Buff rooster lying down, definitely wet, maybe hungry?

[RRHomestead]

It's been raining for almost a week and a half here in Maine. My 8 girls are doing fine, but my one Buff rooster Jude seems to be suffering. They're constantly protected from the rain, fed every morning, given water. The floor of their run is ALWAYS wet with mud, but the girls seem to be okay. The rooster, though, I noticed yesterday didn't seem to be able to jump over the little 8" board, like his feet were weighing him down, or they kept getting stuck in the mud. (One of his feet also seems to be bent/broken, but he's been that way for a long time and I think maybe he was born that way. It's never seemed to hold him back before.)

Yesterday, I started putting shavings down to try to soak everything up, and the floor looks better today. Jude was upright at first when I went out this morning, but then lay down in an outside corner of the run and won't/can't get up. It doesn't seem that his legs are stuck (I can see both of them next to him) but it's like he can't get enough oomph.

I wondered if, because of the muddy feet, whether he was getting to the food. I put some food right in front of him and he went at it like gangbusters (and I beat off the girls when they tried to move in on him). I tried the same with a little cup of water (I'm doing this through and under the fence, through a little crack, mind you) but he didn't seem interested in drinking.

After he ate for a while, he seemed to stop and rest, and try to sleep. I kept expecting him to stop breathing at any minute, but so far he hasn't. He would go back and forth between eating and resting. The girls kept trying to move in on his food, and quite frankly I was getting uncomfortable sitting in the rain and on a stone, so I took the food away so they wouldn't keep going after it, and came inside, hoping he would rest.

My bff suggested I get a light strung out there to try to dry him off and warm him up. The run is totally covered, and I added a 4'x4' piece of plywood leaned against the side to try to add a little more of a dampness shield.

Here are the biggest problems: I'm almost 6 months pregnant, and the way the coop is set up right now, I canNOT get in there to get to him to get him out. I'd love to separate him somehow, but I just can't get to him, and my 6 and 8yo's who *could* get to him are at school.

Any thing else I haven't thought of to try?

 

[RRHomestead]

Update: We got him inside that afternoon and has been in almost 2 days now. He's acting better (if maybe a bit cramped; he's a tall guy!). He still sleeps a lot, and is definitely drinking more, not sure he's eating much. Wonder how long the girls were keeping him from food and water...

Now I'm wondering about reintroducing him... He'd be the only one going back in and I don't want them to pick on him. He may also be molting and I don't want them to use that as a reason for picking. Thinking we may just pass him on (but in order to sell here, have to up my post-count ) since we weren't really wanting a rooster to begin with. We'll see.

Thanks for reading.

 

[TheNuttyChick]

Hi RRHomestead,
Glad to hear your boy is doing better.
Best of luck with him or on finding a new home for him, I'm in the process of looking for a bigger yard myself so I can keep at least some my boys.​