Rooster took a hit to the head, what should I watch for?

[arrowti]

Meant right eye, I still can't tell my rights from my lefts when looking head on at stuff.

His right side looks a little strange but I can't get close because he always runs away. I want to check if there's any swelling under the eye or obvious signs of eye injury. I may have to try and check at night while he's perching. He's very stressed out though, so I think I might leave him alone for now.

 

[arrowti]

Still no luck getting close. I had to keep at a distance but the 'strangeness' of his right eye is obvious. While chickens eyes look sharp and clear, his right eye seems droopy, with an abnormally large and misshapen (not fully round) pupil. The eyelid droops, closes, then reopens on what originally looked like a half-open eye, but just turns out the flesh around it is swollen and pink and the pupil is blown.

I am worried he's being picked on because of feather loss on his neck and chest, but I haven't seen anyone pecking him. Whenever a hen brushes up on his blind side when he hasn't looked he freaks and runs.

I haven't seen any bleeding or additional swelling. I'm not sure if he'll ever regain vision in that eye. But, perhaps, the inflammation may go down and the injured section heal and he'll regain his vision.

He's still crowing and eating and drinking. I haven't seen him try to mate with a hen (gah! his chicks are the cutest!) but I'm also not here all the time.

 

[arrowti]

Good news: today he has shown signs that he has regained (some) eyesight on his right. The eye is no longer so swollen, the pupil no longer so strange. It appears 'sharper' and more focused. He's still mostly looking with his left but he's watching me with his right side also now. It's probably not perfect but he can see now. Hopefully it heals all the way!

 

[ronott1]

Thanks for the update!

 

[Mimi13]

Yay, I’m thankful to hear that.

 

[Small Farmer Jane]

Yikes! I don’t deny that knocking a bit of sense and attitude is sometimes needed but a shovel to the head of a 10 lb pound bird may have done some damage. I’d isolate and give him some time to regain strength and composure. I’m sure some strategic behavior management may help his aggression.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Our rooster was attacking my favorite chicken (who already has a dislocated wing from the rooster) and I heard her screaming, so I went out there to get him off of her

Welcome to BYC.

I dislocated my elbow and it was excruciating pain.. please get her help, (if what you suspect is true)!

Whether your rooster was indeed attacking that hen or forcibly mating her.. it WILL probably happen again if he didn't see the correction as coming from her. One or the other most likely needs to be separated. Not doing so would be unwise in my experience. *Some* dumb a$$ roosters will mate a hen to death.

He doesn't deserve to be injured under the guise of Karma and nor does it justify it. All life is finite and if he can't be trusted around people or isn't bringing peace to the flock (and keeper) then cull him (rehome with disclosure of prior behavior) or let him grace the table of someone else who can do so quickly and humanely.

I really do care about animals.

I believe you.. and I bet you would'a gone full "batter" mode on a hawk if it was going after Henry in front of you. It doesn't look like you're beating yourself up too much over the whole thing (and that's good) but do try to learn something.. now you have the opportunity to be proactive instead of reactive.


Sorry for your experience, hope your favorite hen recovers quickly and that somehow Henry still gets to be a valuable member of his flock going forward.