9 week old baby attacked last night

[TJAnonymous]

I had a group of 9 week old Ameracaunas in a temporary coop outside. Last night my indoor cat started freaking out in the middle of the night and running from window to window. I got up to check out what all the fuss was about and heard my chickens going nuts. I have 3 coops. Two for adults and one temporary coop for these babies.

My husband and I ran outside and the babies were scattered everywhere. We spent at least 30-45 minutes searching for them. I found all but one. I have no idea what attacked them. Their temporary coop is in a fenced run about 4 1/2 feet high.

Anyway, I found the remaining chicken this morning. He is not doing well and I'm not sure what to do for him? I can't really see any wounds but he clearly has to have some. He has blood on his beak and his mouth is hanging open. He is also coughing. He will not drink even when I dip his beak gently into water. He just stands there very still and won't move.

I'm not sure what to do? I don't really have a poultry vet anywhere close and I have a busy afternoon for work so I can't miss....

I currently have him in a crate in my garage.

Thoughts?

 

[TJAnonymous]

I had a group of 9 week old Ameracaunas in a temporary coop outside. Last night my indoor cat started freaking out in the middle of the night and running from window to window. I got up to check out what all the fuss was about and heard my chickens going nuts. I have 3 coops. Two for adults and one temporary coop for these babies.

My husband and I ran outside and the babies were scattered everywhere. We spent at least 30-45 minutes searching for them. I found all but one. I have no idea what attacked them. Their temporary coop is in a fenced run about 4 1/2 feet high.

Anyway, I found the remaining chicken this morning. He is not doing well and I'm not sure what to do for him? I can't really see any wounds but he clearly has to have some. He has blood on his beak and his mouth is hanging open. He is also coughing. He will not drink even when I dip his beak gently into water. He just stands there very still and won't move.

I'm not sure what to do? I don't really have a poultry vet anywhere close and I have a busy afternoon for work so I can't miss....

I currently have him in a crate in my garage.

Thoughts?

I found a puncture on his neck.... Possibly one under his wing.

He's laying down on his side now.... Labored breathing

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm guessing he is in shock as well as possibly a punctured lung, maybe his trachea too... I'm not sure.

I might possibly have a range of various antibiotics but I don't know what you can give to chickens

 

[TJAnonymous]

OK... I'm updating as I go along. I have put a heat lamp on him to help with the shock. I will try to force feed sugar water after my next conference call.

And in case anyone is curious, I did move the babies into the big coop with the adults last night after we found them all... Probably going to keep them in there indefinitely but I was worried the adults would hurt them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I tried to give him a little bit Gatorade. I thought maybe the sugar and electrolytes would be helpful. He seemed to take a tiny bit but then started coughing again and now he has a long strand of bloody mucus hanging from his beak.

I wish so badly that I knew how to help him....

 

[TJAnonymous]

I've gotten maybe a teaspoon of Gatorade into him...

Also found this small puncture wound on his back...

I'm going to take a short video and post it here. I don't feel like his breathing is labored but he is just hanging his beak open with mucus coming out of it. He is very lethargic but able to stand on his own.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Poor fella... This is breaking my heart.

Anyone ever successfully helped a chicken in shock?

As I was waiting for this video to upload, he laid down and definitely has more labored breathing while laying down.

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Unfortunately, I haven't ever dealt with a chicken that's gone into shock, nor have I researched how to treat it. The only thing that I can offer you is a "good luck," and condolences should he pass on.
Poor guy... I hope that he'll be all right, but he seems in a really bad way... good luck with him.

 

[Trisseh]

I think I’d be more concerned about internal injuries vs straight up shock... shock will be a complicating factor but the saliva/mucous and increased resp difficulty when sitting/laying down would have me concerned about internal organs, especially within his thorax, trachea, etc. I’ve seen some animals that start out shocky but otherwise seem to hold their own, until the tissues all start swelling and things get worse. (Dog with coyote bite wounds on neck, didn’t see it at the clinic until 3 days later when the dog was in respiratory distress and was subsequently euthanized). I know he’s not a dog, but best thing if possible would be to get him to a vet, since we don’t really know the extent of his injuries.

 

[TJAnonymous]

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.