Please help me

[maggiebelle]

a dog attacked my rooster today. He was probably protecting his girls Anywho....he is in our bathtub right now. His back end is damaged...feathers ripped out...but no bleeding. He doesnt seem to be walking on one of his legs...maybe a broken leg, maybe wing maybe both.But he does walk on his other leg. my question is...is there hope for him??? We are going to see how he goes through the night. We have finally tracked down a vet at CSU that may be able to take a look at him. But the people we have talked to have said its going to cost a fortune. He is our pet...we would do anything....but really what are his chances? Could he possibly have injuries that he isnt showing us. I can hear him moving around in the bathroom now. Is that a good sign?

 

[panner123]

First, put down a lot of towels in the bathtub. He will only hurt himself more moving around on the slippery tub. Wash off the backside to see how much damage is done. Check the leg and wing the see if anything is broken, if it is try to stablize it until you get him to the vets. The vet bill will be steep, but if he is a pet the cost won't matter. Good luck with him.

 

[rooster-red]

Are there any punctures?
He needs to be kept in a dark, warm place like in a dog crate so he'll calm down and not go into shock.
Check his leg, compare to the other one to see if there are broken bones.

 

[chickbea]

All good advice above.
If it is a broken leg or wing, that is certainly survivable, and it might not be too terribly expensive. I wish you and your brave bird the best of luck.

 

[arlee453]

Hope your roo recovers! Lord knows that there have been chickens with worse injuries on here that have pulled through with some extra TLC.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

A dog crate or cat carrier would be a good place for him where he can not move around too much and where its dark...food and water...also acouple plain old aspirin in his water for pain...my thoughts on what I would do for him....

 

[seminolewind]

Good idea, compare legs. I, too, believe he should be in a nice dark area like a dog crate. Wish you luck with him, Karen

 

[dlhunicorn]

I am sooooo very glad to hear you have found a vet to take a look at him...leg injuries are quite painful and if not treated properly can develop secondary infections such as staph etc... your vet is the best person to handle this situation in my opinion.

 

[chickbea]

Any news?

 

[geoaware]

We just wanted to update all the poeple who took the time to provide us advice for our rooster.

After a few days we noticed that his skin was healing and he did not seem to be getting worse. He was missing all but a few tail feathers and one foot did not seem to work anymore and he just dragged it around the bath.

We did not give him anything other than food and water - we did not use asprin or other drugs for the fear of sending him into a fit by overdosing etc.

After a week of living separated from the girls, we let him go back out with them during the day. He really started looking up then. Our biggest concern was that they would peck at his sore feather roots...and we did see them do this a little. We kep him separated from them in a different pen for a few days still bring him in at night.

After a few days of getting used to being outside, we let him back with the girls. Since then he has been the king of the roost once more. He is growing feathers back on his tail. He still does not have use of his foot, although we notice him using it more...so maybe there is hope that might one day come good. He does spend time sitting down on the ground and in a box of hay...

We have noticed that he is 'throwing a leg over' the girls when he gets a chance (thats a cute euphemism for sex in our family...) but we have not noticed that the eggs have been fertile (that little blood spot). Maybe we are missing something here.....but just hearing him crow and seeing him acting normal makes us feel so good that we did not put him down (as some vets suggested).

Now, as for the dog. We called the the local sheriff to ask what the law said we could do in this situation. We were toild that we could shoot ('to kill') any animal that came onto our land and threatened our livestock. Being animal lovers, we could not do that...and do not have a gun that would kill anything (the BB rifle would not put a hole in warm butter at 10 paces). So we took another approach. Firstly we contacted the owner and let her know what the issue was. She was very upset and has kept her dog under greater control. Secondly we raided the wire of our pen by a few feet, so that if the dog (or other animal) comes they have to jump way highter to get in. (Our chickens are locked inside the chicken house at night...so its just during the day).

So thats the end of our story........

Thanks again to all.

Gary and Jen