Rooster in Shock

[Fitzirish]

I live on a small farm and this past fall bought a bunch of hens and a rooster, since then the hens and our dogs have been getting along fine, until last week. My australian cattle dog (Arbus) grabbed the rooster (Napoleon) by the wing and was dragging him around before I could stop him...Napoleon was fine...but a few days later Arbus grabbed him, jumped the fence and was running down the drive before we could stop him. We put Napoleon back in the roost and he didn't move once, not even when we were petting him, yesterday he just stayed in there only moving to go outside for a drink.

The dog doesn't go near the coop any more, but I am afraid he did permanent damage to Napoleon.

I don't know if anyone can help me, but Is it possible he could still die from this shock...could he recover...is there anything we could do?

[shirlthegirl43]

He is drinking so there is hope. I know it sounds a bit daft, but try to get some Bach Rescue Remedy and if you can get a drop down him without too much stress, do so, if not, put it in the water. Do the hens cozy up to him at night or is he getting cold? That would be the other worry. I am sure more knowledgeable chook peeps will be along soon. Hope he recovers.

We had a mini dachshund years ago that used to kill the hens when nobody was looking - the only thing that stopped him was when my mum got really mad one day and picked up the newly killed hen and bashed the dog with it!

Oh by the way - welcome to the vine!

[Birdie Wife]

Oh dear, sorry to hear of your rooster/dog troubles. Did Arbus draw blood at all? Shock is caused by a disruption to the normal flow of body fluids like blood/lymph etc so if there is no external bleeding then there's every chance Napolean could recover. There's a chance he is bleeding internally, in which there's very little you can do, but the best thing you can do at the moment is just keep him in a dark and quiet place to recover. If he hasn't eaten or drunk anything in 24 hours, you should try using a plastic syringe to get some water down his throat, but as you say he's drinking by himself, I would take that as a good sign. Have you checked him for broken bones? Check his wings by gently stretching them out and tilting them slightly to see if there is any abnormal movement. Hope he recovers soon.

Welcome to the Vine btw! Where are you based?

[Birdie Wife]

Snap Shirl! Posts crossed over in the wire!

[Fitzirish]

Thanks for the help...I'll post how he does, we are keeping them in a stall in our small barn...the hens were all roosting up on the divider, Napoeon was alone in the corner...and I noticed that he had alot of feathers pulled between his tail feathers and the area between his wings. Should I consider bringing him in to keep warm if the hens don't start cozying up?

We are looking into the rescue remedy...might have to order online since I have never seen it in the US

[Fitzirish]

I live near Washington DC USA, work in the city, but live on a 20 acre farm, 15 hens and a rooster, 5 dogs, 3 cats, and 10 horses...I live on the farm with 2 friends of mine and their parents just bought 300 acres in Southern Virginia and have the other 2 dogs and the rest of the Horses (11, with 2 pregnent)

[shirlthegirl43]

Good luck with the rescue remedy - brilliant for all sorts of animal shock situations. I guess a drop of brandy might have the same effect.

I was assuming you were in the UK and enjoying the same chilly weather we are having - what is it like weatherwise with you?

[Fitzirish]

Like someone is having fun with the weather machine, we finally this winter received rain (bit of a drought this past year) but in a week we have been going from 60+ sunny and beautiful days, to rainy wet and frosty in the morning...the barn stays realatively not cold...I wouldn't say warm but our game hens hatched 5 chicks 2 weeks ago and they never sit on the nest, ever.

[shirlthegirl43]

Sounds nice, I have friends in CA and GA (lived both places for a while) and it is interesting to compare the weather.

Hope Napoleon is feeling better soon.

[yoanbob]

Hi, really sorry to here about your rooster, we had a simular problem with a fox a while ago and all the chooks and ducks recovered from the shock.
rescue remedy is good but dont over do it.
also the sringe feeding thing if hes not eating, I put a recipe for sringe food up when I posted about our girls, try doing a search for fox attack.
other wise TLC.
is the dog speaking to you yet?

[Fitzirish]

Well, Last night and this morning he was more like his self...still a little lathargic, but seemed more alert to his surroundings...Arbus is speaking to us, he is just a little warry when we are coming out of the coop...maybe he's learned, most likely he hasn't

[shirlthegirl43]

That is good news. Thanks for the update. Hope he continues to improve.

[Birdie Wife]

That's great! Chickens can recover quickly from things that would send us indoors for weeks. Do you have any poultry spice? A little goes a long way, and it's a good all-round tonic for chickens.

[Fitzirish]

Well Napoleon was fully recovered, even chased Arbus out of the Coop Friday...but wound up getting nabbed last night by a fox or cat (dogs are in at night)...because he was gone this morning...I am actually somewhat amused by the irony though still sad.

Thanks everyone for all the wisdom.

[Waffler]

Oh No!! That's awful! Hopefully he's just gone AWOL and may return??