Grown only Rooster with eye closed this morning!!

[deedledumpling1]

There is no swelling I can see, and no discharge. What do I do.

Very small flock just Rooty, and 4 hens. He Rules. I did hear a minor scuffle after I closed the coop last evening thinking he was probably approaching an unwilling hen, or could have been vying for roosting place. Three of them plus him like to go into on small area.

He is not an easy keeper, chases me if I let him, etc. And I live alone. What should I do???

 

[Aapomp831]

DONT let him chase you. It will only lead to full blown attacks.
Are there any other symptoms? Does he seem lethargic?

 

[rebrascora]

How old is he?

Absolutely agree that you need to change his attitude .... or get rid of him. He is an accident waiting to happen if he is human aggressive. @Beekissed wrote a great article on retraining aggressive roosters involving a long limber switch..... something about 4 feet long with leaves on the end that you could hit him as hard as you like with but never cause him an injury, but will get him moving away from you at a safe distance. Always keep it with you and use it to send him away the minute you go into the run. Give the girls treats but keep him away until you decide he can have some. Keep him moving away from you whenever you are in the run. It will take a few days or maybe even a couple of weeks depending on how consistent and confident you are.

As regards his eye, a photo would help? It may just be that a bit of debris has got into it during the kerfuffle in the coop. You might need to pick him off the roost at night, wrap him snuggly in a towel to secure him and irrigate his eye with a mild saline solution. Some eye ointment might also be beneficial.
If he is a youngster it could be the start of Marek's Disease, hence the question about age. Losing control of an eyelid can be one of the more subtle (and less common) signs of the disease, but most likely he just got something in it.

 

[deedledumpling1]

He is 9 months old. They were vaccinated for Mareks when I got them from My Pet Chicken. They are all 9 mos and got them all at same time. 4 hens 1 Roo.

I got him into the coop and got hold of him in a towel. He settled, and I was able to open eye and treat with Terramycin ointment. The eye underneath looked clear. The lid is red, but so is he all around that area in front and back of tufts (BS Ameracauna).

There was a slight dirty-ish crust at top which I gently massaged with the ointment, and was sure to get some of the ointment into the eye. He has NOT been lethargic. He was subdued this morning I think because of his eye, and not seeing well. Hopefully he will stay in the coop for a while. I will be sure and check everyone else this evening.

I think the shuffle last night was to blame. He was on the "bottom of the pile" of 3 of them and after I was out of the coop heard quite a scuffle. I should have gone in to ck but just figured it was him getting onto one of the hens.

 

[deedledumpling1]

And thank you all for the above advice on his aggressive nature! I will work on that. Usually go in with large piece of cardboard in front of me and always have him walking away from me due to that

 

[deedledumpling1]

well update, eye will come slightly open. But he is not drinking anything. And not eating anything while I am out there. Perhaps when I feed in the coop later this afternoon. I put a big bowl of water a foot from him, the other's were drinking from it but he would not go up to it! I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. I hope I can get him to come back up into the coop this evening!! May have to cajole him somehow.

 

[bruceha2000]

@Beekissed wrote a great article on retraining aggressive roosters involving a long limber switch..... something about 4 feet long with leaves on the end that you could hit him as hard as you like with but never cause him an injury, but will get him moving away from you at a safe distance.

Bee never said you should smack the rooster as hard as you like and didn't say the switch should have leaves. In fact the switch is used to prod him from a distance be it a tap on the back or pop him under the tail feathers.

To the OP, here is an article @KikisGirls created quoting @Beekissed's original post regarding dealing with aggressive roosters.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/beekisseds-rooster-speak.73664/

 

[deedledumpling1]

Great article. Thx for the link

 

[lazy gardener]

@Beekissed wrote a great article on retraining aggressive roosters involving a long limber switch..... something about 4 feet long with leaves on the end that you could hit him as hard as you like with but never cause him an injury, but will get him moving away from you at a safe distance. Always keep it with you and use it to send him away the minute you go into the run. Give the girls treats but keep him away until you decide he can have some. Keep him moving away from you whenever you are in the run. It will take a few days or maybe even a couple of weeks depending on how consistent and confident you are.

Agreed with Bruce. Please do not quote @Beekissed , or for that matter, any other person unless you quote correctly.

 

[peeper89]

u got pics of roostr eye?