

I went through something similar with my silkie rooster. He got into a mild tussle with another silkie roo and immediately became lethargic,stopped eating/drinking and basically was comatose,i was absolutely certain he would die. No injury anywhere,after one day of him being like this i immediately started tube feeding him,i also added aspirin therapy to his treatment as i was sure at this point it was a head injury(concussion)the aspirin would help with swelling and had a hot water bottle(wrapped in a pillowcase) beside him for additional heat(when birds are ill/injured they cannot regulate their body temp)he would sit on or lay beside bottle depending on how much heat he required. Tube fed him for 9 days,decreasing the tube feeding after day 7,he started fighting the tube and began to eat on his own. He is now perfectly healthy,and very attached to me,follows me everywhere.

 

[Kyzmette]

Plain yogurt is best because too much sugar is bad for them, but in a pinch I've given my wounded chookies fruity yogurt before and a little won't hurt. Be careful with the orange because too much citric acid is on the "don't feed" list, but again, in a pinch it's better than not eating.

I can't stress the vitamins enough, because I have a hen I got a month and a half ago from somebody whose wife kicked him out, and then she didn't bother to feed his chickens for four days. Somehow the poor girl's leg got broken, too. The inevitable nutritional deficiencies caused horrible intermittent grand mal seizures that lasted for over a month. She's only now beginning to really recover from the seizures, but I don't think the leg will ever be useable, especially since a splint was out of the question due to the seizures.

I'm glad he has you, and I hope he makes a full recovery. I'm thankful for people out there like you who care.

Oh, and don't be surprised if he starts to pop and gurgle a little when he breathes. If he's not showing distress, like extending his neck trying to breath, and his comb and wattles don't lose color, don't worry about it unless it lasts over a week or gets worse. Sometimes chickens react that way due to stress.

 

[Anela]

Your poor little hen. I'm glad she's starting to feel better.

What about Vitamin C? I read they lose that first when in shock or stressed. That's the only reason I gave him the orange. I do have Vitamin C caplets - I went digging in the medicine cabinet and found them.

I called some people I know in Hawaii who raise chickens and they said most likely he's just sore and so won't seem normal for 2-3 days. That doesn't really explain the trying to get up and falling over though I don't think. He also leans to one side when trying to walk while we support him so he doesn't fall down.

Anyway, I researched bird pain relievers and a vet site we found said Metacam could be used. We happened to have some of that for one of our dogs and so we cut a pill to the right dosage and gave it to him about 1/2 hour ago along with some more electrolytes.

He seems to be sleeping peacefully at the moment right here next to me.

We're just staring to get a flock back together. We had about 6 dozen before we moved to Hawaii in 2005. Now that we're back on the mainland and have the right kind of property the first thing I did was start to assemble a new flock. Elvis is my cornerstone rooster. I have 2 hens that came with the property and I have a clutch of buffs in my living room.

We have what we call "chicken coffee" in the morning where we sit on the patio and the chickens come and we feed them and visit with them while we drink our morning coffee. We used to have one that would jump up in my husband's lap and eat off his plate. I even had a rooster that I hatched in my bra when the hen quit setting early.

I love my chickens - and my roos.

 

[Kyzmette]

I think the citric acid thing is for when they get it in abundance and it's a normal part of their diet. Short term it shouldn't be a problem at all. I've had birds in shock and they tend to just stand in one place, dazed, sometimes with their beak open, so I wouldn't attribute the falling to shock. There's a good chance he took a few hard pecks to the noggin and could have some internal swelling, a concussion, which will only alleviate itself over time. Then again, it could be illness or neglect the previous owner didn't disclose. If it's neglect the protein and vitamins should help in a couple of days.

Chicken coffee, love that! When I'm out there just relaxing and watching them I call it chicken therapy.

I'm glad to hear you can have chickens again! Get ready for the inevitable chicken hoarding syndrome. We have a self help group, but really we're just a bunch of enablers.

 

[LoveChickens123]

Have you just tried something simple like separating them???

When you can't find any thing else that works always try something simple

 

[enola]

Separating whom may I ask? Or did I miss something?