Predator Attack - Rooster Can't Lift His Head!

[Redcatcher]

I suppose there is not much that can be done aside from taking him to the vet or taking the wait and see route. My Tuzo cock survived a predator attack yesterday afternoon. He came back to the coop somehow under his own power as the sun was setting but he cannot lift his head and head. I am thinking the muscles are torn in his neck or else it is nerve damage. I am leaning towards torn muscles since it gives the appearance of a puppet with a string missing. He can stand just fine and almost lift his neck but his head dangles from side to side. He is breathing fine and when I lift his head and neck for him, he is alert and looks around. He certainly is not suffering at this point. I would really like to save him. He is not just any rooster but the father of Pippin and very likely the father of the chimera as well (both somewhat celebrities of BYC).

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Is there someway you can fashion a neck brace for him? you know the foam stuff that you put around pipes for insulation might work. Does he have a big wound?

 

[chkn]

Just keep him quiet for a few days, no running around or jumping. If there are any external wounds, you need to treat them.

 

[DuckLover2399]

You could make a neck brace out of piepe cleaners

 

[Redcatcher]

He has some sort of a wound on his neck but I am unable to locate it until I can get someone to hold him for me. It was after dark when I found him and I put my hand on a cluster of green bottle flies that were camped out there for the night. So now, I am going to have to be on the lookout for maggots. Right now he is in a large plastic tote and his head and neck are propped up. I will have to tube feed him since there is no way that he can eat or drink on his own. I am sure he gave the predator heck, though. He is solid muscle and is twice as heavy as he looks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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I sure hope he makes it, please keep us informed on how he is doing, you'll deff. have to be on the look out for maggots.

 

[chkn]

Yeah, don't wrestle around with him. Turn off the light and dab something on the wound with a q-tip. You can hand feed him or use a dropper. I wouldn't force anything down his throat yet. This just happened right? For starters, mix a couple pinches of gatorade powder or a spash of gatorade in a cup of water. Use a dropper. Just drop one drop at a time on top the beak. Wait for him to move is beak to sip it down between drops.

 

[Redcatcher]

Thanks, everyone, for the help and kind words. He is still alive. No better or worse. There is no way that he can eat so I have been tube feeding him. First, with sugar water, and now hand rearing formula. I had no gatorade to give unless I had made special trip out. A least his crop empties quickly which is a really good sign. I took him down to the chicken house briefly today to let him see rest of his flock (he was the dominant male). I really think it could make a difference in his attitude knowing now that most of them still there. I am still amazed he made it back to the chicken house on his own.

This is him, before the attack, needless to say.

 

[chkn]

Oh he's big and handsome. I would be proud to have a roo like him! It might take a couple of weeks for the muscle and tendon trauma to settle down. Yes, let him watch the hens from someplace safe. Sounds like you are doing an excellent job.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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X2!!