Roo (our cockerel) has been a bit subdued lately. Last year, when we moved the dinner chickens into the next-door pen, he got quite agitated, naturally feeling threatened by the presence of so many young studs on his coop-step.
This year, he hasn't really done much. At first, we thought he might be mellowing, or just getting old. The other day I noted that he didn't crow in response to one of the youngsters broken-voiced attempts. On Thursday, I started a 7 day course of wormer for the allotment crowd. I don't really think they need worming, no evidence in their droppings, but it's been 6 months since they were last done, and it;s conceivable that worms are responsible for Roo's listlessness.
Yesterday I noted that he was a bit slow eating treats and his upper beak looked like it was protruding a bit more than was helpful, so today we took the toenail clippers with us so we could trim his upper beak. He let me pic him up and put him on the table, he ate his bit of cucumber, and DH attempted to clip the beak. Unsurprisingly, Roo didn't really want to have his beak trimmed, thank you very much, and moved his head out of the way. I held him and had my hand around his head to limit the movement - and Roo had a panic attack and nearly fainted.
He ended up sitting on his bottom with his legs in front of him, as if he were a cuddly toy. I ran and got the Nutridrops, and Roo let me put the whole dose in his beak at once. Normally I have to dribble it down his beak a drop at a time, so that in itself was a bit of a shock. We stood next to him, but without crowding him while he gradually came round. Eventually, he was back up on his feet and eating cucumber, and we lifted him down.
Shortly after that he was back to his current version of normal.
This year, he hasn't really done much. At first, we thought he might be mellowing, or just getting old. The other day I noted that he didn't crow in response to one of the youngsters broken-voiced attempts. On Thursday, I started a 7 day course of wormer for the allotment crowd. I don't really think they need worming, no evidence in their droppings, but it's been 6 months since they were last done, and it;s conceivable that worms are responsible for Roo's listlessness.
Yesterday I noted that he was a bit slow eating treats and his upper beak looked like it was protruding a bit more than was helpful, so today we took the toenail clippers with us so we could trim his upper beak. He let me pic him up and put him on the table, he ate his bit of cucumber, and DH attempted to clip the beak. Unsurprisingly, Roo didn't really want to have his beak trimmed, thank you very much, and moved his head out of the way. I held him and had my hand around his head to limit the movement - and Roo had a panic attack and nearly fainted.
He ended up sitting on his bottom with his legs in front of him, as if he were a cuddly toy. I ran and got the Nutridrops, and Roo let me put the whole dose in his beak at once. Normally I have to dribble it down his beak a drop at a time, so that in itself was a bit of a shock. We stood next to him, but without crowding him while he gradually came round. Eventually, he was back up on his feet and eating cucumber, and we lifted him down.
Shortly after that he was back to his current version of normal.
