Bobcat attacks, need advice

[Hen Pen Jem]

Sorry to hear about your roo. If he survives, he may just surprise you. I had a barred rock that was attacked by a coyote. I cared for him like he was my own baby. He had injuries to his back an bottom. But, not only did he survive he went back to work patrolling the pens a week after the attack. He was a year old at the time of the attack. If your rooster crows, it will be a good sign. If it turns out that he can't go back to the flock, he can live in your garage or have a roo cave.

 

[micstrachan]

I am glad your sweet roo is showing slight improvement. To give a pill, I ground it up, mixed it into a paste with baby bird formula, and swiped it into the beak tip with a finger. Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[Eighty806]

Thank you folks. The roo struggled the first couple of times when I gave him the pill. I open his beaks and drop the pill in. First couple of times, I was too nervous and he would shook his hand and I would dropped the pill. The last few days, I'm a pro, drop the pill in in a sec. it's giving the anti inflammatory injections that is still a challenge. I can't do it, my husband does. Finding the chest muscle and give Mr W his shot is tough, I can't even watch. The situation is not good, the vet said Mr W hurt his right knee but so far, he refuses to stand. Any advice? We have to hand feed him and give him water. We want Mr W to get back on his feet.

 

[feather13]

Oh your poor baby! Sending good thoughts to you. A stray husky dog got into our backyard three years ago and killed two hens. He bit another pretty hard, but I chased him out before she was killed. Three years later she's totally healthy and the top of the pecking order. Good luck to Mr. W!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Some chickens tolerate a sling well, others not so much. You may want to try making him one to see if this would be beneficial. It gets them upright and allows them to put some weight on their legs. If you google "chicken sling" you will find a lot of images, these will give you the basic concept. Of course, you will have to monitor him, but a couple of hours being upright a day may help.

Hand feeding can be a chore, so hopefully he will start eating on his own soon. He may like chick starter or an all flock type feed, I don't remember what you said you fed. You can make his food into a mash by mixing a small amount with water to make a paste, sometimes that is more palatable. You can also use egg thinned with a little water to make your mash as well.
I hope he recovers soon.

 

[Mama Runner]

We hid our pills in canned corn we also crushed between two spoons and added it to a very small amount of food. Hope he gets better. Big hugs for all of you

 

[azygous]

Do the chicken sling. It will not only help his leg heal and strengthen, it will give him a psychological lift to be upright again, and that will hasten healing, too.

 

[microchick]

You guys are real troopershugs to you both. That rooster has two dedicated chicken parents pulling for him and you are doing a great job.

MAKE THE BOBCATS GO AWAY ASAP!

Seriously. If you are dealing with bobbies, they will be back now they know where the chicken buffet is. We have problems with foxes where we live. The only thing that has kept them from taking any of our birds is the fact that I have a hot wired run and a metal clad coop with a concrete floor. I know the fox is only doing what nature is telling them to to do but any predator that preys on domestic livestock is a nuisance animal and needs to go away.

I sure hope your rooster pulls through. Roosters are some of my favorite chickens. Sending prayers his way

 

[azygous]

I also recommend you take steps to address this predator.

My chickens were attacked by a bobcat that got one and then kept coming back again and again. After the attack, I secured the run. When the bobcat returned, I watched while it methodically inspected the entire perimeter of the coops and run, pausing here and there to jump on what it thought would be a vulnerable spot that might yield access.

I had my shotgun handy, and it was loaded with hard rubber loads. I was able to get off two direct hits. The bobcat jumped straight up in the air, did a 180 and ran off never to return. Ever.

But the thing that has given me peace of mind and my flock safety and protection from the stress of continual visits from predators is the hot wire setup I put around the coops and run. Once a predator gets a shot of those 10,000 volts, it will never return. It's a lot easier than keeping a shotgun loaded and handy, and I don't need to rely on getting a direct hit to persuade a predator to leave my flock alone.

 

[Eighty806]

Thank you everyone for your good wishes and advice.

We put a run together 20'x10' for 5 chickens now, it's a bit of an overkill but we are hoping to have more chickens soon. You are right about the bobcat returning. We lost a couple of chickens a month ago and we thought it was the hawks but based on how the last bobcat attack my husband witness, we came to the conclusion the previous incident was also bobcats. Mr W is getting used to the pain pill now, I opened his beak and drop it in. He just swallows it. Love the sling idea. Mr W is going back to the vet tomorrow and get the vet input. The anti inflammatory shots are more challenging to find the right muscle to execute. He actually prefers crumbles instead of paste for food. I think it's because he can't clean his beak even though I clean it after every feeding. Drinking water is also still challenging for him because his head still droops. Probably still working to recover from nerve damage. I'm going to work on making him a sling so he can stand up. Thank you all!