Rooster attacked by fox - gasping and shock 10 hours later. Help! the

[Eggcessive]

That is amazing that a regular vet cannot see chickens in the state of Georgia. Has anyone else here on BYC had this experience?

Sorry that he is not better, but glad that he is still hanging in there. Sometimes it just takes time and healing. Keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[roosterhavoc]

$250 just for the initial exam?? What a racket!!

 

[FarmLivin15]

How do I upload videos? I can only see where videos can be embedded from other sites. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

You can upload a video to YouTube with a link posted here.

 

[FarmLivin15]

Phew - that took a while! My first YouTube post lol!

I took two videos:

-How he drinks water; you can see his neck in this video:

-What it looks like when he passes out, then wakes back up:

What do you guys think? Does he look too bad to make it? We don't want to have to cull him, but I just don't know if his injuries are too much?

 

[Eggcessive]

After 4 1/2 days he still looks pretty seriously ill. Poor guy is really gasping and struggling to breathe. Has he been able to eat any watery feed or other foods? Some of the others may have thought about how good of a chance he has to live. I think the hard area on his left shoulder is probably due to his wry neck making it appear larger. I would be inclined to give him more time for recovery, but it depends on whether or not he is suffering, or if you are able to give him the time to care for him with work and family life.

 

[FarmLivin15]

Yeah, we think he is in pretty rough shape. But he hasn't gotten worse, and we've been able to care for him the last few days. We don't want him to suffer needlessly, but we don't want to cull him if there's a chance he will heal up.
What can we do for his wry neck? Can a wry neck from injury like this heal?
Also, we have tried to get him to eat wet crumble and some fresh treats, but he hasn't eaten anything. I've seen people saying to give injured chickens wet cat food - is that really advised?
I'm interested to see what others think to, re: to cull or to wait it out a bit longer to see if he is able to recover.

 

[Eggcessive]

Wet watery chicken feed would be best, but sometimes we have to try a few things to see if we can tempt them to eat. Chopped scrambled egg, a small amount of canned cat food, buttermilk mixed into some feed or rice, are some things that may peak his interest. Tube feeding him would be a possibility, but with his gasping and a possible air leak, I would be cautious to do that. Some might take that chance, though. Here is some info on how to learn to tube feed:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/updated-go-team-tube-feeding.805728/#post-12548717

The tube goes down the chicken’s right side of the throat, where the syringe is in the picture, avoiding the tracheal opening in the center base of the tongue.

 

[FarmLivin15]

Yeah, I hesitate giving him food that way, given his breathing difficulty. Still haven't gotten him to eat anything, but he's really interested in water.
I saw him fluff his feathers last night which was the first time he's done something 'normal' since the attack, but he is still passing out frequently like that so I don't know if this is something he will be able to overcome or not.
We will keep on doing our best and give it a few more days to see if there is improvement.
I appreciate all of the help and advice. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that he is moving more. Have you tried liquifying some feed the consistency of milk or a milkshake in a blender to see if he will drink that. Baby food might also work. I have not use KayTee baby bird feed, but that might be something to consider as well.

I have heard of some others who have fashioned a losse foam collar to use to help keep the neck up. That might be something to consider making out of household items. Folded bubble wrap or plain foam might work.

Hoping for some good news soon.