HEN ATTACKED BY RACCOON STILL ALIVE MISSING ENTIRE BEAK-HELP

[rhondaroberts]

I give her a shot of LA-200 every night. The vet said 1/2cc every day for three days. I feel like she may need a another antibiotic for her eyes. It is hard to if it is just the tissue around them swelling or if there is infection in her eyes. They could just be irritated by the medicine we have on her head. Her eyes were weeping and now kind of goopy. I think I will get some tomorrow. Where we live nothing is open today to get anything. I wish I would have thought of this Friday. Any suggestions as to what to use on her face to clean, for antiseptic, promote healing???? We used "Blue lotion" and neosporin. I am a nurse and was wondering about a colloid dressing which would keep it wet ( it is getting pretty dried out looking)??? It is such a terrible place to have such an injury, right where you breathe, eat, see and hear...don't know how we would hold the dressing down, other than to use tape-ouch!! When neosporin heats up, it runs and got in her eyes and mouth; same with the blue stuff. She just had a big lunch a bit ago and still seems really pooped, which is understandable. What a process this is, I wish we would see improvement soon. She is just still hanging in there. Can't tell if the aspirin worked for pain or not, but we'll use it again just in case. Poop is really runny, we are hoping she is getting enough food and hoping that it's the antibiotic giving her the poops. Thanks for the help.

 

[firechicken]

Im new to chickens but it sounds like it is infected and may be suffering. I hate to say it and hope I dont hurt any feelings, but I would put it down.

Its all about quality of life, not the length of it.

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

Wasnt she in a pen????

 

[rhondaroberts]

Yes, she was in a pen. The latch that we hook the door with was undone. Really strange, I don't know how the raccoon got her off of her perch either. We built them this nice roost to sit on and instead they sleep every night up on a wobbly piece of plywood that is probably 4 feet tall. He must have pushed on it to knock her off?? We have no idea. Now we have 3 different style latches for the door to the coop. Coons must be relatively smart. We had no idea that we even had raccoons around, as I said before we live in town, right on the edge but had never seen or heard of them around. We have two dogs that sleep outside that usually bark at anything and everything at night. They didn't bark at all. I hope we get another coon tonight.

 

[dac63]

We had a cochin silkie mix hen that was attacked at night. I ran out and found piles of feathers across the yard to a large tree . Up in it was a racoon, and the hen wasn/t there. I kept him up there for several hours making noise . I thought the hen was dead . In the morning she came in and her whole back end looked as if it was missing. I felt terrible. I cleaned her off and everyday just kept putting antibiotic ointment on her and giving it to her orally. She was a sorry looking gal for a while but at that time she had three babies and she stayed with them and recovered . There may be hope for your little hen yet. wishing you the best. Maybe some watered down mash to give her strength. Donna dac63 we did get the racoon in a havaheart trap. He got more mercy than my hen got.

 

[dlhunicorn]

here are my collected articles specifically on handling AVIAN wound management...
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1159169461

 

[Bubba]

I thought about this post all weekend till now. I have to ask if your bird made it. I hope so and if not I am sorry for your loss. Sometimes there is nothing you can do, well most of the time it seems with life.

Bubba

 

[Johnnyboy922]

chickens are troopers! my friend found one of his impaled on a metal spike he pulled it out put antibiotic gel on it and it lived. another one of his had alot of its skin ripped off somehow he kept it inside for 3 weeks putting antibacterial stuff on it every day and it pulled through. i really hope your chicken makes it. track the beaks growth and stick with it. i hate to say it but eventually you may have to let it go. but not yet it has a good chance if it does start to grow. keep catching the coons, a good way to take care of them is to toss the full traps into a body of water or to put some lead into em. god bless your chicken. and your family for being so caring for it.

 

[eggcetra_farms]

Yes, an update please! I hope she made it.

 

[rhondaroberts]

So, sorry I haven't updated you lately. Sassy is ALIVE!!! She is getting stronger by the day. I have pictures but can't figure out how to get the darn things loaded on here. She has found a way to drink by herself. It takes a long time for her to get a good drink but she loves when we turn the sprinkler on and make a little puddle for her. She just plops her whole mouth in there and I'm sure she gets some in her. God forbid she drink out of a clean bowl (she won't). She is a mess though, she still looks terrible. All the purple medicine on her head, no feathers on her back (from the rooster), no comb, no beak. We think that she has a little nub of a beak growing back on top. It is so hard to tell. I will try to figure out how to get a picture up for you all tomorrow. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Still feeding her by syringe and when she is full she is full, she squawks and wriggles her way out of our arms. Everyone in town and at my work thinks that we are crazy for trying to save a chicken with no beak. Remember, I am an RN and the doctors I work with are thinking I need a psych evaluation I'm sure. My vet even thought I was crazy but is now getting the "I told you so" from me" tee hee. Will check back later.