I had a chick develop wry neck after getting chewed on by an escaped rat. I thought it was a hen, so I hand-fed it for a month until it could feed itself. A couple weeks later it stopped holding its' head upside down completely, but even now he's still uncoordinated and often spins in circles when excited or stressed. Sometimes he gets stuck up on the 2 foot porch and can't get down.
All of that is fine, but is he ever going to crow? He's four and a half months old and all his same-aged flockmates crowed at 14 weeks. I'm a bit hopeful that he won't, since that would mean I'll have to get rid of him and I couldn't possibly eat him(this is the second GL wyandott I've fallen in love with, out of a total of 18 chicks of various breeds raised for food and feathers... At least the first one turned mean, this one likes to sit near me and get petted). Would anyone even want a derpy rooster like him?
I guess, in short, my question is: What long term effects does a severe case of wry neck have on a surviving rooster? Any chance he's too stunted to ever crow?
Extra info that might be relevant: After all those horribly dull, broken feathers grown during his sickness molted out, his new plumage is just gorgeously bright and iridescent(even prettier than his brothers for some reason. I need to figure out what I fed him differently so I can change the diet of my next batch), with obvious hackles and saddle feathers. His tail is short, but that might be explained by molting. His comb and wattles are undersized compared to the other roosters, but still much bigger than the GL hen I kept.
Here he is hanging out with the dog, because he has trouble keeping up with the three hens.
*edit*
I should mention, I expect him to eventually crow a little bit, but I figured maybe I could just take him into the bathroom in the morning to get it out of his system rather than crowing all day? He's pretty easy to train compared to my hens.
I'm just hoping he'll crow significantly less than a normal rooster...
All of that is fine, but is he ever going to crow? He's four and a half months old and all his same-aged flockmates crowed at 14 weeks. I'm a bit hopeful that he won't, since that would mean I'll have to get rid of him and I couldn't possibly eat him(this is the second GL wyandott I've fallen in love with, out of a total of 18 chicks of various breeds raised for food and feathers... At least the first one turned mean, this one likes to sit near me and get petted). Would anyone even want a derpy rooster like him?
I guess, in short, my question is: What long term effects does a severe case of wry neck have on a surviving rooster? Any chance he's too stunted to ever crow?
Extra info that might be relevant: After all those horribly dull, broken feathers grown during his sickness molted out, his new plumage is just gorgeously bright and iridescent(even prettier than his brothers for some reason. I need to figure out what I fed him differently so I can change the diet of my next batch), with obvious hackles and saddle feathers. His tail is short, but that might be explained by molting. His comb and wattles are undersized compared to the other roosters, but still much bigger than the GL hen I kept.
Here he is hanging out with the dog, because he has trouble keeping up with the three hens.
*edit*
I should mention, I expect him to eventually crow a little bit, but I figured maybe I could just take him into the bathroom in the morning to get it out of his system rather than crowing all day? He's pretty easy to train compared to my hens.
I'm just hoping he'll crow significantly less than a normal rooster...
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