Rooster injured, now lame

[Katieclucker]

Hello, My silkie rooster Leonardo charged a fence and was hanging upside down by one leg when he was found. Since then he has been very wobbly on his feet. We kept him inside in a pen next to his girls to give him a rest from the stress of looking after them and to allow his injury to heal. It's now 6 weeks since the injury. I've been letting him out for an hour or two each day with his girls and staying close by because he has lost his confidence. He is still wobbly and still falls over sometimes.
Is there anything else I can do for him. I give him bugs and supplement vitamin E. He has a good appetite but I'm not sure if he will ever recover properly. Any ideas to help my dear Leonardo? I think he may have pulled his groin ligaments.

 

[nuthatched]

Have you also been supplementing B complex?

 

[Katieclucker]

Have you also been supplementing B complex?

Hi Nuthatch,
Thanks for your reply. No I haven't given him B vitamins. I've just been giving him plenty of protein (catfood and bugs) and Vit E alonside his usual mixed grain and fermented grain. Is it that the B vits help his nervous system, or do you recommend them for some other reason?

 

[nuthatched]

Hi Nuthatch,
Thanks for your reply. No I haven't given him B vitamins. I've just been giving him plenty of protein (catfood and bugs) and Vit E alonside his usual mixed grain and fermented grain. Is it that the B vits help his nervous system, or do you recommend them for some other reason?

Does he get any real chicken food? Cat food is bad for chickens, (too much salt and zinc) and bugs are mostly fat.
B complex helps nerves heal if it's a nerve issue

 

[Katieclucker]

Does he get any real chicken food? Cat food is bad for chickens, (too much salt and zinc) and bugs are mostly fat.
B complex helps nerves heal if it's a nerve issue

He loves his bit of wet cat food. He doesn't get it all the time, just as a treat.. And the dried mealworms are 50+% protein. You may be onto something if he has a bit of nerve damage. I'll try some B vits. Thank you.

 

[nuthatched]

He loves his bit of wet cat food. He doesn't get it all the time, just as a treat.. And the dried mealworms are 50+% protein. You may be onto something if he has a bit of nerve damage. I'll try some B vits. Thank you.

And 25% fat, it's quite a bit.
Is he on any real chicken feed or just scratch? He would improve quicker with the b complex and a nutritionally complete diet.

 

[Katieclucker]

And 25% fat, it's quite a bit.
Is he on any real chicken feed or just scratch? He would improve quicker with the b complex and a nutritionally complete diet.

I give him some of the complete pellet henfood, an organic expensive feed, but he doesn't go for it very much. He prefers the whole grains and anything else to that! I've been giving him greens (since he's been more confined) and meat sometimes, so he gets a pretty good range of food I reckon. Normally he'd be out free ranging with the girls all day, but that's too much for him since his injury. It's too stressful for him. I'm pretty sure he knows that he can't protect them.

 

[Eggcessive]

You have to be careful not to give him too much protein, and get back to a balanced feed. Try making a mash out of a balanced all flock feed and water, and add a little egg or plain yogurt for interest. A diet close to 30% protein may lead to gouty arthritis and kidney failure.

 

[Debbie292d]

Leonardo is beautiful!

A little bit of canned catfood is recommended sometimes for molting chickens or sickly chickens that won't eat, for a little bit more protein. Otherwise, I'd not feed that to them for any other reason.

You could continue with your E and a little scrambled eggs, but B-Complex would help the leg muscles more. Just give him half of a pill once a day for a week or two.

Since it's been six weeks since his injury, it could be permanent, but I'd still try.