Injured Roosters

[Morrgin]

My roosters a barred rock (Cornelius) and a younger Rhode Island red (Hae Hae) have always gotten along. then yesterday Cornelius went onto the neighbors side of the fence into another pasture. Cornelius can't figure out how to get back onto our side of the fence. Meanwhile Hae Hae decided to start fighting Cornelius through the fence. Both chickens are very bloody. I've tried getting Cornelius back onto our side of the fence with no luck. Once I get him back on our side then I can figure out how to treat him.

 

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

Firstly, coax Cornelius through with food, whilst locking up Hae Hae so he stays outta the way. Once get Cornelius back in, separate the two, since they will be exhausted. Whenever possible, wear gloves when treating a bleeding or wounded chicken. With a clean towel, gauze or paper towel, apply gentle, firm, even pressure to the injury until bleeding stops. Apply styptic powder to superficial wounds and hold in place until bleeding stops. Find the bleeding points (e.g. on their combs). After, they should clot, dry and be fine. Don't let them fight again, or the bleeding will start up again.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Wait till dusk and he goes to roost, pick him up and carry him home.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Firstly, coax Cornelius through with food, whilst locking up Hae Hae so he stays outta the way. Once get Cornelius back in, separate the two, since they will be exhausted. Whenever possible, wear gloves when treating a bleeding or wounded chicken. With a clean towel, gauze or paper towel, apply gentle, firm, even pressure to the injury until bleeding stops. Apply styptic powder to superficial wounds and hold in place until bleeding stops. Find the bleeding points (e.g. on their combs). After, they should clot, dry and be fine. Don't let them fight again, or the bleeding will start up again.

 

[ackie]

I suspect the wounds will all be pretty superficial since they couldn't really get at each other and the blood will be dry by the time you get him. Definitely separate them & keep the hurt roo from the flock as well as the other chickens might peck at his wounds. I would just put betadine on anything that looks like it needs it. You can clean up the dried blood by dabbing with a warm wash cloth, but don't rub because you could pull off clotted blood/scabs. He'll be fine, but they will fight again so you'll need a game plan.

 

[Morrgin]

I suspect the wounds will all be pretty superficial since they couldn't really get at each other and the blood will be dry by the time you get him. Definitely separate them & keep the hurt roo from the flock as well as the other chickens might peck at his wounds. I would just put betadine on anything that looks like it needs it. You can clean up the dried blood by dabbing with a warm wash cloth, but don't rub because you could pull off clotted blood/scabs. He'll be fine, but they will fight again so you'll need a game plan.

When I first saw the situation of Cornelius on the other side of the fence he had somehow gotten his foot stuck. Hae Hae was taking advantage of the situation. I ran over and chased Hae Hae away. Cornelius's head slowly drooped down and looked like he was dead. Then I saw his eye blink. He also has lacerations to his feet, a large laceration on the side of his face, another one that runs under his chin, and bleeding from his mouth.
I thought he'd fly back over once he saw all the other chickens going to roost last night. We didn't see him anymore and assumed he must have made it over. This morning I saw he was still on the other side.
I've kept Hae Hae out of the way and tried to coax Cornelius back with food but he won't go for it. I pushed some more food through the fence to him and put some water in a bowl. He won't touch them.
I finally got permission from the owners to go on their property. On the other side I tried to catch him with a net, tried using a blanket to throw over him, tried to get him to fly over, tried to get him to use things leaning on the fence like a ladder, and tried showing him places where he could go under the fence. At one point he took off into the blackberry bushes so I just went inside.
I guess tonight I will just have to watch as it gets dark to see where he goes to roost and grab him from there.

 

[ackie]

I'm not sure how to lure him back. I'd take a good flashlight and look in the trees nearby and see if you can find him. Pulling him out of a tree will be easier than catching him, though it helps if you have someone tall to help. If hes more used to sleeping in a coop, he could also be roosting on the fence or anything else that's roughly roost height.

You could try to reintegrate him once hes healed and hope it goes back to normal, but if Hae Hae has decided that C's ladies are his now, they might just fight again.

It's possible that C got injured by the fence and the blood riled the two of them up and caused the fight. I really dont know why being on the other of the fence would cause a fight.

 

[Morrgin]

Update: Success!

Success! I got the youngest group out of the coop. Others are still up on the second floor roosts. I got the youngest group out of the coop with their mom. Lastly I got Hae Hae into the coop. I tried getting him into the separate area of the coop with no luck so far. Then the next youngest group I got busy in the front yard with treats.
For Cornelius I dug a bigger hole under the fence, propped the fence up a bit with a chunk of wood and then scattered pieces of food in a trail going under the fence and he made it through!
Now what? It is not easy to catch chickens and seems even harder to catch a rooster. I don't really want to chase him anyway. Hae Hae seems like he's in much better shape compared to Cornelius.
(Are chickens always this problematic?)
I'm not sure Cornelius has been the dominant rooster for awhile now. He's been staying in the coop with the older and smaller hens lately up on the top roosts.

 

[ackie]

I dont know how to tell to be honest. I have an alpha rooster who is at least 6 years old and he has the 2 oldest hens with him and then like 4 other hens (and the cockrell still following the one that's his momma)... and then one of my young roosters has 2 young hens or pullets that follow him, and a cockrell has 1 young hen or pullet that follows him. And then I have one hen with a chick who follows no cockrell.

And then 3 cockrells and 19 pullets who all live together and idk how that hierarchy is.

 

[Morrgin]

I suspect the wounds will all be pretty superficial since they couldn't really get at each other and the blood will be dry by the time you get him. Definitely separate them & keep the hurt roo from the flock as well as the other chickens might peck at his wounds. I would just put betadine on anything that looks like it needs it. You can clean up the dried blood by dabbing with a warm wash cloth, but don't rub because you could pull off clotted blood/scabs. He'll be fine, but they will fight again so you'll need a game plan.

What will a game plan look like to keep them from fighting again? They were raised together. Cornelius has always been the dominant rooster. They've had a few spats in the past, but they were very brief. It usually happened when Hae Hae was with a hen and Cornelius would just run him off. Now they both have their own separate flocks. All the chickens are together but they have their own groups.
Did Hae Hae forget who Cornelius is or something else?