A month or so ago I adopted a Blue Orpington roo from a local farm. I believe he is about 18 months old or so.
A week ago while free ranging, he wandered into the front yard and into the range of our lab's lead. The chickens all keep their distance from the dogs so I'm not sure why he was anywhere near our lab. I was in the living room when I heard the ruckus out front. I ran out and our lab had him pinned. She let go of him and I watched him run full speed across the yard, terrified. I felt so bad!!! I immediately went looking for him to see if he was alright but he was no where to be found. It's very scrubby around our house and I figured he was just huddled down under a sage brush and scared to come out. He didn't come home to roost in the evening and although we looked for him for several days, there was no sign of him. We have a lot of wild critters around our place and figured maybe something snatched him?
Yesterday evening, after seven days missing, he suddenly showed up! I was walking out past our compost bin and there he was just huddled down in the dirt. I scooped him right up which was the first sign he wasn't ok. He was never aggressive with me but always very skittish. The fact that he let me pick him up was strange. He was obviously very weak. We live in the high desert and temps have been in the 70's during the day, 40's at night. I'm guessing he probably didn't have any water while he was missing.
We have him inside the house now, and he has been eating and drinking. He seems very exhausted and weak. I mixed up an electrolyte recipe for him and added it to his water.
Right now the biggest issue seems to be his legs. He won't stand on his legs at all. When I set him down he pitches forward immediately. His neck doesn't seem to be injured. He picks his head up to look around and eat/drink without a problem. What I'm trying to figure out is if this is from weakness due to malnourishment during the last week or if he has injured something. There are no obvious injuries on his body. His feet and legs look and feel fine other than the way he is holding them. He has the right foot curled up and it is warm to the touch. He has his left foot toes straightened out completely and it is cold to the touch. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Right now he is just resting on his belly with is beak down. I'm not sure what to do at this point. A vet isn't really in the budget right now and aside from that I doubt any of the vets in this area treat chickens. He hasn't showed any improvement since yesterday. I guess mostly I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to help him recover? Any ideas on the legs? Do you think it's time to end his life? Thanks in advance for any responses. He is our pet and it is really devastating to watch him just lay there and suffer.
A week ago while free ranging, he wandered into the front yard and into the range of our lab's lead. The chickens all keep their distance from the dogs so I'm not sure why he was anywhere near our lab. I was in the living room when I heard the ruckus out front. I ran out and our lab had him pinned. She let go of him and I watched him run full speed across the yard, terrified. I felt so bad!!! I immediately went looking for him to see if he was alright but he was no where to be found. It's very scrubby around our house and I figured he was just huddled down under a sage brush and scared to come out. He didn't come home to roost in the evening and although we looked for him for several days, there was no sign of him. We have a lot of wild critters around our place and figured maybe something snatched him?
Yesterday evening, after seven days missing, he suddenly showed up! I was walking out past our compost bin and there he was just huddled down in the dirt. I scooped him right up which was the first sign he wasn't ok. He was never aggressive with me but always very skittish. The fact that he let me pick him up was strange. He was obviously very weak. We live in the high desert and temps have been in the 70's during the day, 40's at night. I'm guessing he probably didn't have any water while he was missing.
We have him inside the house now, and he has been eating and drinking. He seems very exhausted and weak. I mixed up an electrolyte recipe for him and added it to his water.
Right now the biggest issue seems to be his legs. He won't stand on his legs at all. When I set him down he pitches forward immediately. His neck doesn't seem to be injured. He picks his head up to look around and eat/drink without a problem. What I'm trying to figure out is if this is from weakness due to malnourishment during the last week or if he has injured something. There are no obvious injuries on his body. His feet and legs look and feel fine other than the way he is holding them. He has the right foot curled up and it is warm to the touch. He has his left foot toes straightened out completely and it is cold to the touch. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Right now he is just resting on his belly with is beak down. I'm not sure what to do at this point. A vet isn't really in the budget right now and aside from that I doubt any of the vets in this area treat chickens. He hasn't showed any improvement since yesterday. I guess mostly I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to help him recover? Any ideas on the legs? Do you think it's time to end his life? Thanks in advance for any responses. He is our pet and it is really devastating to watch him just lay there and suffer.
