Injured rooster after being attacked by dog

[Clara6belle]

Hi, my poor Lavender orphington rooster has been through so much in 3 weeks, two of my silkies got eaten by raccoons and he jumped the fence to try to protect them but he didn’t get injured so we moved him and my other silkie and two ducks and olive egger to our new house early, and they were doing fine l, until a week later our dogs got into their temporary run and killed my last silkie and white duck. We hurried up and moved them inside in a large open dog kennel with shavings and an electric fireplace that they used to use when they were chicks. Thankfully my olive egger and black duck ( who got chunks taken out of her back) have been doing great and are pretty much normal but my poor rooster who was pretty huge is still struggling to walk or eat. He got some scratches on his face and neck and some feathers taken out of his left leg but we think because he was fighting to protect them for so long he’s gone into shock, and now it’s been a whole week later and we thought he was doing better because he was walking around and his ear stopped bleeding and he was drinking water and eating watermelon on his own but now he just keeps flopping over and his head hangs all the way down when he’s sleeping. We turned the heater off cause we think he might have just gotten too comfortable. But now when he tries to walk he’ll get unstable and just fall on his face. Do you think he still just needs more time to recover? Or do you think we should try more to get him to eat and he’s just weak?

 

[alinas2010]

Hi, my poor Lavender orphington rooster has been through so much in 3 weeks, two of my silkies got eaten by raccoons and he jumped the fence to try to protect them but he didn’t get injured so we moved him and my other silkie and two ducks and olive egger to our new house early, and they were doing fine l, until a week later our dogs got into their temporary run and killed my last silkie and white duck. We hurried up and moved them inside in a large open dog kennel with shavings and an electric fireplace that they used to use when they were chicks. Thankfully my olive egger and black duck ( who got chunks taken out of her back) have been doing great and are pretty much normal but my poor rooster who was pretty huge is still struggling to walk or eat. He got some scratches on his face and neck and some feathers taken out of his left leg but we think because he was fighting to protect them for so long he’s gone into shock, and now it’s been a whole week later and we thought he was doing better because he was walking around and his ear stopped bleeding and he was drinking water and eating watermelon on his own but now he just keeps flopping over and his head hangs all the way down when he’s sleeping. We turned the heater off cause we think he might have just gotten too comfortable. But now when he tries to walk he’ll get unstable and just fall on his face. Do you think he still just needs more time to recover? Or do you think we should try more to get him to eat and he’s just weak?

Hello and welcome to the site. I’m so sorry to hear about your rooster. Sounds like he’s been through a lot. I agree that he initially had been in shock and that can last for a few days. From what you’re saying, I think you’ve treated appropriately for that; providing electrolytes, plus some sugar water and heat with a quiet, dim place to rest usually does the trick. Is it possible you missed any injuries? Maybe he has internal ones causing weakness still, too? Did he get any head or neck injuries? Feel free to post pictures if you can. Are any of the open wounds showing signs of infection? You may want to start treating him with B vitamins. A vitamin B complex can be given for neurological issues.

Is he eating anything besides watermelon? He will need a balanced feed to start to heal. You could try wetting down his feed into a mash to get him interested. Also, is he alone? Sometimes lone chickens recover a bit slower and do better when they have a friend.

 

[Clara6belle]

Thank you so much for responding. He is with our black duck and olive egger hen and they do seem to start making sounds like cheering him on when he finally goes to get water. He was starting to scare us because his crown got droopy but like you said, we do believe he really did injure his neck cause when he goes to get water he just can’t control it and it falls wherever he tries to put it. Thankfully he Just now shoved his face in a lot of Greek yogurt and was able to walk over and clean it off with some water, we also noticed we think his right back toe is broken cause he seems to start freaking out if we set him down on that foot first and the toe folds to the side instead of propping him up. We also keep cleaning his head and neck with solution and putting lanolin and beeswax ointment on it in case the cuts still aren’t healed. Tomorrow we might try to mix some ground feed with the yogurt if you think that’ll give him enough protein?

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you so much for responding. He is with our black duck and olive egger hen and they do seem to start making sounds like cheering him on when he finally goes to get water. He was starting to scare us because his crown got droopy but like you said, we do believe he really did injure his neck cause when he goes to get water he just can’t control it and it falls wherever he tries to put it. Thankfully he Just now shoved his face in a lot of Greek yogurt and was able to walk over and clean it off with some water, we also noticed we think his right back toe is broken cause he seems to start freaking out if we set him down on that foot first and the toe folds to the side instead of propping him up. We also keep cleaning his head and neck with solution and putting lanolin and beeswax ointment on it in case the cuts still aren’t healed. Tomorrow we might try to mix some ground feed with the yogurt if you think that’ll give him enough protein?

Plain Greek yogurt is a great source of protein, I think if he’ll eat that mixed with his feed, that’ll be great. It’s great you’re treating his wounds with ointment, that should help prevent infection. Just make sure any ointment you use doesn’t have pain relief in it. I don’t know that there is much you could do about his toe being broke; sometimes trying to splint will cause more issues than it is worth.

If you do suspect head and/or neck injuries, I believe you can give about 1/4 to 1/2 human vitamin B complex daily to help with neurological issues. It may take a while for him to heal if he does have neurological issues, but hopefully he is on the road to recovery. Keep us updated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mix some water and his usual chicken feed into an oatmeal consistency plus some cooked egg.

 

[kbroom]

Hi, my poor Lavender orphington rooster has been through so much in 3 weeks, two of my silkies got eaten by raccoons and he jumped the fence to try to protect them but he didn’t get injured so we moved him and my other silkie and two ducks and olive egger to our new house early, and they were doing fine l, until a week later our dogs got into their temporary run and killed my last silkie and white duck. We hurried up and moved them inside in a large open dog kennel with shavings and an electric fireplace that they used to use when they were chicks. Thankfully my olive egger and black duck ( who got chunks taken out of her back) have been doing great and are pretty much normal but my poor rooster who was pretty huge is still struggling to walk or eat. He got some scratches on his face and neck and some feathers taken out of his left leg but we think because he was fighting to protect them for so long he’s gone into shock, and now it’s been a whole week later and we thought he was doing better because he was walking around and his ear stopped bleeding and he was drinking water and eating watermelon on his own but now he just keeps flopping over and his head hangs all the way down when he’s sleeping. We turned the heater off cause we think he might have just gotten too comfortable. But now when he tries to walk he’ll get unstable and just fall on his face. Do you think he still just needs more time to recover? Or do you think we should try more to get him to eat and he’s just weak?

Hi Clare, I have just a little experience with a similar horror story. My neighbor's dog over a year ago, attacked my Golden Laced Wyndotte, Sugar. The dog had found her way into my pen and was munching on her back end. The dog had recently given birth and the neighbor had given me one of her pups. She had just finished plucking Sugar's back feathers, pulled the skin off and was about to devour Sugar's body. Sugar had wedged herself in between the pen fence and a small building, trying to protect her body as well as she could. When the dog saw me, she ran with the speed of light out of the pen. I immediately smeared Sugar's raw body with a black salve that contained 20% Ichthammol. I've used this for years on animals and use it myself. At first, it may burn slightly, then the pain GOES AWAY! It will form a scab soon after, and now Sugar is running around as though nothing has ever happened. Hope this might help you, now or in the future. This black salve can be found on Amazon. Many times it may be advertised as a remedy for horses. It doesn't matter. This product is very useful, even for humans. The side of Sugar that is shown in this picture is the side that was damaged. As you can see, she is perfectly fine now. I've found that even sprains can be helped, if treated and wrapped for a time with this product, because it has a way of penetrating the skin. The "trick" with this of course, is to treat the damaged area as soon as possible, but occasionally, the medicine can still help, even if applied after the fact, especially if there is great pain. Hope this helps. Trimol is one brand name of this product and Squire is another older name. Hope this helps.

 

[McChooky]

Obedience training is the 1st step in training one not to kill chickens.
Before those coon(s) come back for the rest of your flock my advice is start training it. They'll bring the whole family next time. Sorry for your loss!