Rooster acting traumatized, brain damaged?

[Chicharron]

So today I noticed that my head rooster, an easter egger about 5 years old, hadn't made a sound all day. I couldn't find him anywhere and thought him dead, but finally located him in the back of the shed where he never goes. He was just standing there, staring straight ahead, not moving. Kind of hunched with his tail down. I checked him for injuries but didn't see any. I did see what might be a little dried blood on his back, and a broken feather on the back of his neck that was a little bloody.

I took him outside and he went straight to the coop to roost, something he doesn't do in the middle of the day. He sat in the same spot there for hours, still staring blankly at nothing and occasionally shaking his head. The weirdest thing was when I went to shut the coop for the night, I found him outside clear across the yard, wandering around as if confused. All the other birds were in the coop. It was almost pitch black so this is very unusual for him.

I'm just wondering what the heck happened, if he's sick or we have a predator, or what. I somewhat doubt a predator because all the birds would have freaked out and made a racket if one came by. My husband thinks our younger cockerel challenged him and won. If that was the case, would he flee the coop at night to get away from him? The males have never showed any aggression to each other. The cockerel was raised with the roo from birth and they get along.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is he by any chance molting or losing any feathers, especially on his tail or elsewhere? That is exactly what happened to my head rooster when he molted, and was challenged by the junior rooster. I would separate him in a dog crate, or separate the other cockerel. Offer food, some egg, and water. A vitamin supplement would be good.

 

[McChooky]

Sounds he was forced out of the coop and went out into the night rather than fight .Rooster fights don't typically last long esp if one surrenders and moves along

So today I noticed that my head rooster, an easter egger about 5 years old, hadn't made a sound all day. I couldn't find him anywhere and thought him dead, but finally located him in the back of the shed where he never goes. He was just standing there, staring straight ahead, not moving. Kind of hunched with his tail down. I checked him for injuries but didn't see any. I did see what might be a little dried blood on his back, and a broken feather on the back of his neck that was a little bloody.

I took him outside and he went straight to the coop to roost, something he doesn't do in the middle of the day. He sat in the same spot there for hours, still staring blankly at nothing and occasionally shaking his head. The weirdest thing was when I went to shut the coop for the night, I found him outside clear across the yard, wandering around as if confused. All the other birds were in the coop. It was almost pitch black so this is very unusual for him.

I'm just wondering what the heck happened, if he's sick or we have a predator, or what. I somewhat doubt a predator because all the birds would have freaked out and made a racket if one came by. My husband thinks our younger cockerel challenged him and won. If that was the case, would he flee the coop at night to get away from him? The males have never showed any aggression to each other. The cockerel was raised with the roo from birth and they get along.

My advise is separate him in a dog crate inside a shed where hes safe and try to get him to eat and drink before morning.You'll know more about his condition by observing him while he's confined

 

[McChooky]

So today I noticed that my head rooster, an easter egger about 5 years old, hadn't made a sound all day. I couldn't find him anywhere and thought him dead, but finally located him in the back of the shed where he never goes. He was just standing there, staring straight ahead, not moving. Kind of hunched with his tail down. I checked him for injuries but didn't see any. I did see what might be a little dried blood on his back, and a broken feather on the back of his neck that was a little bloody.

I took him outside and he went straight to the coop to roost, something he doesn't do in the middle of the day. He sat in the same spot there for hours, still staring blankly at nothing and occasionally shaking his head. The weirdest thing was when I went to shut the coop for the night, I found him outside clear across the yard, wandering around as if confused. All the other birds were in the coop. It was almost pitch black so this is very unusual for him.

I'm just wondering what the heck happened, if he's sick or we have a predator, or what. I somewhat doubt a predator because all the birds would have freaked out and made a racket if one came by. My husband thinks our younger cockerel challenged him and won. If that was the case, would he flee the coop at night to get away from him? The males have never showed any aggression to each other. The cockerel was raised with the roo from birth and they get along.

Your husband is probably right. Roosters that can get along will decide to fight for no apparent reason .You need a back up plan when you have cockerels in a flock with a rooster.I wouldn't put him back with the flock.The cockerel might kill him.I would treat the rooster for shock and keep in a warm place.Try to give him some scrambled eggs and make him eat a bite

 

[coach723]

I've had head roo's get knocked off by younger cockerels. It can be really demoralizing for them sometimes. I had one that despite being separated in his own run with his own girls after that, was never really the same again. He recovered from all injuries and was fine, but mentally he was changed. He was a good boy, and lived a long time, but was always a bit different, quieter and more timid after the attack.
I now keep growing cockerels separated from the main flock until I decide whom, if any, I am maybe going to keep. They are in a parallel run, so everyone can see and be seen, but no fights with my established roo's. If I see fence fights, those are not keepers. If I think I have a keeper, I will do slow integration with that one individually, and under supervision, to see how it goes. I also have a pretty large space, so all my roo's have plenty of room to get away from each other. It also helps if you have plenty of hens, so they don't feel quite so much that they need to fight for them. But some roo's just won't tolerate another, they are all very different in personality and temperament.

 

[Perris]

My husband thinks our younger cockerel challenged him and won. If that was the case, would he flee the coop at night to get away from him? The males have never showed any aggression to each other. The cockerel was raised with the roo from birth and they get along.

This would be consistent with my experience.

It can be really demoralizing for them sometimes.

He recovered from all injuries and was fine, but mentally he was changed. He was a good boy, and lived a long time, but was always a bit different, quieter and more timid after the attack.

This is similar to my experience. The birds here are not confined; they only sleep and lay in the coops and there is no run. My first dominant roo was very seriously injured by a fox, and his son - then not quite 1 - was forced into the dominant roo role immediately. When the ex-dom recovered, he never attempted to resume his role, and spent a couple of years on the fringes of the flock, playing the subordinate role that his son had played before the fox attack. But when his grandsons started to mature, they kept the old roo from food and harassed him a lot, and one day he just walked away up the hill.

I think this is the natural way. When a dominant male is superseded, he is more or less banished to the fringes, or completely from the group, by his successor(s). If he doesn't go willingly, it will get physical.

I do not intervene in succession issues. There are 6 roos here currently, 2 2-year-olds, one of whom is dominant but the other is more popular and has sired more youngsters, 2 1-year-olds who work with the subordinate to support the dom when danger threatens (and who get chased first thing in the morning to keep them in their place, but there has been no fighting between them and anybody else as yet), and 2 cockerels who are watching and learning how to behave within the flock. Most of the time the roos are together, in peace, on watch. Hierarchy is apparent at mealtimes.