Advise Please!!! Chick attacked by hawk

[Frizzelchick]

I came home to find one of our chicks (about 3 months old) stuck in the fencing to the chicken coop. It's looks to have been trying to escape the hawk that was attacking it. It's left side and rear end got pretty tore up in the attack. I've never had this serious of an injury with my chickens before so not really sure what I can do to help it or if there is anything I can even do at this point. I did put some neosporin ointment on the wound and picked the loose feathers out of it. Once I freed it from the fencing it did walk a little but then sat down. I picked it up and brought it inside for the time being. It's in a quite, cool, dark space resting.

Here's a few pictures of the wound

Normally my chickens are kept very safe in their coop area, however my husband left their gate open today and they had free range of the property.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

[Roostermama]

Clean wound with sterile saline (from Walgreens, etc.), apply antibiotic ointment, keep chick hydrated and warm, divorce husband. Infection will be your biggest enemy if the chick survives the shock. You could consider preemptive oral antibiotics.

 

[Frizzelchick]

Thanks for the advice! As for divorcing my husband, I'll probably give him another chance lol but he is definitely in the dog house for this!

 

[Roostermama]

Don't underestimate the chick's ability for survival. If it has survived so far, that's a good sign, but the risk of infection is high. Make sure that you use clean bedding and get rid of poop as much as you can.

 

[centrarchid]

Also consider bluecoat topical spray.


Wound does not look typical of a hawk. Make certain coop is capable of keeping other critters out as well.

 

[Roostermama]

Good luck!

 

[centrarchid]

Owing to nature of damage and likely nerve damage, the wounded animal is likely to do pecking itself especially if board while in the tighter confines of the hospital area.

 

[Frizzelchick]

Update on chick, it's survived thus far and is acting normal (eating, drinking, waking around). It's wound seems to be starting to heal. I've been cleaning it twice a day with saline solution and antibiotic ointment. It's started to clean its feathers. It's not a fan of the ointment on them. I'm still keeping it separate from the other chickens till it heals.

What are the signs of infection if any should I be watching for?

Thank you!

 

[Roostermama]

Locally, heating, redness, swelling, pus (though you might have some of that no matter what), systemically, general decline (at which point it might be too late). So far, so good! If you can get extra vitamins and some good yoghurt into her, that might strengthen her immune and overall system. GOOD LUCK!