A feral rooster attacked and wounded a 20 month old boy in Nimbin on Sunday. 

“There was a lot of blood,” the boy’s father, Lewis King told The Lismore App.

Lewis said the offending fowl was one of the stray roosters that hangs around at the Nimbin Bush Theatre. 

Lewis and a friend had gone to have a coffee at the Nimbin Bush Theatre café and said it happened unexpectedly.

“I was chatting to a friend and out of the blue, it happened behind me, in a matter of seconds,” Lewis said. 

“I turned around and saw my son lying on the ground and there was blood everywhere. 

“There was blood coming out of his eye and head and my first thought was that he had lost an eye.

“So I ran to get the car and we took him to Nimbin Hospital where they cleaned him up and said they didn’t think he would need stitches.

“The rooster’s spurs had left multiple puncture wounds on his arm, one on his face mere millimetres from his right eye and another deep gash on the side of his head.

“I went back and spoke to the café owner and he said they have tolerated the roosters until now – that people had been dumping them there.  

“With an incident like this happening, it’s a big risk for kids and families coming to Nimbin – and what about the tourists too?

“The café owner told me that someone had disposed of the rooster that attacked my son, but that there were a lot of others to be dealt with too and he’s frustrated that the roosters are being dumped there.

“When roosters are showing aggressive behaviours, I’d prefer it if they were not around.”

Lewis said his son said ‘scary chook’ a lot that day.

“The first thing he said to me this morning when he woke up was ‘scary chook’,” Lewis said. “It shows he’s thinking about it a lot. 

“I’m taking him to the doctor again tomorrow to check for infections.

“While the incident itself, along with the hospital visit and dressing the wounds has been quite a traumatic experience, he is very lucky to not have more permanent damage to his eye. 

“I’m glad it wasn’t his eyeball – the wounds were pretty deep.

“As a parent I feel really responsible for anything that happens to my son.

“I spoke out about the incident because I feel like it needed to be said, and I want kids to be safe when they come to Nimbin.

“I know Nimbin has had a problem with people dumping their unwanted roosters.

“Not only are they a nuisance keeping people up at night, damaging gardens and leaving a mess for people to clean up, they are also dangerous for small children. 

“If you can’t take responsibility for your unwanted roosters then don’t breed chooks - and certainly don’t dump them at the Bush Theatre or anywhere in town where they might take out some poor little kids eye. 

“Please take care of your own problems don’t create more for other people. 

“We want families and small children to be safe in our town.”