- Feb 20, 2013
- 133
- 22
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This fellow lives up in the nearby mountains, raises coffee, and I guess, chickens. We buy coffee from him on a regular basis. We're talking one day and I mention a few laying hens we have and a single rooster. Here locally the breed is called Tococa. I don't see anything special about them other than the roosters seem to be naked-necks and the hens come in all sorts of colors.
Anyway, he says he'd like to give me a couple of hens and I accept his kind offer. A few days later he shows about 7PM with a young rooster instead. No problem.
Here's the interesting part. Before he left home he grabbed the rooster and put him in a backpack and then in the bed of the truck. It's at least a couple of hours drive to get here. The bird is completely inside a cloth backpack sitting in the sun on the way down from the mountain.
When he gets here he opens the backpack and pulls out what looks like a very dead, white rooster.
I was miffed that the guy didn't have the sense to at least leave the bird's head sticking out of the backpack so it could breath properly. That way too, if he had the bird close by, he could tell if it was suffering to the point of dying by watching the animal's behavior.
As we examined the bird it moved its head a bit and opened its eyes. I'm guessing it could breath through the cloth well enough but had collapsed due to the heat. I put ice on the bird's featherless neck to try to reduce his body temperature as rapidly as possible. Guess I could have put him in the freezer as well but didn't think of that. An hour or so later the bird still could only move its head a bit, had no control of its legs, and I figured was doomed.
I put him in a plastic trash can to protect him from the dog's who were fascinated with this new visitor and placed the trash can in an air-conditioned room for the night. Before going to bed the bird was still just lying there on his side, looking dead. More than once I figured he'd cashed it in, but when touching his head, he'd move.
In the morning my wife found him sitting upright with his feet under him but unable to stand. I took him outside and placed him on the ground in an enclosed area. He sat there a few minutes, finally stood up, and then walked off like he was drunk. I'd tried to give him water the night before but he was uninterested, or more likely, unable to drink. This time, when I put a pan of water in front of him, I imagine he drank at least 20 times. He was slow and unsure, but alive.
Within 24 hours he looked perfectly normal, quite capable of doing normal chicken stuff, and now cruises around with 2 young hens. His name is Lazarus.
Anyway, he says he'd like to give me a couple of hens and I accept his kind offer. A few days later he shows about 7PM with a young rooster instead. No problem.
Here's the interesting part. Before he left home he grabbed the rooster and put him in a backpack and then in the bed of the truck. It's at least a couple of hours drive to get here. The bird is completely inside a cloth backpack sitting in the sun on the way down from the mountain.
When he gets here he opens the backpack and pulls out what looks like a very dead, white rooster.
I was miffed that the guy didn't have the sense to at least leave the bird's head sticking out of the backpack so it could breath properly. That way too, if he had the bird close by, he could tell if it was suffering to the point of dying by watching the animal's behavior.
As we examined the bird it moved its head a bit and opened its eyes. I'm guessing it could breath through the cloth well enough but had collapsed due to the heat. I put ice on the bird's featherless neck to try to reduce his body temperature as rapidly as possible. Guess I could have put him in the freezer as well but didn't think of that. An hour or so later the bird still could only move its head a bit, had no control of its legs, and I figured was doomed.
I put him in a plastic trash can to protect him from the dog's who were fascinated with this new visitor and placed the trash can in an air-conditioned room for the night. Before going to bed the bird was still just lying there on his side, looking dead. More than once I figured he'd cashed it in, but when touching his head, he'd move.
In the morning my wife found him sitting upright with his feet under him but unable to stand. I took him outside and placed him on the ground in an enclosed area. He sat there a few minutes, finally stood up, and then walked off like he was drunk. I'd tried to give him water the night before but he was uninterested, or more likely, unable to drink. This time, when I put a pan of water in front of him, I imagine he drank at least 20 times. He was slow and unsure, but alive.
Within 24 hours he looked perfectly normal, quite capable of doing normal chicken stuff, and now cruises around with 2 young hens. His name is Lazarus.
