An update for anyone facing similar circumstances in the future that may reference this thread:
Pepper is alive and well! She made a full recovery, and was back out with the rest of the flock in less than a week. Chickens truly are very resilient creatures!!
If this were to happen again I...
Also, ‘proof’ from Pepper’s previous owner that she is a hen.
Hard for me to tell, since I’ve never watched an egg lay in person, but it looks like the video catches the tail-end of her laying. That, or it catches a rooster squatting over eggs.
Looking even better today! Eating and drinking well, and seems almost back to her old self. Even spent some time preening herself on my arm this evening :)
She(?) is finally laying down this morning, which at least makes me feel better because last night she was sleeping standing up. I haven’t seen her eat/drink much yet, but I ended up bolusing her with a few CCs of nutridrench last night before bed and she did gobble down a few mealworms this...
Thank yall so much for your advice and reassurance! I read some of your replies at the feed store and immediately felt a lot better. I was so worried that she was mortally wounded, very glad to hear how resilient chickens are.
We have separated her/him(?) in a clean pen in our garage with...
New hen jumped the fence into the pasture, puppies not yet taught that chickens are not to be messed with. When I found her she was under a pile of 10wk old pyrenees puppies trying to 'play' with her. They tore her up pretty bad :( I thought she was dead when I found her, but she perked up a...