9 week old baby attacked last night

[Trisseh]

Thanks Trisseh,

That is probably great advice but puts me in a tough spot. There is only one vet within an hour of me and they don't really handle "farm animals" plus they are ungodly expensive for regular animals so I can only imagine what they would charge to help this guy if they would even agree to see him. I'm guessing easily somewhere in the range of $100 or more.... My husband would KILL ME for spending that kind of money on a chicken that has a low probability of making it anyway....

So I'm pretty much left to my own devices here... We have various medications from other animal emergencies for our horses, dog, or cats.... I've already sprayed what puncture wounds I could find with Vetricyn but I can't diagnose what may be happening internally.... Still can't bring myself to give up on him.

I certainly understand where you’re coming from; even areas with dedicated livestock veterinarians are often in the same position as yourself; poultry medicine is usually “cull affected birds and change management practices” so it’s hard for backyard flock owners, even if they do have a vet that handles chickens nearby.

I also understand your feelings about giving him a shot; I know where I stand on the amount of care I would provide to my own livestock in any situation, but everyone’s going to be different with what they’re comfortable with - no right or wrong answers here!

if you’re going to try to help him, keeping wounds clean and dry are a good place to start, supportive care (warm, quiet place, food that he can eat, mush if need be, water with electrolytes and vitamins, etc) and pain control would be things I would be looking to provide. Antibiotics if there is any sign of infection, such as pus, foul smells, etc. Every state is going to be different on what you have access to without a vet.

Remember also that birds hide signs of illness or injury exceptionally well - for him to be as rough as he is speaks to the extent of his injuries and condition.

personally, and this is 100% my personal opinion, if I were to try to support a bird like this, with this many things going on, if there was no improvement within 48 hours or so with my nursing care, I would probably alleviate suffering and euthanize. Weigh the quality of life before making any decisions, but with a poor prognosis, I am pragmatic. I would never see that as “giving up” on an animal, it’s simply showing good livestock stewardship and alleviating suffering in an animal. Better a quick death than a long, drawn out one full of pain. But again, that is my personal opinion.

Sometimes pain is such a huge factor, that if we can get pain under control, they will start eating and get some strength back. Animals can overcome tremendous, horrendous injuries, but we have to think of the amount of suffering that they’re going to have to go through to get there, and think of their quality of life later if they do make it.

just food for thought, there’s no way I can or want to tell you what to do in your specific situation, you are seeing this bird and can assess if there is improvement or if he is deteriorating. And I know you care, which is why you’re reaching out on here!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I completely agree with you and am also trying to be pragmatic. If there is no improvement within 48 hours, I will probably have hubby put him down.

Its been at least 4 hrs now. He has an audible wheeze or whistle to his breathing. He still is not drinking on his own but he alternating between sitting and standing. He has pooped 3 times so far. All white and runny stools. Very little to no brown in them at all.

Just listening to him breathing, I feel pretty certain that he has a punctured lung... Can a chicken recover from that without antibiotics or vet care? That seems very unlikely to me... Not what I am hoping for by any means but, again, trying to be realistic.

 

[moxie20]

Sorry no advice to offer on this, just so sorry as I know I would be losing my mind if I was in this same scenerio. Hoping for a miracle for you and that your baby pulls through

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about about your chicken. It is hard to know how bad his injuries are. He could have a leaking air sac, or possibly a damaged beak or jaw. That might be why he cannot drink or seem to swallow. You can try to get some electrolyte water dropped on the side of his beak slowly for him to swallow. Tube feeding might be something to consider, but the wheeze is concerning. A feeding tube can be made from a piece of aquarium air tubing from Walmart or a pet store, and connected to a large 35 ml syringe from a feed store or pharmacy. Pedialyte, gatorade, or chick electrolytes with vitamins would be good. Water 16 ounces with a 1/2 tsp of sugar is okay. Right now, I think he is iffy on survival. A vet would be best, but it would cost a lot more than $100. Here is some info on tube feeding:

 

[Trisseh]

I completely agree with you and am also trying to be pragmatic. If there is no improvement within 48 hours, I will probably have hubby put him down.

Its been at least 4 hrs now. He has an audible wheeze or whistle to his breathing. He still is not drinking on his own but he alternating between sitting and standing. He has pooped 3 times so far. All white and runny stools. Very little to no brown in them at all.

Just listening to him breathing, I feel pretty certain that he has a punctured lung... Can a chicken recover from that without antibiotics or vet care? That seems very unlikely to me... Not what I am hoping for by any means but, again, trying to be realistic.

if he was bright and alert and eating/drinking, prognosis would be a lot better. Damage to an air sac will sometimes resolve itself with time, but crush damage to their chest or punctures into the chest are pretty grave wounds... Animals that have diaphragms can recover with round-the-clock care, doing chest taps and surgery, but birds have a very different respiratory system... and of course, if you have a penetrating injury into the chest, whether or not it damaged the lungs, chances of bleeding or infection is pretty high. did you have any pain meds that you could try to get into him? Meloxicam works well in birds, and I know somewhere on this forum there’s dosing for aspirin as well.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm not sure his chest was punctured. So far I have only found two puncture wounds... One on the side of his head just below the ear and another on his back almost between the wings... Of course there could be more but I can't be sure and I didn't want to handle him too much. I did attempt to search for wounds twice now though....

But the wheezing and coughing definitely isn't a good sign and has me very concerned. We will see if he survives the night. I'm giving him a 50/50 chance...

ETA - if he dies, I'll do a far more thorough search to see if he had other injuries

 

[TJAnonymous]

Morning update... He is still alive and doing a very slight bit better. His water bowl (heavy glass bowl) was flipped so he had to have had enough strength to do that...

When I gave him the Gatorade yesterday, there was absolutely no movement or fight in him. He wouldn't even try to swallow until it reached a point that he would choke if he didn't...

Today, he is actually swallowing from the dropper somewhat normally and also kept moving his head to keep me from putting the dropper in his cheek.

He is still weak and not really moving around. I had to pull him towards me a little before I could get my hands around him to pick him up. As I very gently pulled him my direction, he gave me a little chirp... Something he didn't do yesterday at all. I tried to be very careful and gentle with him.

So I'm a little encouraged but also very aware that he can easily go downhill fast. I will keep a close eye on him today. He has not eaten at all so I might try to make some watery mash and see if he will accept any of it... If not, we will need to stick to Gatorade for now

 

[Eggcessive]

That is hopeful and I hope that you can nurse him back to health. Keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Afternoon update... He seems about the same as the morning. Fought me a little more when giving him the dropper but seemed to actually drink it once I got it in. He is making a weird sort of groaning noise occasionally but no longer seems to be coughing. Of course I'm concerned about internal infection. Wondering if I could mix some amoxicillan powder with water to help with potential infection? I have some other antibiotics too that I could use as a last resort.

I noticed a few crumbles of his food on the ground outside his cage and the surface looks a little disturbed but can't tell if he actually ate anything. He is still pooping. Mostly white and runny but a little more brown in it than yesterday.

I also noticed his right eye was glued shut with mucus. I got some warm water and gently cleaned it. He didn't like that at all and fought me at first until he got too weak and just laid there. He can now crack his right eye open a little.

Probably more concerning, the mucus-y goo draining from his beak yesterday has changed from pink/red to brown. To me this signals a change from oxygenated blood to oxidized blood. This could be another symptom of a punctured lung, I think.... Again, I'm concerned about infection if bacteria were able to enter.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on this.... I have two different kinds of people antibiotics that I can administer:

1. Amoxicillin - from what I have been reading online, scientists have administered Amoxicillin to chickens before for bacterial infections. Dosage is 10 mg/kg. I do have some that I can mix with water and administer via dropper.

2. Metronidazole - this is especially effective for respiratory infections. Again, I have a people-sized pill that I can give...just need to check the dosage because I'm not sure what I have. As far as chicken dosage, I found the following - Each tablet 250 mg. Give smaller birds ½ tablet by mouth once daily for 5 days for respiratory infections. Give ½ tablet once daily for other infections.

Any thoughts on which one I should try?