Fox attack. Injured Rooster

[dmvelez]

Great news. It’s taken 2 weeks but my rooster is starting to stand. He is still weak on his feet but I’m so excited......

Hello, can you tell me if the rooster did recover fully? I'm dealing with much the same thing now (fox killed one of my girls and injured my 6 month old roo.) He also cannot stand, it's very obvious one leg is hurt because he won't put it down. Puncture wound in his chest is healing, closed up nicely, but my boy doesn't want to eat or drink at all now. It's been 5 days and I'm not really seeing any improvement which worries me.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello, can you tell me if the rooster did recover fully? I'm dealing with much the same thing now (fox killed one of my girls and injured my 6 month old roo.) He also cannot stand, it's very obvious one leg is hurt because he won't put it down. Puncture wound in his chest is healing, closed up nicely, but my boy doesn't want to eat or drink at all now. It's been 5 days and I'm not really seeing any improvement which worries me.

The OP has not been on in a while.
I'm sorry to hear about your cockerel, did you start a thread about his injuries?
If you didn't, I don't see why you can't continue here.
If you can provide some photos and more information that would be helpful.

Does he have any other wounds besides the puncture wound to the chest? Looked him over really well for bruising/swelling?
Is the wound on the chest in the breast or was it the crop? What's the crop like?
Any odors, signs of infection?
Foxes will squeeze a lot of times, he may have internal/nerve damage, hard to know.
How long has it been since he's had anything to drink? Tubing fluids into him would be a good idea if he's not been hydrated. Electrolytes or vitamin water would be first. Once hydrated, then proceed with a wet slurry or feed or you can use Kaytee baby bird formula.
Is he standing all the time or laying down? Once he has a bit of strength back, a sling may make him more comfortable and help support his weight.

See the 2 videos below - one for tube feeding, the other is an idea how to make a sling.

 

[dmvelez]

Hey thanks! You are certainly a helpful chicken lover! It’s been a bad couple of months for us.

We’re putting him in a sling about half a day to relieve pressure. He only lays on the side with the bum leg cause the puncture wound is on the other side. He even pushes himself over to that same side even n the sling (probably to relieve pressure on the puncture wound). I’m sure it’s bruised but can’t tell. The wound appears to be in his chest, NOT the crop. We got him to eat and drink from a syringe the first few days but less and less. I’m going to have to try tube feeding. Thanks so much for the video!

I took him to our local animal rescue league and a vet tech felt him over and couldn’t feel any obvious broken bones. I’ll post pics of his original state 5 days ago and how his wound is healing.

Here is a pic right after I found him stiff and in shock, with a red “X” in the approximate area of the puncture.

Here’s a closeup of what the wound looked like before I treated it.

Here he is in the sling, shifting his weight toward the leg he can’t put weight on and away from the puncture wound.

Here’s the wound as of yesterday (purple because after rinsing with an anti microbial spray I shot it with Blue Kote).

He was feisty this morning, wouldn’t let me put him in the sling (didn’t have a helper) so it’s encouraging to see him acting like a chicken but the dehydration is going to kill him if I can’t remedy it. Which I will try my best!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor guy
Did the vet tech suggest any antibiotics?
The concerning part is him not wanting to eat/drink, so internal injuries may be part of the problem. Try tubing and see if that will jump start him.

Thank you for the photos, keep us posted on how he's doing.

 

[dmvelez]

Poor guy
Did the vet tech suggest any antibiotics?
The concerning part is him not wanting to eat/drink, so internal injuries may be part of the problem. Try tubing and see if that will jump start him.

Thank you for the photos, keep us posted on how he's doing.

Thanks so much! No she did not suggest antibiotics, said keep doing what we’re doing and we should know in a few days if he was going to recover or not. At least externally the wound appears to be healing. There is no sign of infection that I can see. I’m sure he got squeezed and probably shook, our dead hen had a broken neck. I literally just got the tubing and I’m on my way home to get some chicken ‘Gatorade’ down him. I will definitely keep you posted!

 

[dmvelez]

Tubing a chicken is a chore....have forced a few milliliters of electrolytes down a couple of times. He’s perked up a bit, eats a few bites of scrambled eggs and a few bites of creamed corn (he loves corn SO much). Still concerned he’s not eating enough. Just tubing fluids at this point to fight dehydration.

He still can’t stand and won’t put any weight on his right leg. He crawled out of his sling this morning (put him in before I left for work, hubby found him just in the bottom of the tub a couple of hours later). It’s obvious he’s getting a bit of strength back by his moving but he still can’t do anything but scoot around on his side by pushing his leg out. Kinda goes in a circle. I’m still worried he won’t recover and I’m prolonging his misery. Today is 1 week since he was injured.

Can anyone tell me how to upload a video? When I try it tells me it’s not the right format. There’s got to be a trick to it.

Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Tubing a chicken is a chore....have forced a few milliliters of electrolytes down a couple of times. He’s perked up a bit, eats a few bites of scrambled eggs and a few bites of creamed corn (he loves corn SO much). Still concerned he’s not eating enough. Just tubing fluids at this point to fight dehydration.

He still can’t stand and won’t put any weight on his right leg. He crawled out of his sling this morning (put him in before I left for work, hubby found him just in the bottom of the tub a couple of hours later). It’s obvious he’s getting a bit of strength back by his moving but he still can’t do anything but scoot around on his side by pushing his leg out. Kinda goes in a circle. I’m still worried he won’t recover and I’m prolonging his misery. Today is 1 week since he was injured.

Can anyone tell me how to upload a video? When I try it tells me it’s not the right format. There’s got to be a trick to it.

Thanks!

For video you will need to upload to youtube or similar platform and provide a link. The BYC upload doesn't work at all!

 

[dmvelez]

For video you will need to upload to youtube or similar platform and provide a link. The BYC upload doesn't work at all!

Ummmmm, that will require the assistance of my teenager.....but thanks for letting me know! I thought it was me (usually is!)

I have to go out of town for a few days. My parents are going to rooster sit since I don't trust the teenager to remember or be able to care for him. Dad is a life-long pigeon raiser and knows birds, I convinced him he can handle this chore. After I return we'll get an updated status on here and we'll try to get a video link available. I'm still worried about possible permanent injury on that right side.

 

[glassdragonfly]

 

[dmvelez]

Update:

Tomorrow is two weeks since my fluffy friend was attacked and injured. I was out of town and my parents cared for him for 4 days. Dad is a life-long show pigeon raiser who hand rears babies for show and so is used to tube feeding birds. They did amazingly well with him, my mom even giving him "physical therapy." He is eating heartily (chick crumbles) and drinking well all on his own now. I could actually feel food in his crop that he put there himself for the first time since he was injured! His eyes were clear and alert, unlike the foggy dazed chicken I had last week. He is acting like a REAL chicken again, albeit an injured one. Even making good, normal poops. Like TEXTBOOK poops LOL.

He tries desperately to stand up but absolutely cannot put any weight on his right leg. So, he flops around, pushing himself with that good left leg. He seems to be twisted toward that right side, too, making me worry about damage to his central nervous system or something.

I sat with him in my lap, supported him with one hand and felt up and down his right leg with my free hand--his most obvious pain came when I touch the joint (wrist or knee??) between his metatarsus and tibia, according to a diagram I found. This joint I'm 'pointing' to here...

He was most comfortable with me holding him under my arm so he could lean his right (lame) side against me and gripping my hand of that arm with his good foot. We have him in the sling with a PVC pipe wrapped in a cloth and duct tape underneath him so he can feel like he's roosting, but my sling is a stretchy, droopy disaster and I'm trying to refine that with a new, updated model. I will try to post video of him trying to stand up tomorrow evening after work.

All in all I'm pleased and amazed with the progress he made in the last 4 days under my parents' care, but I'm still very worried about him. And I will be until I can see him stand up and walk around so he can go outside and be with all his girls in the coop.