Injured rooster

[SallyF]

We had a predator at the chicken coop last night. There is a cover over the chicken pen, so whatever it was got them though the chain link fencing. Lost two hens, one decapitated right next to the fence and one partially decapitated across the pen. Three hens untouched. The rooster survived, but has injuries to his beak and his beautiful big red comb is now just a bloody stub. Obviously he tried to defend his brood and was injured in the process. He is standing up and moving around, although the remaining hens won't have anything to do with him. (women are fickle, I guess!)

I know I need to get water & nutrition into him if he has any chance at survival. Has anyone dealt with this kind of injury before? Thanks for any opinions!

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

Im not comletely sure but your rooster may have been fighting with your hens. that might explain why the hens are scared of him, but i doubt it because only a wild animal could do that kid of damage. are their any holes in the fence? do you see any footprints?

 

[SallyF]

No tracks of any kind and no holes in the fence. These birds have been together for a couple of years with no problems. I think it had to have been a wild animal of some kind because of the missing head on the one hen. I found bits of flesh with feathers attached outside the fence and lots of feathers stuck on the fence itself. We live on a farm in the middle of 200 or so acres of woodland, so any wild critter could have gotten to them.

 

[AmyBella]

So sorry! I keep reading that racoons can reach right through fencing and grab your chickens unless you have the 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I guess one of the aweful trademarks of a racoon attack is chickens with their heads torn off.

 

[basicliving]

I'm so sorry this has happened

I would isolate the rooster so you can better treat him and watch him for any signs of infection. I'd clean his comb and beak and put an antibiotic cream on the injuries. You don't go into detail about the beak damage - is he able to use his beak to eat and drink? If so, I would feed him scrambled eggs mixed with a little plain yogurt for a day or too - something soft that will move through his crop easily - while you watch him and keep the antibiotic cream on the wounds.

If his beak is in working order, he will likely heal up just fine. I'd just be sure to keep an eye out for infection.

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

keep your rooster by himself till he recovers i think it might have been a fox or racoon

 

[basicliving]

I was thinking racoon as well. This link may help: http://osuextra.okstate.edu/pdfs/F-8204web.pdf

 

[SallyF]

Thanks for all the suggestions; I'm going to try to clean him up and see what we've got, although I have to overcome Mr. "Let-nature-take-it's-course" (aka my dear husband)!.

It's funny in a way... this rooster attacked me at all opportunities. I couldn't go into the coop without a spray water bottle to fend him off, but now that he's injured, I can't stand it and I'm hoping for the day that he'll come at me again! Thank you all; this is a great website and I've enjoyed reading and learning from it.

 

[SallyF]

Just did a general rooster clean-up. By the way, his name is Rodney! His comb is just gone, all that's left is a scabbed over blackened wound. I tried to clean it up a little, but didn't want to stress him too much, so I'll work on that more later. His lower beak is split in half with the two sides sticking out, sort of V-shaped. He's missing about half his upper beak with a piece of it sticking down. His tongue appears intact and mobile. I got some unflavored Pedialyte into him with an eye-dropper and he was able to swallow. Don't know yet if he'll be able to eat; with my fingers and toes thoroughly crossed, I'm going to try some of the mushy concoctions suggested on other posts about injured birds. I guess he'll either make it or he won't.

 

[basicliving]

Oh, poor Rodney! It sounds like he was very brave and did his best to defend his girls. I hope he makes it. Poor fella. I've never had to deal with a beak injury that severe. Please let us know how he does.