beak injury - please help

[Shellzba]

I don't know what happened to my 5 month old hen overnight or very early this morning but when I went to check on them later this morning she looks like something tried to grab her by the head. Her eye is all a mess and her beak is broken up pretty bad. she seems to not be able to see out of the eye and is very lethargic. Is there anything I can do to help her.. she's not eating or drinking and doesn't want to come out of her box. she's ok when I hold her but just kind of lays there on my lap. I cleaned the debris and when I try to look at the injury to her beak she pulls away. there isn't much blood at all. Will her beak grow back? Any thoughts? I will post a picture when I get back home.

 

[mljohnson05]

Yes, Pleas post photos, so we can tell what exactly is wrong and how bad it is.
I would Isolate her ASAP.... Keep her in a warm dry, dim light place for her to rest.
Give her electrolytes in her water...and for food you can mash up scrambled eggs with some buttermilk. It will give her the protein she needs to help recover.
you will have to clean out the wounds....flush the eye out with luke warm saline solution... and wash out any dirt from the beak and head... apply ointment or blu knot to the head wound (NOT EYE)... need picture of the beak to tell what is going wrong, b4 can make any suggestions there.
My Roo got attacked by a coon when he was 6 month old, and I though her would never make it (by the looks at the damage done)...however he did and is doing fine now.
You may need to hand feed or syringe feed her (depending on the beak damage)...
When my was injured i found that after a little rest (i put his favorite girl in there) and that helped to encourage him to eat.
At this point in time, feed her ANYTHING she will eat. Play around with different options to see what she will go for.
ALSO, make sure you look around to see were or what got into the chick pen and fix it ASAP to prevent further injury to any of the others.
Best wishes and hope she gets better soon... Please post photos when you can

 

[Shellzba]

we were able to get a little water in her.She is having trouble swallowing. I cleared the debris but she keeps rubbing her face in the bedding... I put clean bedding in a nesting box and put her in there. She seems to be fine for a couple of minutes then she starts weezing and her breathing seems labored. She is still letting me hold her but she is still lethargic. I cant really see her tongue. but her beak is splintered
Her beak was clipped by the farm we got her from. Any thoughts??? will her beak grow back?



this is her bad eye... she can't see out of it at all

 

[soler]

ok so i think the bad eye could recover, wash it gently with saline and put on it neosporin to prevent infection. I would try and swipe betadine on the beak. Betadine is an antiseptic, but also aids in preventing fungal and bacterial infections. You're going to have to be hands on here to prevent infection.

I absolutely agree you need to get some gatorade or electrolytes down her to help her - she's in shock. All advice above is spot on. Offer soft foods as well, as her beak parts are injured, so yogurt, wet cat food, etc. Her beak will not grow back, but she can still make it.

 

[froggiesheins]

OHMYGOSH, I cried when I saw your hen, POOR baby! I am going to find the info from two other BYCers that went thru this type of injury...maybe some words of wisdom. So far what everyone has said is very good help. She need tons of TLC from you right now......

 

[froggiesheins]

Found them! Nambroth https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/556859/the-ongoing-story-of-kua-the-broken-beak-pullet
and Rockin' Reds [can't find the thread-grrr] are the two BYCers that will be able to help you as they both had bad beak breaks on their hens.......

 

[Shellzba]

Just wanted to thank you for your help.. I had a newborn nurser that we used when we found a 3 week old kitten so I filled it with gatorade and got her to drink almost half the bottle, less what spilled back out of her mouth. it also helped to soften up all the crud too. got her mouth almost all clear and her tongue is finally free. I left her locked in the large nesting box with more gatorade in a bowl and some yogurt. smeared some neosporin on her beak and face, she didn't like that too much. I'll look in on her before I turn in for the night and I'll see her again in the morning, Thanks again,

 

[mljohnson05]

POOR THING

Keeping with what I said in First post, but adding a little here.
when mine was hurt, the eggs mashes or pureed with buttermilk (you can put a few drops or BABY liquid vitamins (WITHOUT IRON) in it (and do the drops for a few days)....
warm soupy oatmeal, yogurt, mashed potatoes, puree FRUIT (but in blender to puree)
Also if she appears in Pain they can have BABY aspirin for the pain.
Keep everything clean (clean a few times a day) and like I mentioned above (keep Isolated in a DIM, warm room) and TLC TLC TLC !!!!
My prayers are with you, and PLEASE keep us posted...I know what you are going through and it is no fun.
Remember to inspect their hen house to try and find the cause!

 

[Shellzba]

my little Ginger is doing much better today, her 1 eye is open and she seems to be able to see the other eye still not so good but not as bad and she is standing and walking a little. She is only taking the gatorade from the bottle its making her tongue blue but she seems to like it. She doesn't seem to want anything else and is not eating on her own at all. she is making a little gurgling noise kind of like the sound of a small child with a stuffy nose occasionally.I'm not really sure how much she is supposed to be drinking to keep her hydrated and help her get better. A friend of mine gave me some Duramycin-10 but before I gave it to her I wanted to see what you all think.

 

[mljohnson05]

antibiotics should not be given unless you have the correct does for their size and unless there is a sure sign of infection. the noise could be due to all the damage (kind of like a baby with cleft pallet).. watch her and make sure to clear her nose and mouth out when you hear that. I would dilute the gatorade (do not let her keep drinking the full strength). If she likes the flavor , try mixing that in with really soft food or use it to Puree fresh fruit. It may be to hard for her to "scoop" the food up with the damage, try feeding her with a dropper or syringe. Also if you tilt the feeding bowl up on an angle (against a wall, so it cannot slide) it will help her get the scooping motion better. Lay out lots of options for her to pick at, and make sure you try to hand feed her if she is not eating willingly.
Keep us posted, and God Bless