Between 3 and 4 AM Wednesday morning (about 41 hours ago) we were woken by our cats running across the roof repeatedly and then our dog barking. We heard a small chicken noise outside our window and went outside to investigate. Something had gotten through our chicken wire and into the coop and there were chickens everywhere. My dog immediately started tracking and we think he chased something off thru the woods between the development to the side of us and the creek behind us. Final count from our very first flock of 12 straight run chicks (born in March): 6 dead roosters, 3 dead hens, 1 rooster still in shock/tired but improving, 1 rooster seems to be ok although keeps crowing for his flock. He started crowing and looking for everyone when the sun came up on that horrible morning. :-( The final hen was found about 150-200 yards away from the coop, by a tree partway down the hill to the creek, on her side with legs sticking out and barely breathing - short shallow little pants. Only one bird had any obvious damage - our little rooster with attitude had cuts on his comb and side of his face, he put up a good fight. All the other dead ones were clean and intact except for missing feathers (primarily tail) which were all over the yard. About 4 of the dead birds look like they were moved back to the coop area after being caught/killed elsewhere (feathers were in other part of yard). Opinions are ranging from dog to fox to coyote as the attacker, but I'm leaning towards dog or coyote based on some tracks we found and the carnage observed.
My post is actually about my surviving hen. She is a Rhode Island Red, 4 months old. I have been keeping her in a box in the bedroom with a towel propping her up slightly. A gentle inspection found some blood around her neck, but we have not located any puncture wounds or deep cuts. I did rinse saline water all over her neck area to be safe. We also felt a bit for broken bones, and did not feel anything obvious. Note that we did not want to stress or injure her more, so we may have missed something small in our quick inspection.
She cannot stand on her legs, although she does try when held upright - she just flops over to one side or another. At first, she could not even hold her head up so we offered her food and water every couple of hours by putting the dish right at her beak. She did start drinking within a couple of hours, although it is always very little - sometimes just slurping up the drops of the end of her beak, and she does not drink every time offered. This afternoon, 36 hours after the attack, she finally ate! I had taken her out of her box to take her outside for some fresh air. She was holding her head up slightly and looking around a bit. Then, she snatched a french fry out of my daughter's hand! She dropped it right away, but proceeded to eat a bunch of her crumbles and about 1/2 a slice of bread. All this work tired her, and she immediately fell asleep in my arms, so we returned her to her box after offering water at her beak. Yes, we have water and food in her box, but she cannot reach them without help. We are afraid of her drowning if we put it too close, so we have her head lying on a towel next to the water dish, but below the top level of the dish. The food is next to that. Wednesday, she pooped 3 times, and the first 2 were normal, the 3rd was almost all white. No poop today, but she hadn't eaten since Tuesday evening until Thursday(today) at 3, so I'm not too worried. **As I was writing this, she just pooped again - mostly normal, a little wet on outside, but she's had more water than anything. Earlier today, she was trying to stand up, and she can move her neck and move her legs, but something is either damaged or hurting so bad in the middle that the motion of standing was not happening. Or it could be that she is just too weak. :-( I am not encouraging the standing or any activity at this point.
She spends most of her time dozing/sleeping, although she has been more awake and alert this afternoon/evening. She still stays on her side and only lifts her head up briefly. She doesn't seem to be more or less comfortable on one side or the other. She has made some vocalizations, more so this afternoon, but they are so soft and quiet. Seem to be social rather than pain or panic/alerting noises, but we're new at this. Her eyes seem to be bright and alert for the most part, definitely better than they were even 12 hours ago. I am seeing improvements, which is encouraging.
I just wanted to share and see if anyone had any other suggestions for care. I am going to stop checking on her so much, especially during the night, to allow her to get more rest. I think I should just keep her on crumbles for now since she is eating on her own. I also think I should try to get her outside for fresh air each day. Today she seemed to perk up a bit when she noticed the 2 surviving roosters. I am very hopeful after reading some of the survival stories on this site and seeing her improvement, but I know we have a long way to go.
Thank you for reading and yes the dog got special treats for saving Little Red Hen's life. I am convinced she was dying when we found her - giving up on life, and if it weren't for the dog, it would have been much later before we found her. He has also been obsessive about checking both the chickens and our pygmy goats every time he goes outside. I think he's learning to be a farm dog!
My post is actually about my surviving hen. She is a Rhode Island Red, 4 months old. I have been keeping her in a box in the bedroom with a towel propping her up slightly. A gentle inspection found some blood around her neck, but we have not located any puncture wounds or deep cuts. I did rinse saline water all over her neck area to be safe. We also felt a bit for broken bones, and did not feel anything obvious. Note that we did not want to stress or injure her more, so we may have missed something small in our quick inspection.
She cannot stand on her legs, although she does try when held upright - she just flops over to one side or another. At first, she could not even hold her head up so we offered her food and water every couple of hours by putting the dish right at her beak. She did start drinking within a couple of hours, although it is always very little - sometimes just slurping up the drops of the end of her beak, and she does not drink every time offered. This afternoon, 36 hours after the attack, she finally ate! I had taken her out of her box to take her outside for some fresh air. She was holding her head up slightly and looking around a bit. Then, she snatched a french fry out of my daughter's hand! She dropped it right away, but proceeded to eat a bunch of her crumbles and about 1/2 a slice of bread. All this work tired her, and she immediately fell asleep in my arms, so we returned her to her box after offering water at her beak. Yes, we have water and food in her box, but she cannot reach them without help. We are afraid of her drowning if we put it too close, so we have her head lying on a towel next to the water dish, but below the top level of the dish. The food is next to that. Wednesday, she pooped 3 times, and the first 2 were normal, the 3rd was almost all white. No poop today, but she hadn't eaten since Tuesday evening until Thursday(today) at 3, so I'm not too worried. **As I was writing this, she just pooped again - mostly normal, a little wet on outside, but she's had more water than anything. Earlier today, she was trying to stand up, and she can move her neck and move her legs, but something is either damaged or hurting so bad in the middle that the motion of standing was not happening. Or it could be that she is just too weak. :-( I am not encouraging the standing or any activity at this point.
She spends most of her time dozing/sleeping, although she has been more awake and alert this afternoon/evening. She still stays on her side and only lifts her head up briefly. She doesn't seem to be more or less comfortable on one side or the other. She has made some vocalizations, more so this afternoon, but they are so soft and quiet. Seem to be social rather than pain or panic/alerting noises, but we're new at this. Her eyes seem to be bright and alert for the most part, definitely better than they were even 12 hours ago. I am seeing improvements, which is encouraging.
I just wanted to share and see if anyone had any other suggestions for care. I am going to stop checking on her so much, especially during the night, to allow her to get more rest. I think I should just keep her on crumbles for now since she is eating on her own. I also think I should try to get her outside for fresh air each day. Today she seemed to perk up a bit when she noticed the 2 surviving roosters. I am very hopeful after reading some of the survival stories on this site and seeing her improvement, but I know we have a long way to go.
Thank you for reading and yes the dog got special treats for saving Little Red Hen's life. I am convinced she was dying when we found her - giving up on life, and if it weren't for the dog, it would have been much later before we found her. He has also been obsessive about checking both the chickens and our pygmy goats every time he goes outside. I think he's learning to be a farm dog!
