Rooster Attacked by Fox! Need Advice ASAP

[lunagrove]

My silkie rooster was attacked by a fox at dusk last night around 8pm. He was just going into the coop when he charged at a fox to protect his hens. The fox snagged him and took off with him in the woods. My partner screamed that a fox took off with the rooster and we let the dogs out and took off after him. We followed the trail of feathers through all the thorns, the dogs blew way ahead of us, scaring the fox enough to where he dropped the rooster on the trail. We approached the roo and he was limp, seemingly dead but we believe it was shock. He opened his eyes and responded to our voices so we picked him up and ran with him back to the house, wrapped him up, cleaned his wounds and dressed them and placed him in a box in a warm, dark room in the house. I immediately administered electrolytes and continued to do so every 30 min until around 2 am. When I woke this morning, he was responsive to the light coming on and to my voice but he really cant hold his head up much. I'm hoping it's just swelling causing him to keep his head low. He will hold his head up and look around when startled so I do not think his neck is severely injured (at least I hope not). He had a pretty severe gash on his back, wide open that I cleaned out... skin was ripped open, showing the tissue. It wasnt bleeding too bad. Also appears to have another bite near his breast but no deep puncture wound there. Lots of feathers missing. No wheezing or trouble breathing although it was rapid last night. He is pooping normal poops and today I gave him a little sugar water and pumpkin baby food because he cant really eat due to not having strength to hold his neck up, but hes willingly taking water and soft food from the syringe. I want to redress the wounds today and double check them. I tried calling vets but no one takes in chickens or knows anything about them in my area. The feed store is closed today and the only antibiotic I have on hand is Penicillin VK 500mg for humans, which is supposedly good for animal bites or skin infections. Could this be crushed and added to water? And if so, does anyone know the dosage? Thanks in advance for any info. I'll try to get pics when I redress the wound today.

 

[Painted Calls]

What a cute boy. I'm sorry for his injuries.

I do not believe I see a kidney through the wound. Just muscle and fascia. The key to healing large surface area wounds like this is to keep it MOIST. Don't use the Neosporin sparingly. Slather it on there.

You've gotten really great advice here.

It seems that you're doing all you can for him and it sounds like he's responding well. Now it's just a waiting game. I'll be following along.

 

[RestoreChicBoutique]

My silkie rooster was attacked by a fox at dusk last night around 8pm. He was just going into the coop when he charged at a fox to protect his hens. The fox snagged him and took off with him in the woods. My partner screamed that a fox took off with the rooster and we let the dogs out and took off after him. We followed the trail of feathers through all the thorns, the dogs blew way ahead of us, scaring the fox enough to where he dropped the rooster on the trail. We approached the roo and he was limp, seemingly dead but we believe it was shock. He opened his eyes and responded to our voices so we picked him up and ran with him back to the house, wrapped him up, cleaned his wounds and dressed them and placed him in a box in a warm, dark room in the house. I immediately administered electrolytes and continued to do so every 30 min until around 2 am. When I woke this morning, he was responsive to the light coming on and to my voice but he really cant hold his head up much. I'm hoping it's just swelling causing him to keep his head low. He will hold his head up and look around when startled so I do not think his neck is severely injured (at least I hope not). He had a pretty severe gash on his back, wide open that I cleaned out... skin was ripped open, showing the tissue. It wasnt bleeding too bad. Also appears to have another bite near his breast but no deep puncture wound there. Lots of feathers missing. No wheezing or trouble breathing although it was rapid last night. He is pooping normal poops and today I gave him a little sugar water and pumpkin baby food because he cant really eat due to not having strength to hold his neck up, but hes willingly taking water and soft food from the syringe. I want to redress the wounds today and double check them. I tried calling vets but no one takes in chickens or knows anything about them in my area. The feed store is closed today and the only antibiotic I have on hand is Penicillin VK 500mg for humans, which is supposedly good for animal bites or skin infections. Could this be crushed and added to water? And if so, does anyone know the dosage? Thanks in advance for any info. I'll try to get pics when I redress the wound today.

Chickens are pretty resilient. I would not even do antibiotic orally. I would do Neosporin no pain medicine in it ,topically. I had a silky whose scalp was completely ripped off to the skull, she pulled through just fine ,keeping the wounds cleaned she didn't really respond for 24-48 hours due to shock hope this helps! Pic off her now with her first kids! (They are not really hers don't tell her that )

 

[lunagrove]

OK, remember I am not an avian vet. Howlever, an avian vet prescribed the following for my avian vet:
0.8mL of a 20mg/mL solution twice daily for 3-5 days. So that’s about 2.29mg per poind of body weight. Your rooster would get a little over 9mg.

You can get infant ibuprofen at 50 mg/mL. Can you do the math on that? It would be about 0.18mL for your rooster. Or if it’s the kid stuff st 25mg/mL, it would be around 0.36mL. Do you have a 1mL syringe? Carefully put it under his tongue so he can swallow or bypass his air hole by going down the side right into his crop. I always go under the tongue personally, but my birds are easily handled.

For some reason I’m unable to load a photo of the airhole bypass method.

Thank you so much for the info! I do not have kids ibuprofen on hand but I'll pick some up tonight just for him I have a box full of 1ml syringes. I keep them on hand for animal rescues and medications for them. He is used to being handled as well, which I think has really been a pro during all of this as its kept his stress level from soaring.

 

[lunagrove]

Quick Update on Arnie...

He is still eating and drinking from the syringe. I do this every 2 hours or so, hopefully that's enough. Today, I tried offering him some Henny Penny mix... he was interested but still not able to peck from his neck injury so I gave him one little piece of wheat at a time and he gobbled it right down. He was taking Rooster Booster Poultry Cell with no issue but now he gets feisty when he decides he doesnt want to take his meds/vitamins. He is actually flapping his wings, standing up and perching himself on my leg now (I sit on the floor to feed him). Pooping okay and all that also. I suppose him being feisty is a good thing, although I could do without the attitude all in all, hes doing well, I think. It's been 5 days since the attack and all I've seen is improvement. It's been slow improvement, but improvement nonetheless (and still no signs of infection in the wound). I'll grab some photos of him tomorrow during feeding time. I cannot thank you all enough!

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Sorry this happened to you

Pictures?

It's good that he is eating. I'm not sure about the penicillin, I've heard rather conflicting information on injection/oral administration to chickens. Hopefully someone else can help you on that!

What did you dress the wounds with? I'd be tempted to put Neosporin on (triple antibiotic) to help with any bacteria on the surface.

 

[micstrachan]

Hi there,
I’m sorry about your rooster. We have seen horrific injuries on these forums that end well. If you are able to care for him through the healing process, I think his chances are good. Keep it up with the cleaning and are you using a triple antibiotic ointment?

 

[micstrachan]

I also forgot to add... keep a close watch on the smell of his wounds and make sure flies can’t get to him. He may benefit from
anti-inflammatories. How much does he weigh? My hen, who was almost seven pounds at the time due to fluid build-up, did great on half a low dose aspirin for a few days. Maybe half that for silkie? Ibuprofen is also ok and we can help you with dosing.

 

[lunagrove]

That is a pretty serious injury. I wonder what is causing the severe swelling on his neck? Is it from that smaller wound alone?

Good job with the penicillin injections!

Yes, I think at this point it is too late for sutures. The wound has been open to bacteria for too long, and closing it now could lead to a serious infection.

In the pictures of the injury on his back, what is that white colored area? Pus?

Keep applying the triple antibiotic.

Honestly, I'm not sure the wound will ever fully heal. There will be a lot of scar tissue, and he may have trouble walking (I am saying this because it looks deep and may affect the movement of his legs, but of course I may be wrong). I think that if you were to suture, even regular thread and needle would do in an emergency. Obviously not ideal but better than nothing.

I hope your rooster pulls through!

Edited to add: What @mistrachan said is good advice. An anti-inflammatory would probably help with the swelling on his neck.

I'm not 100% sure what the swelling came from but I do not believe it's from the puncture wound. I'm almost certain it's from the way the fox grabbed him and carried him off. My partner said when he saw the fox running away, he noticed the roo's neck hanging and slinging all over the place. The inflammation has gone down a little and he can hold his neck up longer as each day passes. He even started pecking at the syringe tonight which is a first!

I forgot to add that the white is triple antibiotic cream I had on hand before I opened a new tube of neosporin. I kinda like the cream better- it seems thicker and stays in place better (not as oily!). No pus as of yet, just very bruised and sore. He allowed me to remove remaining feathers in the wound today, hes such a trooper. He does walk okay, hes just sore and he stands up just fine. I'm really rooting for this guy the size of the wound on the back just concerns me but I did see a few threads where wounds this size have healed over. I feel so bad for him.

 

[lunagrove]

I also forgot to add... keep a close watch on the smell of his wounds and make sure flies can’t get to him. He may benefit from
anti-inflammatories. How much does he weigh? My hen, who was almost seven pounds at the time due to fluid build-up, did great on half a low dose aspirin for a few days. Maybe half that for silkie? Ibuprofen is also ok and we can help you with dosing.

Oops! Meant to add that he is staying inside until he heals. I'm definitely not putting him back outside until this wound heals up