Stray Rooster arrives, just wandered into the yard.

[Compost King]

I had a rooster show up in the yard, I live in a city so likely someone dumped him on me. Too many busy streets between me and other Chicken Keepers. Its a French Black Copper Maran and he is pretty ratty looking. Missing tail feathers and his feet do not look real healthy although he is not limping. He smells really bad too. Like a stray cat smells.. not like he was kept in a manure fill coop. I took pictures, mostly of his feet and figured I would listen to what others say. I am headed out to make the quarantine pen.

Funny thing is... on a whim I bought 2 FBCM Pullets at TSC but have no rooster for them... so I figure maybe this is a blessing of sorts... now I gotta figure out what to put on these legs. I will likely treat him for mites/lice even though I have not found any but I haven't looked because he is a bit of a fighter.

 

[Sea Wolf]

Treat for lice/mites and positively quarantine for at least a month before you allow this bird anywhere near yours. Take the points down on those spurs or cap them with rubber tubing. He may have been dumped because he has a nasty attitude and may not be worth keeping.

 

[Compost King]

Treat for lice/mites and positively quarantine for at least a month before you allow this bird anywhere near yours. Take the points down on those spurs or cap them with rubber tubing. He may have been dumped because he has a nasty attitude and may not be worth keeping.

Yeah he attacked me right off the bat but its the least of my concerns with him. If he turns out to be a constant attacker I will nurse him back to health and eat him.

 

[BlueBaby]

I would check for brumble foot and leg mites for sure. Does he have any wound's that could be a sign of an extra rooster that lost a rooster fight? I also wonder if someone might have gotten rid of him because he attack them or their child?

 

[featheredplanets]

You can soak his feet in plain warm water, some add epsom to the water. Then scrub gently with an old toothbrush to get any dirt or mite debris from under the scales. Then just top his legs up for a few weeks with Vaseline (I use V as a preventative) or coconut oil everyday, this suffocates any potential mites. I use my finger to cover the entire foot in Vaseline, the toes, the back of the leg and just up into the feathers. (If he does have) Scaly leg mites are very uncomfortable for birds, this could be contributing to his attitude. Plus if he is over loaded with internal and/or external parasites he probably feels pretty beat. Looks bright red and alert though which is always a good sign.

 

[Compost King]

I want to remove the feathers on his feet to make treating him easier. So I just cut them down as short as I can or do I pluck them?

 

[Compost King]

Poop samples, I can't see anything unique other than he has been eating plant material and his kidneys are functioning. I am not a poop expert though.

 

[Compost King]

After eating chicken feed his poop looked completely normal. his crop is full and I expect him to put on weight. I actually gave him Gamebird feed (28%) but tomorrow he goes on mix of 18% unmedicated Chick Starter and 28% Gamebird feed (should be 23%). I treated him for mites with live stock dust. Tomorrow I will treat him again with spray. I didn't have any mixed and I was too busy to mix any. I was plenty busy before he arrived. I haven't treated his legs for anything. I can't find epsom salts until monday and soaking his feet will be tricky since he fights me at everything I do and his beak strikes hard. I will likely cover his feet in Vaseline with Livestock dust mixed in because he may have scalymites. Maybe use Neosporin instead of Vaseline unless someone says otherwise. His feet just look really rough. I got his coop done today but the run is not finished so when I let him out of the coop in the morning he goes back to the rabbit cage for quarantine.

 

[so lucky]

Even if you can handle him, please think twice about breeding him and passing on his orneriness to his offspring. Maybe after he gets healthier he will be nicer, hopefully. Otherwise, chicken and dumplings sound good.

 

[glassdragonfly]

I am treating a hen that has never been handled so I'm using yarn as a leash of sorts in case she gets away from me. Just put it on one leg. Not the it will help with the pecking but it helps with the chasing!