Our rooster

[Sangersteve]

Well this was scary/humorus.

So a few weeks ago I went out to let Stewy out of jail around 7 am. As he stepped out of his cell I noticed him stumble a bit, thought nothing of it. He followed me to the house to come in and get his morning treats, Donna fixes him some fruit and cat food every morning, yes the stupid chicken loves dry cat food, and yes we know he is the most spoiled rooster in the USA.

He can barely stand up, tripping almost falling down. Panic ensues, Donna runs to the feed store to get sick chicken stuff, great bunch of guys over there think it might be a vitamin or mineral thing so they hook Donna up with chicken meds and some special feed. Stewy takes a hit or two from the vitamin water and the special feed. Nurse Donna monitors the chicken through out the day. He gets better as the day goes on.She also posts to Facebook the issue and all of the rooster fans suggest possible solutions. One post suggested chickens could be poisoned by certain plants, we had one of those plants in flower bed. Donna ripped them out.

We keep him on his special diet for a few days and he has no other problems.

After about four days of nursing, he's fine. Then the next day he's unstable again, back to chicken ICU, he gets better.

Two more times it happens. Donna is ready to fly in a chicken doctor.

Then one of Donna's customers who has been following the saga, via Facebook posts about a sick Stewy, sends Donna a possible problem.

We checked and she was correct in her diagnosis.

The feed he gets while in jail had fermented.

We had a drunk chicken.

He was pretty funny stumbling along like a wino.

[ralph]

that is funny , happens with wild birds that eat fermented wild berries after the berries are partially frozen than thawed by the sun . Same with bears eating the same berries .

[crocmommy]

Not a big fan of roosters except yours sounds so cute. The ones my grandad had were always so mean. Glad to hear he's ok.

[Jim Jack]

I like it that he is so spoiled. And I agree about them being mean. I never had one that wasn't.

A few years ago, my landlords (who lived on the same property) had a bunch of hens and one rooster, and I really enjoyed them being there. We lived peacefully until one day the rooster decided to challenge me as I was about to get in the car and go to work. The landlords were horrified to see me swinging my coat at this pest and felt horribly for me.

The coyotes got him the next day.

[grouchy]

Did you sample any of the feed?

[millergrovesue]

Did you sample any of the feed?

I love chickens! So glad Stewy was only...............stewed................and not truly sick.

[grouchy]

Did you sample any of the feed?

I love chickens! So glad Stewy was only...............stewed................and not truly sick.

We had a bunch of chickens when he lived down between Houston and Conroe. There is nothing better than yard eggs. It tried to have a big coop up here but the coons killed them.

[Sangersteve]

Did you sample any of the feed?

It's not quite mash yet, then if it happens to get a little hot and something drips out of the roll of copper that I accidentally left on top of it. Well who knows.

[crocmommy]

How did Stewy end up being so tame? Was he hand raised like a pet?

[ann jusko]

In Greenville, the builder's landscaper put pyracanthia (SP?). The birds did get drunk on the berries and flew into the breakfast room window often. They must have been pretty limber because they'd get up and kind of walk away.

[Sangersteve]

How did Stewy end up being so tame? Was he hand raised like a pet?

Stewy was a rescue chicken, he escaped from a show at the feed store across the street. The owner (according to the feed store guys) didn't even look for him after the show.

He wandered around the resturant dumpster and our backyard for a while, thats when he ran afoul of the law.

One of Sangers finest knocked on our back door around 6am one morning and asked if it was our rooster, I told him no, he said that he was going to have to catch him. I said just a minute let me get the video camera, cuz this was gonna be a youtube sensation.

He gave up about 45 minutes later.

And that is how we got a drunken rooster. I guess he figured we kept him out of jail.

[grouchy]

I still think he needs a mate. I can deliver.

[crocmommy]

If you get Stewy a mate, he might become more like a regular rooster. I think he's best kept by himself.