Rooster acting strangely after predator attack

[chicken mo]

3 weeks ago my 2 yo rooster was attacked by a skunk which also killed a hen. Most of his injuries were to the face but have been healing well. Since then he’s been eating like it’s going out of style and doesn’t crow anymore. I don’t know what to think. Could his voice box have been injured or maybe it’s psychological…anyone ever heard of this?

 

[GodLovesU]

Can you post a video/picture?

 

[SamLockwood]

3 weeks ago my 2 yo rooster was attacked by a skunk which also killed a hen. Most of his injuries were to the face but have been healing well. Since then he’s been eating like it’s going out of style and doesn’t crow anymore. I don’t know what to think. Could his voice box have been injured or maybe it’s psychological…anyone ever heard of this?

It could be part of his healing process or his confidence is down due to the attack. Last year I had a rooster that got injured in a hawk attack, I missed one small cut on his foot that got infected and he nearly died. He didn't crow for months after that.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Easy answer, his fragile male ego has been crushed. I'd keep my mouth shut too, that skunk might still be around. The eating, he is bulking up, working out, running around like Rocky Balboa getting in shape for the next round.

 

[CoopBoots]

My roosters and hens both "shut down" reproductive behavior after extreme stress. The older the bird or the more stressful the event, the worse it seems to be.

This is generally accompanied by cessation of mounting in the boys, shrunken combs, "hen" vocalizations instead of their deeper clucking, less or no tidbitting (food sharing seems to stop altogether sometimes, as in they will drive hens away or even be bullied away by them during normal meals. Forget about sharing treats too) dancing, or crowing.

Hens get the shrunken combs and stop laying, but this is far less dramatic of a change and easier to miss.

If he's not suffering from infection or another injury, he's likely to rebound in a couple of weeks to a month, but that's just a guess based on my own limited experience.

 

[2 Acres]

3 weeks ago my 2 yo rooster was attacked by a skunk which also killed a hen. Most of his injuries were to the face but have been healing well. Since then he’s been eating like it’s going out of style and doesn’t crow anymore. I don’t know what to think. Could his voice box have been injured or maybe it’s psychological…anyone ever heard of this?

Sounds like possibly rabies. Skunks ARE a carrier. Raccons are also.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sounds like possibly rabies. Skunks ARE a carrier. Raccons are also.

Birds aren't mammals. They can't get rabies

 

[2 Acres]

https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2015/12/articles/diseases/rabies/rabies-in-a-chicken/

 

[2 Acres]

Birds aren't mammals. They can't get rabies

Never say never... A necropsy should be done on the bird in question.

 

[BlackHenCoop]

3 weeks ago my 2 yo rooster was attacked by a skunk which also killed a hen. Most of his injuries were to the face but have been healing well. Since then he’s been eating like it’s going out of style and doesn’t crow anymore. I don’t know what to think. Could his voice box have been injured or maybe it’s psychological…anyone ever heard of this?

I had a rooster who sustained brain injury twice. If you think it’s physiological, move him into a small enclosed space with food and sugar water, because they can injure themselves without knowing, if your rooster starts running backwards, it might be brain damage. if this happens, Just keep him in the enclosed space, away from the flock, and provide him with scratch and sugar water.