belly crawling rooster

[graciesmum]

When I let my chickens out this morning my rooster came out belly crawling, he is only 4 months old, he is a lemon pekin, I picked him up and brought him inside, after about 10 mins he was upright walking, so I went to put him back out, and he panicked and flew then fell to the floor, then he belly crawled again, I again brought him inside and after 10 mins he was walking again, I have now put him out and he is walking around normally and doing his rooster job, should I be worried????

 

[chooks4life]

Could be either injury or disease. In either case I would quarantine him while more research is done.

If it is an injury, it sounds like he is the type to get agitated about being left behind by the flock and would then aggravate his injury to try to keep up. But when you put him aside, he was able to stand and walk again. This suggests it is not a completely damaged tendon or bone or whatever may be the case if it's an injury ---however if you leave him to aggravate it, the damage may become complete and may not heal. I would separate him to make sure he rests up and heals for at least 48 hours.

If it is an illness, you'd need to gather more info before making a guess. Best wishes with that. If you don't separate him to make a good job of healing you may run the risk of him becoming totally lame. He might have a damaged tendon which he might rip clean off the bone if trying to keep up, for example.

 

[graciesmum]

He is the leader of his group of 5 they all keep up with him, he is normal in every way, he is still crowing and scratching and calling his girls, and he is still putting them in their place, it is my 3 ex batts that seem to freak him out he ie still very scared off them, he eats and drinks well, and roosts in the garden roost and site on my fence, could it be that he winded himself because of hitting window and then the floor? Im pretty sure it is not an illness, and he has not had this since, and he has been jumping down from roosts and the fence?

 

[chooks4life]

As far as I'm aware chickens are physically incapable of getting winded. Their diaphragm is protected by a fused skeleton. He could have done temporary damage though. You didn't mention in your first post that he's smacked himself into hard objects.

Quote: What do you mean 'putting them in their place'? In the natural chicken group the male does not control a female, it's a partnership bond. Some people keep roosters who are violent to hens because they think it's normal or acceptable. It could be that he got in a fight with the ex-batts and had his pelvis badly kicked; that's more likely to do structural damage that could lame him than him flying into a wall or window. You did mention he's 'scared' of them, and if he 'puts hens in their place' that indicates he's fairly likely to fight a hen. At least that's my impression of it.

I cull roosters for harming hens or chicks, personally, but each to their own. A male who harms females is severely damaging his chances of passing on his genes, and I help make sure he doesn't pass on any nasty behavior towards people, chicks or hens, by killing him. It's not natural. He's not the boss of the hens, he's the boss of the roosters. Just like there's a dominant hen and she's not the boss of him, she's the boss of the hens. It's not actually a rooster's place to discipline hens.

 

[theoldchick]

He hit a window? Well, heck he knocked the sense out of himself! how many of us have seen a bird hit a window and fall to the ground? Some knock themselves out while others flop around for a few minutes. A few manage to kill themselves. Might want to evaluate the design of your coop.

So many things can cause a bird to 'drag his belly'. Cardiac insufficiency, malnutrition, bacterial or viral disease. But if your cockerel is slamming into a window he's simply stunning himself from the blow.

 

[graciesmum]

There is no glass in the window sorry it is chicken wire, he is fine today no problems what so ever, I don't mean he fights his girls I ment he leads them, he shows them where to go, my ex batts don't fight him, he is just a lot smaller, none of my "teenagers" go near my ex batts as there all bantams