Injured Rooster

[jesnbec]

We've got a real jerk for a neighbor, and yesterday our rooster was crossing the road, was nearly across on the side of the road, and the neighbor was flying up the road in her car and ran over Checkers (the rooster). The really sick thing about it was that our other neighbor was watching the whole thing and said she saw Checkers and didn't even try to avoid him. She didn't bother to stop to tell anyone what had happened and on her way back through she was flying again, and looking for the chicken. I'm fit to be tied over it, she could ahve at least went around him or stopped to tell somebody what had happened.
Checkers might have had a stroke of luck though, his foot is the only thing that got hurt. It's terribly swollen, his spur on that foot is split, but we're pretty sure his leg isn't broken, just a crushed foot.
We can't afford a veternarian visit, god knows we would take him if we could afford it, but other than applying some anti-bacterial ointment on the foot and keeping him in a cage for a little while, is there anything we can do for him? He seems perfectly happy and healthy otherwise, he can't put weight on the foot and the swelling is pretty signifigant, but no signs of infection so far adn he's eating and crowing like a champ.
Any advice?
-Jesnbec

I posted this already but int he wrong forum...
We splinted the leg yesterday fearing the worse, but so far his injuries are limited to just the one foot. Appetite is great, and he's still crowing and wants out of the cage something feirce lol.

 

[faykokoWV]

I don't have any advice, but

to that neighbor

 

[lngrid]

I'm a chicken newbie, but maybe if you could post closeups of the injured foot people might be better able spot broken bones. I'm wondering if anti-biotic ointment might help?

Recently someone posted about a nut bar neighbor who intentionally ran over and killed several of her parents' free ranging ducks. The consensus in the forums here was that her only recourse was to keep the birds behind a fence. Your blankety-blank neighbor (

) can always say she didn't see the rooster.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

 

[ivan3]

I'd probably confine him in, for instance, a folding dog cage with a sheet thrown over it. This would restrict his movement and keep him calm (low light). He could have some avulsion (separation/tearing) fractures in his foot and the swelling might get worse.

Get some plain aspirin (the OTC 325mg or the 81mg cardiac dose will do). Dissolve 1 325mg or 4 of the 81mg in one pint of water. One Grain = 60mg so 5grain tab = 300mg. This should help with the inflammation.

"ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID - Aspirin (Butler; Vedco)
Available as tablets (5 or 60 grain) for oral administration. Also
available as 1.25 grain orange-flavored chewable tablets. May be
effective as an analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agent
in some avian species. May be indicated to prevent clot formation
and embolisms secondary to egg-related peritonitis, granulomatous
diseases and shock. Uricosuric at low doses and may be
effective in some cases of acute and chronic gout. A five grain tablet
can be mixed in 30 ml of diluent and administered at a dose of 0.5
ml/kg, TID (or 1 tablet per pint of drinking water)."

From Avian Medicine Principles and Applications: Chap. 18 Formulary: http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa.html

 

[chickenjim64]

I f that was my rooster my neighbor would be very sorry, i have the same problem with my neighbor who outright told me to get rid of my chickens i told him to go f#@^ himself i also seen him speed up when my chickens were crossing the road but my girls stayed put till he passed, i don't advocate crime because it is wrong but he would have been very sorry,and thats all I'm gonna say..

 

[chickerdoodle]

I think it is very sad that people can purposely hurt any innocent creature and I am sorry your your rooster was hurt. However, as cruel as this person was it does boil down to it being our responsibility to protect our chickens and pets. I agree with a previous poster that a fence of some sort to keep them from the road may be the solution to avoid such an occurrence in the future.

As for treatment, I think a picture would really help but certainly separating him from the other chickens and rest would be a place to start. I am sending good thoughts for him to get well!

 

[jesnbec]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm pleased to report that Checkers is still alive so he had no serious internal injuries, just the foot apparently.
We've kept him in the cage for a while and he's eating and drinking and the aspirin seemed to help a little, but his foot is still swollen and he's still not putting weight on it yet. I checked his foot out today and there's no infection anywhere, so we did ok with that, it's just smashed I guess. Is there a reasonable expectation of a time frame for his foot to heal, or are we just looking at having to change his name to lefty lol.
I'll see if I can get some pics of his foot, but it looks normal, just swollen. He can put it on the ground to balance, but he's not able to put weight on it yet and hence not able to perch or get around well. He sure misses his lady friends.
Thanks again, this is a great site!
Jesnbec

 

[usschicago1]

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