Hawk attack. Graphic pics *Updated pics 3/30/15

[MrsBachbach]

Also, how long do I give the Pen g for? I have read no more than 4 days, 7 days and 10 days all in various places. Her injury is so large, I would think longer would be better, but it will likely not be closed up for a very long time.

Also, do I dose once per day or twice?

Once a day and I would do it at least 5 days, but I doubt 7 days would hurt. The antibiotic has some staying power so she will likely see benefits beyond the five days.
You won't be eating her or her eggs for some time, so I don't see the harm. About the only thing you would have to watch for is causing sour crop.
When injecting in her breast point the needle either besides the breast bone or away from it, not toward it and you will avoid the bone. Any muscle will do I'm sure, but there is only three I can think of on chickens. The thigh, breast or leg.
You will likely see some discoloration as the days go by. Likely bruising. Her wing likely won't work as you said. No telling what kind of damage was done there. Do you feel any broken bone? I'm thinking she is missing the muscle needed to keep it in place.
Stuff is likely starting to hurt on her. If she isn't bleeding, you can give them baby asprin for a few days. Maybe 1/2 a tablet a day or split that into two doses a day. I wouldn't do it more than a few days though. You can just open their beak and stick it in there. They will take it. But maybe you should pass on that for a few more days. Just in case. Hard to know what's going on internally.
Keep us posted.

 

[ChickieKat]

What would cause sour crop at this point? She doesn't seem to be in pain, but I could certainly pick up some baby aspirin to give to her. She tries to wander out of the bathroom every time I lift the laundry basket off the rug that she is on and pecks at specks on the floor, which I take to be good signs that she is feeling a bit better.

I didn't feel any broken bones when her injury was fresh and was able to bend the wing back to normal position without anything feeling out of place. Now it is just stiff and won't go anywhere but in a dragging down position. I think it is a cut tendon that let the wing droop way down and the massive injury just locked it up and it is now stuck there. I am guessing I can massage it a bit and start to flex it once it is healed up quite a bit more.

We definitely won't be eating her eggs for a long time to come, so I am not worried about the antibiotics.

 

[ChickieKat]

Also, she is regularly still pooping (although much smaller ones now) and is drinking like a champ. She ate a couple tablespoons of yogurt today, more raw egg yolk and a few bites of the babyfood green bean/turkey mash so she has an appetite too. I know there is no way to really know what is going on internally, but I am assuming that if she were bleeding or badly damaged internally, she would be acting a bit more low key.

She certainly is proving that she wants to live so far.

 

[MrsBachbach]

What would cause sour crop at this point? She doesn't seem to be in pain, but I could certainly pick up some baby aspirin to give to her. She tries to wander out of the bathroom every time I lift the laundry basket off the rug that she is on and pecks at specks on the floor, which I take to be good signs that she is feeling a bit better.

I didn't feel any broken bones when her injury was fresh and was able to bend the wing back to normal position without anything feeling out of place. Now it is just stiff and won't go anywhere but in a dragging down position. I think it is a cut tendon that let the wing droop way down and the massive injury just locked it up and it is now stuck there. I am guessing I can massage it a bit and start to flex it once it is healed up quite a bit more.

We definitely won't be eating her eggs for a long time to come, so I am not worried about the antibiotics.

Well, antibiotics kill the good gut bacteria so it can mess up the works down there. I have read it can cause it. I noticed when I had an injured rooster I was working on that he was getting a build up of gas or air in his crop. Probably because of the antibiotics. So, avoid sugars while she is on the antibiotics and get some probiotics in her when she finishes the antibiotics. If you are feeding live culture yogurt, make sure it's plain. I think the flavored yogurt contains sugar. It's good news that you don't see any leaking. Try to give it a few more days before increasing her feedings of food and water. Hopefully you won't see any leaking. By a week you can probably get by with three good meals a day of her chicken food. I would start with a wet mash though. Don't be surprised if she is spoiled by then and turns her nose up!

I think the muscles will probably start drawing up in a few days. Especially with the wonder dust drying out the injury. I think you will start seeing a big black scab forming within a week. Its going to take some time like you say. I do wonder what is going to happen around that bone though. Hopefully some skin will form over it, but I really don't know.

You might consider getting one of those dog crates to keep her in if she is going to be in with you for awhile. Sometimes you can find them on craigslist cheaper than the stores. Or a large dog carry kennel. You can put shavings in those. You will probably need something to keep her in when it's time to re-introduce her to the flock.

 

[ChickieKat]

I am confused on the Pen G dosing. I just went back and looked at your post about dosing. And saw that the amount would have been .8ml once per day. I have also read elsewhere that it is actually .01/lb so she would need .08ml. That is a huge difference. I want her to get enough but also not overdose her. How do I find the correct dose?

As far as housing, she will be ok in the small bathroom for a week or so and then she can go into the dog kennel we have and also go back out in the coop in the kennel for reintroduction when/if that time comes.

The most important task for us now is figuring out how to deter hawk attacks and also possibly building a covered run for our girls rather than letting them free range. I will be super sad to not let them free range anymore but safety needs to come first.

As for food, I have been giving her plain whole milk yogurt and also adding powdered high quality probiotics to nearly everything else she eats. I have the SavAChick probiotics in her water along with electrolytes and powdered probiotics from a naturopath that I had been giving my infant son that I add to all of her food. Hoping that does the trick to prevent any secondary sour crop/yeast issues.

Thank you so very much for all of your help with her. You have been an invaluable resource.

 

[ChickieKat]

Another update: she is still doing well and ate about a half of an egg yolk along with a few bites of babyfood oatmeal this morning. She pooped a HUGE poop as well. It is a bit runny and green, but looks like it has a lot of the normal white cecal poop in it. I am guessing that had a lot to do with her liquid diet and antibiotics.

She drank quite a bit and I left her with about 2oz of water to drink as she wants. I left as much last night overnight and it was gone this morning.

Her shoulder wound is darkening up and drying out a lot. I am pretty happy with how it looks so far. No signs of infection that I can see. She has a very long road though. I put the basket back over her and am not going to let her wander around the bathroom for a couple more days at least. She would like to, but she is still only held together with a whisper and a prayer. What a girl.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I am confused on the Pen G dosing. I just went back and looked at your post about dosing. And saw that the amount would have been .8ml once per day. I have also read elsewhere that it is actually .01/lb so she would need .08ml. That is a huge difference. I want her to get enough but also not overdose her. How do I find the correct dose?

As far as housing, she will be ok in the small bathroom for a week or so and then she can go into the dog kennel we have and also go back out in the coop in the kennel for reintroduction when/if that time comes.

The most important task for us now is figuring out how to deter hawk attacks and also possibly building a covered run for our girls rather than letting them free range. I will be super sad to not let them free range anymore but safety needs to come first.

As for food, I have been giving her plain whole milk yogurt and also adding powdered high quality probiotics to nearly everything else she eats. I have the SavAChick probiotics in her water along with electrolytes and powdered probiotics from a naturopath that I had been giving my infant son that I add to all of her food. Hoping that does the trick to prevent any secondary sour crop/yeast issues.

Thank you so very much for all of your help with her. You have been an invaluable resource.

If you look on th bottle you will see that the dose is 1ml per 100 pounds. That breaks down to a tenth of a ml per 10 lbs. Thats why I use a 1 ml syringe. It's easily marked and broke down in tenths. So each tenth on the one ml syringe is for 10 lbs. I did say eight tenths, I'm sorry. I had the one ml syringe in my head. Your dose would be less than a tenth. I would just give her the tenth. It would be hard to see on a 3ml syringe. Real hard. I have been instructed by a vet before to do the tenth even though the hen only weighed 5 lbs. Well, if you gave her that size dose, she did get a super dose. I don't think it would hurt her, but she may not need anymore for several days. I would wait a few days, then resume the correct dose if you think she even needs it. I think the stuff has residual properties.
Her poop will be runny with that diet. Could be because of the medicine too. I would slow down a bit on the milk and yogurt products unless you want to put a dab in her cereal. I've read chickens don't tolerate too much dairy very well and the runny poop is a likely result. It's fine for a few days to restore cultures in the gut, but no more than a teaspoon a day. Maybe skip a few days then give her a dose one day, and rotate that way. With her not laying, all that calcium isn't really needed right now either. You might try hard boiling or scrambling the egg also. Dont want her to develop a taste for raw egg yolk. It's useful that way when you are trying to get food in them, but I wouldn't continue with it raw unless needed. Maybe some bread soaked in a bit of water,, or olive oil would be useful too.

Same on the saveachick, give for a few days then remove and go with regular water for a few, then back to the vitamin/mineral water. Rotate. I've noticed some of my hens get some nasty butts when they are on probiotics or vitamin/mineral water too long. I guess too much can be too much sometime.

 

[Joshua G]

Wow!
I have read all the posts here and it sounds like you are doing an amazing job of taking care of your hen!
So sorry this has happened and I hope she gets better and back to normal.
I lost my favorite hen to a hawk and was devastated.
Glad to hear yours is doing better.
Keep up the good work!!

 

[Nate19]

Got'a say that I'm pretty impressed with you after reading through this thread! Kudos to you for being so caring and willing to stick with this hen to whatever the final outcome is. Hope she does well! Really looks like you're dotting your I's and crossing your T's with all of this.

I'm currently raising my first flock (8 hens) and hoping I never see the day I have to go through all you're going through!

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Outpost JWB]

Sorry to hear of the hawk attack. I read thru this thread and it looks like you have received very good advise & are headed in the right direction

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You had asked if anyone had seen bone exposed. I have! Couple years ago I had a partridge cochin attacked by DH's English Setter (bird dog-I know! Don't ask! LOL!) Anyways, the hen "Fur Foot" had organs and bone exposed. I thought for sure she was as good as dead. The dog attacked her back end area. Her tail was gone & all around the tail area were gashes some as big as 1/2"-punctures from the dog's teeth. I simply used hydrogen peroxide cut with water to cleanse the wounds daily & triple antibiotic ointment. I also used iodine-sometimes. I had her isolated in a dog crate outside. I didn't give her any meds, but that is just because she showed improvement. My advice to you, that I didn't see mentioned yet, is watch for maggots-not sure where you are located. My incident occurred during a cold time here, so I didn't have to worry about that. The wounds will turn blue & black from bruising. At one point, I thought Fur Foot had gangrene. And I was almost ready to cull her. (Glad I didn't). She even had a strange odor to her. The wounds developed hard crusty scabs that later fell off. In the end, about 4 months later, she had made a full recovery. Please keep us updated with your hen.