Chicken attacked and ended up with hurt leg - Please help!

Jso003

Hatching
Oct 26, 2015
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7
Hi Everyone,

One of our 3 chickens was attacked by a cat (not ours) around two hours ago, and has ended up with some injuries as a result. I was wondering if you could guide me as to whether to leave her to recover or to 'let her go'.

The chicken has trouble moving one leg, often opting to keep it straight and very stiff, and as a result is finding it very hard to move around. She often has her one wing sunk down and is struggling to walk with it. I cannot see any abnormalites with the leg itself as such by just looking at it, it's pointing the right way and it's bent or snapped. She is also finding it hard to stay balanced upright and often flops onto her side. She also has some cuts on her back where some feathers have been ripped out so any advice on how to deal with that is also appreciated greatly, She won't let me go near her without making a lot of movement/noise as obviously she's very distressed so i have left her for now.

I have placed her in our kitchen in the warm in an enclosed space and given her a bowl of water, i intend on leaving her overnight unless you guys say otherwise, I will post some pictures below to show to extent of the damage.

Thanks so much for any help,

- Oliver



 
How is she doing today? Even though she may get upset for a little while, it would be best to look her over for any wounds or punctures, or any puffiness, swelling, bruising, etc. Common disinfectants like betadine, chlorhexadrene, or peroxide can be used a time or two on wounds, then use some antibiotic ointment or Vetericyn on them. Internal injuries or shock might cause her not to eat or drink, but drinking is most important now. Sprains or broken bones can take 3 weeks to heal, and with injured legs, it is good to confine them in a pen with food and water. I would try to keep her inside the coop with the others or put her out in the daytime so she doesn't lose her place in the flock. It only takes a week for them to forget her. Try feeding some chopped egg, tuna, or wet chicken feed to tempt her to eat and drink when she is ready.
 
Hi all,

she is being very still today, she's laid and egg and has 'made a mess' but hasn't eaten much of her food and has barely moved. She's lying with her head down and her eyes closed sometimes now as well, not sure what to do here :(

Is it time to put her out of her misery or do you guys think this is normal for a chicken to act like this being injured?

Please help!!

- Ollie
 
I would just keep trying to get her to drink some electrolyte water, either by dipping her beak, lifting a small cup up to her beak, or by giving some with a dropper. There is a good thread on tube feeding, called "go team tube feeding" if you enter that in the search box above at top of the page. Just let her rest and then tomorrow, I would try to get some food and water into her, fluids being the more important of the two.
 
Just caught her eating some corn, not sure if she's been drinking but this in conjunction with continuing to poop and laying an Egg are surely good signs that she could recover and isn't in a horrid amount of pain? or am i looking through rose tinted glasses a bit? :S

Thanks for your help so far, appreciate you staying with me through this recovery as i've never had to do anything like this before
 

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