Cockerel with Fractured Pubis (and cockerel development questions)

[Natanya]

To familiarize myself with a normal chicken's rear end is like I occasionally probe the rears of my chickens when I hold them, and today both of the 5 month old Waffle's pubis bones have a sudden, sharp bend to them that I've never felt before and his brother from the same hatch doesn't have, and the tips of the bones seem noticeably closer together, though not dramatically so.

My silkies are all exceptionally clumsy birds, and when they jump from perching on my arms or being held they usually don't land so gracefully. I suspect one time when this little silkie jumped from me recently he must've landed right on his pubis bones, fracturing them.

He doesn't seem to mind having the area touched any more than he usually does- he always puts up a little fuss when I touch back there, since it's a rather private area. The area of the suspected breaks doesn't seem to be unusually warm or swollen though, which seems strange to me. If his bones are fractured surely there'd be inflammation? Perhaps it's just not inflamed enough to be noticeable? (Edit: or possibly the injury is old enough that the inflammation has receded.)

He's not showing any indications of being in any pain or discomfort, though birds like to hide those things. He's normally a fairly affectionate bird, but he's been a little more standoffish than normal and has dragged his wing at me a few times over the past couple days, which was a surprising new behavior from him, but I chalked it up to normal teenage boy behavior. After finding his pubic bones bent I wonder if he's been agitated because of pain? Heck, even if he's feeling pain in his rear the wing dragging could still just be a symptom of growing up. XD

He has been finding the hens very interesting this past month and has pinned them a few times, though he hasn't figured out the mounting thing yet, and he hasn't tried to hump them. Is it normal for a cockerel to practice pinning a hen for a while without trying to hump her? It makes me wonder if he hasn't tried humping yet because his pubic bones hurt.

Gosh, am I concerned about my baby boy. To my knowledge if his pubic bones are fractured there isn't much I can do for him but make sure he's comfortable while he heals.

I'm especially concerned about long-term repercussions of this injury, I don't know what the long, thin pubic bones do in a bird's anatomy, and how their function might be impacted by being crooked. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of easily digestible information to be found on the topic. Can anyone help?

 

[azygous]

This is the first time I've ever come across a discussion of a "broken butt" in a chicken. I suppose anything is possible. I don't see how you can treat it, but it should heal on its own in time.

Behavior is the best indication of whether a chicken is experiencing discomfort. While they are adept at concealing infirmity, if the discomfort is acute, they will become mute, lethargic, and hang around with the tail dropped down. A chicken in acute pain won't feel like doing much.

Cockerels often have hormones that drive them to engage in mating activity far ahead of any sort of coordinated mating moves. I have one right now who will launch himself at a hen, grab her by the comb, and pull her across the run like a puppy trying to run off with a chew toy. It's pathetic. Most of the time, I keep him segregated to spare him embarrassment and the hens from being mauled.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Seems like perhaps his injury has healed. Not really much you can do at this point.

 

[Natanya]

It's good to know that young cocks will just harass hens without actually attempting to copulate. I figured as much, but this is my first time raising a male chicken, so I'm seeing a lot of these behaviors for the first time! The way he zeros in on a hen, but doesn't manage to actually do anything with her is adorable. It makes me giggle, my baby rooster doesn't know what he's supposed to do with them yet, he just knows he likes them. XD The hens don't think it's so adorable, though. Thankfully Butter, his brother, isn't the same booty-seeking missile Waffle is. Butter hasn't shoved the hens around the same way Waffle has. The differences in brothers is interesting.

My quaker parrot, Sushi, had a bad case of coccidosis last year and he exhibited normal ill-bird signals like you mentioned, but Waffle has shown none of those. He's been bocking and crowing and doing all sorts of normal chicken things. Waffle has always been his active and engaged self, so any fracture he may have had hasn't bothered him much. *shrug* I guess I'm just a little more worried than I need to be.

Seems like perhaps his injury has healed. Not really much you can do at this point.

I agree this may be the case. Ah well, he doesn't seem to have minded. I think I may have minded a whole lot more than he has at this point. He's napping peacefully next to me on the couch as I write this. What a sweet bird.

 

[azygous]

I doubt a bird could remain sick or injured for long in your flock. It's wonderful they have such an attentive flock manager.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

When the old hens are more powerful than the young cockerels is when problems arise because eventually the young rooster will become frustrated at his inferior position in your flock and try to take his place in the flock before he is ready to fully dominate the other chickens. This can lead to General Chaos.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I don't know who to pity more, the rooster or the hen? Because the rooster is born san an external male sex organ. So is the hen or the rooster the slighted party.?