Rooster Attacked by Fox! Need Advice ASAP

[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

 

[lunagrove]

After looking at this basic diagram of chicken anatomy posted in another thread.... is that his kidney protruding from his back in the photo?! I really hope not

https://images.app.goo.gl/zkmnDQ7PDJhajHxe8

 

[micstrachan]

OK, remember I am not an avian vet. However, an avian vet prescribed the following for my sick hen:
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.

 

[pawprint2104]

We are ROOting for you. Hope he pulls through.

 

[Lumley Farm]

wow, what a terrible event! I applaud you for your quick action and current actions with the care you are giving him. Bet he'll pull through. If you look up the medication, can you see if there is a calculator for the weight?
The breeder I got chicks from said to administer antibiotic for my 4 month old, approx. 3 lb hen at 1cc if this helps. Maybe you can get an idea from your vet about dosages? or your local teaching hospital university.

 

[Lumley Farm]

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.

I saw a video where you let the bird drink it little by little. I made a mistake putting it down the wrong way. Luckily no serious side affect.

 

[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.

 

[Trisseh]

Definitely wouldn’t suture that wound even if it was fresh! Too much bacteria from bite wounds unless there’s a really good reason to try to cover vital structures back up your sutures would just let go anyways, so best to treat like an open wound.
I concur with getting an anti inflammatory into him, if his neck is severely swollen he may have issues breathing and swallowing and we don’t want that! Keeping his wounds clean and dry and monitoring for infection, helping him eat and drink, continuing with prophylactic antibiotics, and giving him some time are all the things you’re doing and all you really can do. You may need to debride the wound in a few days if there’s lots of dead tissue. But you’ll have to play it by ear and see what it does.
Awesome job caring for him! I hope he pulls through. Sounds like a tough little guy.

 

[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.