Another Racoon Attack - Badly injured hen, need advice!? **Edit: GRAPHIC PIC

[Veer67]

Chickens will open their beaks when they get hot but in your case think it could be from the pain or stress.

 

[whiteybird]

ok, i wondered...what can i do to ease the pain or the stress? she's been inside with me all day and it's quiet and like 81deg in here...ive gotten her to drink a small amount of water and pedialyte, and I had had a towel over her to keep her warm while she was still a little wet from her rinse but took it off just now.

 

[Veer67]

This link might help, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/374821/what-kind-of-pain-meds-can-you-give-chickens

 

[mithious]

I think that it would be alright for you to clean the wounds now, you can use a blow dryer to dry off her feathers too. I read once that you can try tying cans of urine outside of the run because it's like marking your territory and raccoons respect that.

I've tried it, it doesn't work. Had my late husband try it, thinking a male scent might make the difference...nope...they could careless. The more we encroach on their land, their hunting grounds, with urban sprawl, the less safe our livestock are. There just isn't enough room for all of us anymore.

Remember back when chickens were a main stay in every back yard? There weren't the kinds of predator attacks we have today, and the ones they had, the ole shotgun came out and the problem was solved. Not today. The live traps just put the predator in someone else's back yard for them to deal with. Someone did that to my Mom...left her a nice muskrat/groundhog ( wasn't quite sure by her description which) couple, that were now, trap leery. They had babies, and the family ate all of my Mom's garden, the ornamental flowers and some deer ate the tops off all her tomatoe plants. She ended up hiring someone to take care of them, permanently. It was her food, or them...they would NOT go in the traps. Well the babies did, but not the adults that were left at my Mom's by someone that felt NIMBY...so left my 90+ year old Mom to deal with it. I don't live close enough to be of any help unfortunately. My Mom has canned her entire life, except for this year, as she has nothing to can and now will have to spend money she does not have, to supplement the canning she used to do.

I don't know what the answer is, for those that do not want to kill the predators, except to lock up their livestock, permanently.

Just some things to think about!

Sooo sorry for your poor dear hen!!!! I hope and pray she recovers!!!!

 

[Veer67]

I've tried it, it doesn't work. Had my late husband try it, thinking a male scent might make the difference...nope...they could careless. The more we encroach on their land, their hunting grounds, with urban sprawl, the less safe our livestock are. There just isn't enough room for all of us anymore.

Remember back when chickens were a main stay in every back yard? There weren't the kinds of predator attacks we have today, and the ones they had, the ole shotgun came out and the problem was solved. Not today. The live traps just put the predator in someone else's back yard for them to deal with. Someone did that to my Mom...left her a nice muskrat/groundhog ( wasn't quite sure by her description which) couple, that were now, trap leery. They had babies, and the family ate all of my Mom's garden, the ornamental flowers and some deer ate the tops off all her tomatoe plants. She ended up hiring someone to take care of them, permanently. It was her food, or them...they would NOT go in the traps. Well the babies did, but not the adults that were left at my Mom's by someone that felt NIMBY...so left my 90+ year old Mom to deal with it. I don't live close enough to be of any help unfortunately. My Mom has canned her entire life, except for this year, as she has nothing to can and now will have to spend money she does not have, to supplement the canning she used to do.

I don't know what the answer is, for those that do not want to kill the predators, except to lock up their livestock, permanently.

Just some things to think about!

Sooo sorry for your poor dear hen!!!! I hope and pray she recovers!!!!

I haven't done it before so I didn't know if it would work or not because I did not have a big problem of raccoons yet ( though there are a few that live in my yard) I read from a book that it worked. Though I think that the author lives in a more rural place.

 

[whiteybird]

Hmm. I've definitely heard of spraying animal urine to ward off predators, but never tried it myself either. That's terrible that your mother had to deal with those rodents, or whatever they were, and that on top of that they were smart enough to not be fooled twice. And thanks for your good wishes!

The lot next door is undeveloped and there is a family of raccoons that (used to) live in the live oak that hangs over our driveway...we killed a few in the past when our first chicken disappeared. The mother has babies yet again and the little ones seem to be the only ones who fall for the trap. However, we have also seen a few raccoons go into the roof of the house on our other side, so apparently they surround us. Because we live in the city and can't legally use a gun, we are going to have to give the raccoons "lettuce leaf disease", which according to my bf's grandfather, causes their heads to fall off (if you catch my drift).

As for Feisty, she is hanging in there. She went right after the dried mealworms i held in front of her a little while ago, and is drinking a little if i pipette it into her beak. We haven't cleaned her yet on the advice of my bf's mother (the rn), who thought we'd stress her out to the point of death if we tried to clean her before she calmed down. She suggested sterilized water and betadyne for flushing the wounds, without scrubbing much for fear of, again, pain and stress. I got neosporin and aspirin and gave her 1/4 pill dissolved into 8oz. water (= to 4pills per gallon). She barely drank much of it but im hoping it may help ease a little of the pain...

 

[Eggcessive]

I have also heard of soaking old tennis balls in ammonia, and placing them around the outside of the coop to deter predators. They would need to be re-soaked every month or so.

 

[Veer67]

When Sugar was hurt we set her up in a big cardboard box with the food and water on one side so she could eat whenever she wanted.

 

[whiteybird]

aw sugar is pretty

Feisty made it through the night! i'm so happy...i know its only one of dozens of hurdles and she still has to stave away infection, but whomever said if they make it 24 hours they have a good chance, i think i agree!

She was very interested in her mealworms last night, and this morning i was able to get her to drink a lot more pedialyte than yesterday, along with water. She tried mealworms again out of my hand but would stop often as if she didnt have the energy to keep going. She did the same with feed crumbles, so I tried to make that into a gruel and syringe that into her mouth, but it was too messy. So so glad she's interested in food though, she's almost completely stopped panting, and all shock seems to have gone away. I left the crumbles in the box with her along with the water.

On another note, the two remaining healthy chickens are cooped up (how many people have used that pun on here? ;-) ) until we can get them an enclosed run. Just now, they started making a ton of noise, and when i went out there i saw a hawk fly away from somewhere in their open run, within the birds' view. Between the raccoons and the hawks, it's like nature is out to get our flock!

 

[whiteybird]

Also, if I were to give her antibiotics, I have tetracycline and sulmet on hand. Not fully aware of the risks of using either, and I know some people don't like giving anything but topical antibiotics.

What are your takes on this?