Okay, without the long drawn-out weanie-whiney story, here are the basic facts: (I just erased that version and am retyping)
Approx. 5 month old black rooster (think it's a rooster)
May have been fighting with the other small brother rooster yesterday
Lying in yard, can't get up
Twisted neck
Eyes closed, but will open at noises, etc.
Stools looks firm with the white
Checked his vent, looks fine (used gloves)
A little thin, but not emaciated, he appeared fine yesterday
He tried to move head and body, but couldn't seem to manage to get up or move around
He may have been one of the roosters that we saw fighting yesterday (repeatedly I'm hearing now)
Free range during the day, locked up at night (this one missed the nightly count)
Can't get to my compost, but they get into everything else
Given kitchen scraps
We also have guineas who chase and harrass the chickens
Unsure of breed, most of the chickens (and this one) are black, but the other roosters look like Old English Game chickens
Free from man retiring from raising roosters about 1-1/2 years ago
Has he been injured by the other rooster internally? Did I accidentally poison him from the "chicken pan" and he has botulism? Is that contagious to the other chickens? We have 3 children (10,8,4). Could they possibly get sick? Poor little chicken. I think he's been out there all night just lying there. I saw what I thought was the dog's stuffed duck toy last night lying in the yard.
I haven't let the children into the yard this morning nor the goats nor chickens. The last thing I want to do is let one of our children get sick if this rooster is sick. Trying not to freak out...
Update: Rooster is still alive, can move a bit if I disturb him, but his head is twisted around lying on his back, kind of like they do when sleeping. I'm not sure what to do for him. He can't just lay there. The vet in the next town will see him at 3:30 pm. That's hours away. We can put the rooster in a box and bring him in the garage, but what else should we do? His fresh stool looks okay and his eyes are open. I can't let the children out there until I know something. The children know he's hurt/sick, but if they see him they're going to be pretty upset, especially my little girl.
Approx. 5 month old black rooster (think it's a rooster)
May have been fighting with the other small brother rooster yesterday
Lying in yard, can't get up
Twisted neck
Eyes closed, but will open at noises, etc.
Stools looks firm with the white
Checked his vent, looks fine (used gloves)
A little thin, but not emaciated, he appeared fine yesterday
He tried to move head and body, but couldn't seem to manage to get up or move around
He may have been one of the roosters that we saw fighting yesterday (repeatedly I'm hearing now)
Free range during the day, locked up at night (this one missed the nightly count)
Can't get to my compost, but they get into everything else
Given kitchen scraps
We also have guineas who chase and harrass the chickens
Unsure of breed, most of the chickens (and this one) are black, but the other roosters look like Old English Game chickens
Free from man retiring from raising roosters about 1-1/2 years ago
Has he been injured by the other rooster internally? Did I accidentally poison him from the "chicken pan" and he has botulism? Is that contagious to the other chickens? We have 3 children (10,8,4). Could they possibly get sick? Poor little chicken. I think he's been out there all night just lying there. I saw what I thought was the dog's stuffed duck toy last night lying in the yard.
I haven't let the children into the yard this morning nor the goats nor chickens. The last thing I want to do is let one of our children get sick if this rooster is sick. Trying not to freak out...
Update: Rooster is still alive, can move a bit if I disturb him, but his head is twisted around lying on his back, kind of like they do when sleeping. I'm not sure what to do for him. He can't just lay there. The vet in the next town will see him at 3:30 pm. That's hours away. We can put the rooster in a box and bring him in the garage, but what else should we do? His fresh stool looks okay and his eyes are open. I can't let the children out there until I know something. The children know he's hurt/sick, but if they see him they're going to be pretty upset, especially my little girl.
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