Sondra_Lovell
Chirping
Hi everyone! So, I’ve posted before, but here’s the back story. I live on a street that has feral chickens. I live in NEFL where it is already like spring and the Roos and fighting for mates about this time. Anyways, we lost a few of the older Roos last year. One to a car and one to a dog bite. The one that got bit was taken to a wildlife sanctuary and survived, is living a good life at a chicken sanctuary now.. But, unfortunately this threw off the pecking order I guess. Oh!! There are other groups of chickens around the neighborhood and I believe another of the older males wandered off after the one guy got bit by the dog. Over the year there were two chicks who survived spring, a male and female. The yearling is a red color rooster and he’s very aggressive. Then from summer, three males and a female survived to be fully grown. Those four males have beat up and chased off nearly all four older Roos. Ok, so, I’m all good with the ways of nature. I try not to intervene too much. But, I’m not gonna do nothing and watch an injured animal suffer until it dies. Idk if I could cull one either. So, one of the remaining older guys was my favorite. He has deformed feet and is all beautiful autumnal colors with gold around his head and would sit by me to eat. Haha. I formed a bond and named him ‘Sunshine Superman’. So, that’s the fun part, the backstory.
Ok, on Tuesday the boys ganged up on Sunshine Superman and tore into him good. I tried to catch him but he ran away. He came back on Thursday, injured, infected around his right eye.. Poor guy! And the boys laid into him. I chased them off a literally ran around the yard after Sunny man and finally caught him. I cleaned his wounds as beast I could (they are all around his face. The rest of his body seems fine but he is flopping his right wing, however, I see no damage.). Hubby sprayed a single burst of Blu Kote on his head. We really thought for a second we could just let him back out. But after thinking about it a bit I decided we’d keep him in a kennel with some pee pads, outside on the back porch so he’d be safe from attack but not completely isolated. So, on Friday morning I noticed him leaning his head to the side of the infected eye, or skin around the eye. The eye was sealed closed even after a good cleaning. Do y’all think he might loose the eye? Ok, so, I called the bird sanctuary and got ahold of the main caretaker there and she told me that if it seemed infection had set in, that was why he was leaning. Then she asked me if I had any antibiotics. I did and she said to give him small amounts a few times a day. So, I crushed a pill in six ounces of water. I’d already been giving him a homemade mineral, vitamin water. Since Friday afternoon I have given him the vitamin water, the antibiotic solution which I add a couple drops of vet prescribed pain medication I had from my last cats spay, ok, four times a day. Last night we bought a few jars of baby food to feed him and we’ve fed him twice, I put the meds water and mixed with the food and just administered the meds in the food. He seemed to handle that better than just the medication alone, which must taste awful even to a rooster. A few maggots fell off him when I was moving him around and I just fed them to him. It seems gross, but, I know the eat bugs like that. So, was that ok? Oh my.. Anyways on Friday his head was really hot. Today, it has cooled down but he still can’t hold his head up, he tries. He can stand but does flop around a bit. I think just because he’s been laying in the kennel a lot. But, he’s been sleeping and will eat. I gave him a bath this morning to clean the poo off his feathers which was way harder than I thought but he was docile. Ok, so, how long might this whole healing process take? It’s only been a few days with me caring for him. But, he’s been injured since Tuesday.. At what point does one decide if it’s really just best to euthanize? Am I doing the right thing giving him the antibiotics and the pain medication? Should I stop one or both? Will he be able to return to normal after healing? Am I getting into a situation of adopting a rooster if he recovers, but not fully? Haha. I know that’s a lot, and there are unknown variables. I mostly just need an understanding of how long this process might take. (Oh, I have him inside now, it’s just easier to keep up with him this way.) Is it similar as to when you have a injured dog or cat and it will take at least 14 days before healed? Poor guy looks terrible, his eye closed up and head tilted over. I wonder if most people would just put him out of his misery?
Ok, on Tuesday the boys ganged up on Sunshine Superman and tore into him good. I tried to catch him but he ran away. He came back on Thursday, injured, infected around his right eye.. Poor guy! And the boys laid into him. I chased them off a literally ran around the yard after Sunny man and finally caught him. I cleaned his wounds as beast I could (they are all around his face. The rest of his body seems fine but he is flopping his right wing, however, I see no damage.). Hubby sprayed a single burst of Blu Kote on his head. We really thought for a second we could just let him back out. But after thinking about it a bit I decided we’d keep him in a kennel with some pee pads, outside on the back porch so he’d be safe from attack but not completely isolated. So, on Friday morning I noticed him leaning his head to the side of the infected eye, or skin around the eye. The eye was sealed closed even after a good cleaning. Do y’all think he might loose the eye? Ok, so, I called the bird sanctuary and got ahold of the main caretaker there and she told me that if it seemed infection had set in, that was why he was leaning. Then she asked me if I had any antibiotics. I did and she said to give him small amounts a few times a day. So, I crushed a pill in six ounces of water. I’d already been giving him a homemade mineral, vitamin water. Since Friday afternoon I have given him the vitamin water, the antibiotic solution which I add a couple drops of vet prescribed pain medication I had from my last cats spay, ok, four times a day. Last night we bought a few jars of baby food to feed him and we’ve fed him twice, I put the meds water and mixed with the food and just administered the meds in the food. He seemed to handle that better than just the medication alone, which must taste awful even to a rooster. A few maggots fell off him when I was moving him around and I just fed them to him. It seems gross, but, I know the eat bugs like that. So, was that ok? Oh my.. Anyways on Friday his head was really hot. Today, it has cooled down but he still can’t hold his head up, he tries. He can stand but does flop around a bit. I think just because he’s been laying in the kennel a lot. But, he’s been sleeping and will eat. I gave him a bath this morning to clean the poo off his feathers which was way harder than I thought but he was docile. Ok, so, how long might this whole healing process take? It’s only been a few days with me caring for him. But, he’s been injured since Tuesday.. At what point does one decide if it’s really just best to euthanize? Am I doing the right thing giving him the antibiotics and the pain medication? Should I stop one or both? Will he be able to return to normal after healing? Am I getting into a situation of adopting a rooster if he recovers, but not fully? Haha. I know that’s a lot, and there are unknown variables. I mostly just need an understanding of how long this process might take. (Oh, I have him inside now, it’s just easier to keep up with him this way.) Is it similar as to when you have a injured dog or cat and it will take at least 14 days before healed? Poor guy looks terrible, his eye closed up and head tilted over. I wonder if most people would just put him out of his misery?
