Owl attack survivor

gohogoho

Hatching
9 Years
Feb 10, 2010
2
0
7
One of my ducks (I know, not a chicken, but there's no duck forums out there, and this is such a great community...) was just attacked an hour ago by an owl. My very alert daughter heard the other ducks quacking like mad and I was able to get out there in time to scare off the owl. One of the duck's eyes is badly injured--bloody, and doesn't seem to have much of the eye left (sorry for the gore). She seems utterly terrorized, but aside for her eye, I couldn't find any other obvious injuries. Does anyone have any ideas of how to care for her? Thanks for any help!
 
WOW..... I'd clean it the best you can, warm salt water, then pack it with neosporin to keep it open. Once the area closes up, infection can set in, so don't let it scab up, even go so far as to pick scabs. Blood is better than a scab. Keep it clean!!!!, washing a couple of times a day. I'd also put her in a kennel of some sort and cover it with a towel or blanket,and put her someplace that's quiet, that will keep the stress down for her. This is what I'd do..........I am not a vet, but used to work at a wild bird rehab here in Alaska. Good luck and please let me know how it goes. Nancy
 
Thanks for the kind thoughts. She's doing a lot better. Got her in the bathtub with her sister in a heated bathroom. Was giving her water with a turkey baster, but now she's drinking and eating too. The eye's opaque but no infected. She's showing a lot more energy and liveliness. So I think the worst is over. Now I've got to figure out a way to deter the owl from returning. Thanks again...
 
My daughter just purchased her first two 4mo old hens. The children named them, and we put them in a large outdoor dog kennel. It is chain link all sides so we figured with a small dog kennel for them to hide it would do til we finished their coop, we added two perches for them to sit. First night my son in law came home to find a 2ft tall owl sitting on top of the kennel! The chickens were hiding in their kennel, but he found one quite injured. Feathers and skin plucked off her back. We cleaned her and added a horse healing ointment put her in the clothes basket on a towel and put her in a bedroom. She would not open her eyes but would just stand there. By afternoon she was alert drank water and ate a bit of food. Daughter let her out into large kennel with her buddy next am, put her in the smaller dog kennel and her buddy proceeded to preen her. She really isn't moving much, she will go back to our "hospital" at evening. Any other ideas on helping her wounds heal? She had very little blood and that was not from the large "skin" wound but from the plucked feathers. We are guessing while the hens slept on their purch the owel swooped in and reached a talon in to grab and the chicken sustained her injury (not death for sure! but lots of trauma).
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom