Chicken Attacked By Hawk

[aaoddancer14]

My best friend who also raises chickens just had one of hers get attacked by a hawk. There's no visible wounds or blood but it came down on her back pretty hard and she can only stand with support. It seems like it may be her back and neck area that's the problem but otherwise she's fine. She needs help eating and drinking water because of her neck. My friend uunfortunately lives hours away and I can't help in person but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice I can give to her because she really wants to try and save her and not put her down...thanks

 

[aaoddancer14]

Update: my friend texted me and said she tries getting her to stand she flops down and almost does a somersault attempting to stand up. She also seems like she may be in shock.

 

[aaoddancer14]

She drank some water and has a towel under her now but as you can see other than not being able to stand she looks fine

 

[JedJackson]

When did it happen? She may be in shock or it may be that she's sustained injuries that aren't apparent. The force of impact may have injured or broken her backbone or neck bone, or the hawk's talons may have done the same thing or caused some other internal injury. The best thing to do is to consult a veterinarian but if this isn't possible I'd keep her isolated and comfortable and make sure she gets food and water for a few days. If things don't improve it might be kinder to put the hen down.

 

[aaoddancer14]

It just happened like less than hour ago. I'm thinking she might feel better once she's calmed down a little bit and then she can see if she's really injured.

 

[JedJackson]

It just happened like less than hour ago. I'm thinking she might feel better once she's calmed down a little bit and then she can see if she's really injured.

Yes, I agree. It's possible she'll get better on her own but she needs to be kept isolated and be monitored frequently in the meantime.