Cockerel hit by car

[ChickenTenderKesha]

It is tough having to be gone all day with a sick rooster. Is his food and water secured in his crate or pen? I use plastic coffee cans for water kept full, and drill holes in the can to tie them to the cage, or the chickens will spill them. Food goes into a shallow bowl tied up to about chest height.

Foods such as scrambled chopped egg, tuna, chopped or ground meat, and most important, wet soggy chicken feed changed out daily is what I try to tempt a sick chicken to eat. A bit of scratch or sunflower seeds as a treat helps.

Water is most important, and electrolytes are helpful. If anyone else at home can check on him or offer some treats during the day it would help.

His poop has a lot of white urates, and that can be due to not eating and drinking much. The usually white urates look very yellow in the last pic, and that could be from liver problems.

How soggy would you recommend the chicken feed to be? I have crumble and then I have some ground up powder of the same feed used for my one pullet CB’s torpedo feed. I could use either of those in the morning to make a soggy mash for him.

It’s currently a bit after midnight for me. I wake up at 5:30am for work so I’ll be up to get his feed and water ready and I’ll be sure to hook some containers to the side of the cage with the zip ties I have around here.

It might be good to test his eyesight a little when you are feeding and handling him. He might have a problem seeing related to his injury.

He might have to relearn how to eat and drink. I have a roo hatch this spring with bad eyesight and it took him a long time to figure out how to eat without me holding the bowl right in front of his face! He still has some issues but he's a nice goofy bird.

I thought he might have something more than just a limp from all this.. I’ll try out his eyesight tomorrow after work when trying to get him to eat. I’ll update on how he acts when I do!

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Oh I forgot to come back and talk about this. I was feeling his right leg (the one with road rash) and I think the problem is where the tibia and the metatarsus meet. There’s a good wound on the inside and when I tried to test the movement of his legs that one sometimes moves kind of weird when it gets bent.. I’m trying to find a time I can get him to the one farther vet for an X-ray because you mentioned the liver thing and I want to get him looked over after that if I can

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

6:23am he has 2-3 urates and then this other one that I believe is a cecall

 

[Eggcessive]

I usually make the feed like pancake batter or thinner oatmeal. It is a good way to use up the leftover powder from the bottom of your feeder. It tends to thicken or dry out, so more water can be added on top. It goes bad after one day, so just mix a small amount. Mine like it with a touch of plain yogurt or buttermilk for extra flavor. In the picture, the urates still appear yellow. Hopefully, that is just from not eating/drinking enough.

 

[My Pretty Pekins]

Good luck with your little boy, it may help to have him indoors (as in, in a spare room in the house) where you can keep an eye on him easier than if he's in the shed or garage... indoors may also be warmer?

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

HE CAN SCRATCH HIS FACE WITH HIS LEFT LEG WHICH MEANS HE CAN PUT ALL OF HIS WEIGHT ONTO HIS SORE LEG!!! Hoping it’s just really painful at the joint where the deeper wound is..

I usually make the feed like pancake batter or thinner oatmeal. It is a good way to use up the leftover powder from the bottom of your feeder. It tends to thicken or dry out, so more water can be added on top. It goes bad after one day, so just mix a small amount. Mine like it with a touch of plain yogurt or buttermilk for extra flavor. In the picture, the urates still appear yellow. Hopefully, thatbis just from not eating/drinking enough.

I watched him eat some of the mash just now after work.. unsure if he ate all day because I had dipped his beak in this evening to make sure he knew it was there. After that he sat there eating for a bit (slowly moving his head to the container and just shoving half his head into it and eatin that way) before turning around to face me. I’ll have to make sure there isn’t too much he’s able to dunk his whole beak up to his nostrils into the feed in case he tries to breathe while his face is down there.. unless that’s not a worry and I’m just thinking it is?

Good luck with your little boy, it may help to have him indoors (as in, in a spare room in the house) where you can keep an eye on him easier than if he's in the shed or garage... indoors may also be warmer?

Thank you!! He’s been living inside since the accident. The first night he spent it next to my bed in a laundry basket, he’s since moved up in the world and upgraded to the dog crate

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

As I was finishing that post I held the crumble out to him in a shallow container to see if he would be interested aND HE IS!!!! He’s been eating it now with a little bit of a struggle and it’s not a normal way of eating at all imo but he’s eating and that’s all I can ask

Edit: Still undecided on if he’s partially blind or just in pain

 

[Eggcessive]

That is wonderful news. I am happy for you! Eating is a great sign, and glad that he is using his legs.

 

[Eggcessive]

He can have a low dose 81 mg aspirin twice a day for pain. Give it orally or try hiding in food.

 

[FortCluck]

I just came back to check on your cockerel and I'm happy things turned around! Keep up the good work!