any suggestions for injured chickens?

[okiegirl]

Last Sunday evening my dog killed 8 of my 11 chickens. I originally had 12, but one was killed by something unknown to us at the time. Come to find out it was probably the same dog. Anyway, three chickens survived, but have been ver shell shocked since the attack.

I have a buff orp that seems to be coming out of it. She'll eat out of my hand but is very skittish. She used to come jump in my lap.

Another is a cochin. She is still favoring one leg over the other. She eats and drinks, but is very hesitant to come to me. I'm worried she may have a broken/fractured/sprained leg, but she doesn't scream when I examine her legs. She'll bare weight, but isn't very steady. Right after the attack she bled on my but not much. just found a spot the size of a quarter on my sleeve.

The last is my big concern. I'm not sure of the breed. She's black with copper brown lines down the middle of each feather. Lots of the copper color on her head and neck. She stays fluffed all the time. even when she's walking around, her head is sitting low on her shoulders. She will eat and drink, but not very much. Most of the time she is laying down sleeping. Last night, I tried to examine her again and she pretty much put up with everything. I even turned her over to where she was laying on her back in my hand. She didn't fight me and fell asleep. I know something is wrong if a chicken falls asleep laying on her back in my hand. She only makes a low purring sort of sound. maybe a peep everyone once in a while, but nothing more.

These girls were hatched about March 1st. I've been giving them greens, yogurt, bread and melon along with their regular chick feed. They have antibotics in their water.

I'm just not sure what else to do. I don't want to make them (especially the dark one) suffer in the hopes they'll get better, if they'll never get better. But I also don't want to cull too soon.

any ideas?

I'm on the SS site more because this one moves so fast I can't keep up.

-Angela

 

[gottsegnet]

Not sure I can be much help, but mine tend to sort of go to sleep if I hold them on their back, too.

I've had a couple injured chicks, including one that survived a dog attack. I literally beat it out of the dog's mouth. She lay panting and her feathers were all in disarray but she's fine now.

So far, my chickens seem to be pretty resilient. I've had four injured one way or another. Three wouldn't even walk for awhile. All but one recovered without any real intervention other than keeping them in a quiet area with chickens that wouldn't bother them.

The fourth is a meat bird who broke her leg jumping off the top of her pen. She's still with us but I'm trying to decide whether to cull or process her with the rest this week.

 

[gottsegnet]

Oh, and a friend had one that survived a raccoon attack. Quite dramatically. There was blood everywhere and the bird was limp in the hen house. Her husband threw it in the dumpster thinking it was dead. Next morning, there she was running around.

While they seem quite willing to die over seemingly nothing, they can be rather hardy and resilient, too. Especially with time, quiet and darkness to calm them.