20 week old leghorn cockerel was hit with a broom and won’t move.

[Chicalina]

That's great news! I hope he keeps improving! He can have 1 baby aspirin or 1/4 adult aspirin once a day for pain. See if it makes a difference.

This!

He must be in terrible pain. Chickens are prey animals and hide their suffering so if he cannot move or move much then he is very badly injured. Maybe it is just bruising but it sounds more serious given your description. I'm not sure what else you can do. Maybe check him over carefully by feeling all over him and see how he reacts to your touch. You might be able to locate the injury. If its ribs, pelvis or neck there isn't much you can do except make him comfortable. Wings and legs can be splinted.

 

[cluckingheck]

Poor baby. I'm really rooting for him. Definitely try the aspirin. Are you syringe feeding him?

thanks for the tip, i’ll try to pick some up tomorrow on my way back from classes. and no, I’m not syringe feeding him. i mixed the crumble feed with water and made a sort of mash/paste and put little globs in his mouth. as soon as it touches his tongue, he eats it up.

 

[BunnyEberhart]

Something seems to be broken or at the very least inflamed. Poor thing. Pain killers will help. Im sorry you are having to go through this.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

thanks for the tip, i’ll try to pick some up tomorrow on my way back from classes. and no, I’m not syringe feeding him. i mixed the crumble feed with water and made a sort of mash/paste and put little globs in his mouth. as soon as it touches his tongue, he eats it up.

That is really good that he is eating. I hope you will post updates and let us know how he does.
He might be holding his head that way because he’s “guarding”, that trying-not-to-move thing that people and animals in pain do.

 

[Bear1978]

I hope he recovers.

Just don’t be too upset with your mom. Roosters can really hurt someone with their spurs and I’m sure your mom did not mean to intentionally injure him but mainly swatted at him with the broom out of protecting herself.

I have 6 pullets and I care for their wellbeing and safety, but I would probably have done the same thing in an attempt to dissuade an unruley rooster from attacking me or someone else.

 

[Molly Mojo]

Yes. Please continue updates.

I’m rooting for Foghorn.

 

[cluckingheck]

here’s a picture of him from today

 

[Tandrae87]

Cheering him on!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

That’s rough! People talk about kicking or otherwise punishing roosters for bad behaviors, without really considering what they will do if they injure him. I think that if someone reacts physically to an attacking roo, they need to be prepared to put the bird down if it goes poorly. I’ve been attacked by some of our roosters. I’ve butchered roos that I couldn’t rehabilitate to better behavior, so I understand that we need to keep people from harm also. At any rate, I hope that your roo recovers, since you seem committed to keeping him despite his episode of poor behavior. Have you looked into tube feeding him? There’s a team tube feeders thread on BYCs and you may need to do that to help him through this period. Wishing you both the best of luck.

 

[Lovem all]

I really hope he gets better!