Possible Rooster Fight... Barely moving, coughing up blood

[ChickenLeg]

Nah you mentioned it. With the weather here in Hawaii, it's hard for my wife to get out so I'm not sure we're going to get it today. However, he is munching down some chia seeds which have both of those vitamins. Just not at such a high dose.

I think he might be ready for scrambled eggs mixed with olive oil because he is opening his mouth much wider and eating the chia seeds so well.


How do I get them unglued if it is shut with blood, mucus, or eye goop without injuring him?


I'm originally from Kentucky and am going back home for the holidays. We're going to hang out in Gatlinburg. Tennessee is like the closest I think I'd ever live to Kentucky again. The mountains there are awesome and actually remind me a lot of Hawaii.

I was just in Knoxville this weekend at a big poultry show. I met my wife in Knoxville and both lived there for a while. Now we reside in West TN, but we sure do miss the mountains! I bet Hawaii is an awesome place to be

 

[Chickengirl2671]

How do I get them unglued if it is shut with blood, mucus, or eye goop without injuring him?

Try dipping your finger in water and gently rubbing it on the eyelid and then very carefully separate the lids.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If I have a bird with crusted over eyes from fighting, I use saline to wash/flush the eyes, remove any dirt/debris with a tissue, Qtip, etc., then apply Original Neosporin, Generic Triple Antibiotic ointment or Terramycin in the eye and on the surrounding tissue.
You can purchase saline or make your own. Recipe is 1tsp of salt per 2 cups of boiled water (boiled for 15 minutes to sterilize).
I've also used Banixx to flush out eyes, some use Vetericyn.
For mine, I would rinse out at least once day, then apply ointment. Sometimes during fight a they can get dirt/debris in the eye or get injured (pecked/scratched), if there's any foam or pus in the eyes, then remove that too.

It's good that you think he's ready for scrambled egg. Keep pushing those fluids too.

Is he pooping anything? Probably not a lot, but if he's pooping a little then that's good too.

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

I applied some bacitracin without any pain killer on his eye and it pulled apart and now he has one eye open! He can SEE!!!

It's got some mucous in the corner. Will applying bacitracin alone help with that? I'm so excited he can see me! I walk in to check on him and he opens his eye to look at me. It felt awesome to see his eye again even though it's barely open!

I'm trying to figure out what else could make him immobilized. I've noticed he pulls his right leg up higher than left. I first thought about it giving him an epsom salt bath and trying to massage it where he guarded it - I thought it was sore/inflammed. He did not like it and also does not like putting it down even with his vision and supporting him trying to feed him.

I did not feel a deformity, but I also just felt the thigh rather than going all the way up the hip. Could the main problem be his hip? How long does a broken/injured hip take to heal?

I've done 3 chia seed feeds (only 14g of chia seeds tho so hardly any real calories) and 3 1cc ACV + sugar water syringes today. I gave him half of the 500mg amoxicillin tablet.

The feedings/syringes are messy cause it's a large food grade syringe so I know that's not exactly what he has had total. No vitamins today - Hawaii is having extreme weather conditions so between electricity and flash flooding. Not a great day to venture out. He definitely needs more calories/nutrition tho. I don't want to throw a bunch of seeds into his digestive tract without it being ready.

He poops explosive diarrhea that quickly soaks into the towels thusfar. I have taken three separate towels, switch them out daily, and wash in bleach/disinfectant. This removes the horrible ammonia smell and keeps him comfortable. But, it's still not a lot of poop or solid, another reason I don't want to overwhelm his digestive system. The chia seeds are very nutritious with fiber and moisture. Easy to pass.

I am starting to feel like he might make it if I keep feeding/watering him. I'm just starting to feel like his hip or leg might be another issue to address. I was stuck on thinking he's just dying, too weak, etc. when he went to stand and just fell over... But maybe his hip/leg is the reason he goes to move but cannot?

Can a broken leg/hip end up being fatal for some reason like clots, depression, bed sores/infections, etc.?

Will this make the higher protein chicken pellets significant for his recovery? Vitamin C and Protein are two big human recovery components. Vitamin E is big for chickens? What are superfoods for chicken recovery?

Sorry for all the questions. You all have been the best at supporting us! And I want to keep asking until he's walking again (hopefully).

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It's good that he's got an eye open. I would remove the mucous with a qtip wetted with saline or plain water if that's what you have. Then put a little ointment around the eye. With fighting they can sometimes get cut or dirt in there and the eye can get infected. So keeping it cleaned out will help.

To me, Egg is always good to give a chicken. I like to give mine mashed up scrambled eggs. As for poultry feed - I would use Chick starter or an all flock feed. These usually have 18-20% protein. I prefer 20% for my roosters, but 18% is good - just depends on what you can find! Sometimes they want something "unusual" when not well - tomato, melon, little tidbits of this and that - they don't eat a great deal of one thing. You can try different scraps and bits to see what may interest him, but if he will eat egg that's a good thing, imho.

Vitamin E helps with neurological symptoms - seizure like symptoms, motor skills, balance, etc.
B Vitamins are helpful - B2 for legs, B1 assists E with neurological symptoms, some of the other B vitamins can help with appetite and overall health.
Most human B-Complex tablets also contain C. Poultry Vitamins like Poultry Cell (which is what I try to keep on hand) have a wide range of vitamins/minerals.
I do keep human vitamins on hand too, so switch up, but only use them if I have an ailing bird since their feed should supply what they need for the most part.

Hard to know about the legs at this point. Could be nerve damage, fighting is exhausting, but getting him to move a little is good. Hopefully nothing is broken and he's just very sore and bruised.
You can try making a sling for him to see if that helps. It allows the bird to be upright but they don't have to bear their full weight. Some birds will not tolerate being in a sling, so you would want to monitor him closely. If he's thrashing about, then he may flip out of the sling further injuring himself too.
If he can hold his head up, a sling might be helpful. If not, then rolls of towels to help prop him up may be better.
There's a lot of images of chicken slings if you google them or search here on BYC, but this short video gives you a concept of what one can make.

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

Today's improvement is that he is actually moving his neck/head a little to eat! However, he has me worried again.

He began eating scrambled eggs so aggressively that got caught in his throat and I'm not sure if he fully inhaled or if I was able to lean him forward and dislodge it with a finger swipe.

I just looked into getting food in the lungs and it looks like food in the airway/lungs is extremely fatal with or without antibiotics?!? Chickens are incapable of re-absorbing or aspirating liquid/food from their lungs?

He is not making any labored breathing noises. He just opened his mouth and acted like he was trying to get air/food, and a glob was caught in front of his airway. I'm just not sure whether any made it down or not.

I administered another 250mg of antibiotics following it and he took the powder down with water fine following the incident.

If he did not immediately choke, what is the probability of this being fatal with him taking antibiotics already? How would I know whether he actually inhaled food or not?

Thanks again for all the support everyone

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If he's not gasping, coughing, wheezing, etc., then the food didn't go down his airway.
Taking the water with the meds without any issue, then I think your fine.

Being excited about food sounds hopeful.

 

[AlohaChickenGuy]

If he's not gasping, coughing, wheezing, etc., then the food didn't go down his airway.
Taking the water with the meds without any issue, then I think your fine.

Being excited about food sounds hopeful.

YES! I feel much better then because he hasn't made any noises and is just resting and breathing calmly.

His left eye looks much better and is almost fully open. His right eye I've tried swabbing with some water and a qtip lightly but the goop seems like it's part of his eye lens.

I propped him up on his legs but I think he was just stiff legging instead of actually standing/bearing weight. He eventually started to lean over so I placed him on his side again.

I couldn't believe he started moving his neck and just scarfing down eggs so fast. He seemed to have an extreme dislike of them yesterday. I made more chia seeds just so he could go back to eating them, but now I might need to just boil eggs and mash them into a paste like consistency.

He just seems to be doing so much better and I'm feeling much more optimistic

 

[Wyorp Rock]

His left eye looks much better and is almost fully open. His right eye I've tried swabbing with some water and a qtip lightly but the goop seems like it's part of his eye lens.

You got a photo of the other eye?

Let's see that goop. It may be pus that needs to be pressed out. Chicken pus is often a waxy semi hard cheese like material that has to be physically removed. It doesn't dry up on it's own.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

AND! I'm glad to see he's got his head up and eye partially open.
Still Hopeful!