Breastbone/Keel injury?

beachgirlilm

Songster
6 Years
Apr 4, 2018
24
52
119
Whiteville NC
We had a predator attack on Dec 15th, and lost two hens at the time because of it. Several hens had been chased/attacked as we found multiple feather areas in diff parts of our yard but only the two that we lost had visible injury, at least from what we could tell.
Another has not acted right since but at first I couldn’t see anything wrong other than she had a dirty vent area so bathed her and cleaner her up etc. no visual signs but I wondered if she had a leg or wing injury that I couldn’t see. She’s been keeping herself fluffed up and for a couple weeks just stood around, but was still eating and drinking and pooping. I thought, she was traumatized and she wasn’t acting worse, just not like her normal. Then she started acting more like normal other than not getting on the roost with the others and has been sleeping in the nesting box instead which is lower and has a step up area to it.
This morning I picked her up because I noticed she still isn’t acting quite right and checked her legs and wing area. She let me mess with her and pick her up easily which is also not normal for her. I noticed her breastbone area could be felt easily, and when I really looked, it looks like it may have been broken/injured as it looks curved instead of straight.
She is still eating, drinking etc and the others don’t seem to be picking on her.
I’m not sure what if anything I can do for this, if it was broken by the attack. We think it was a fox but not sure. The is first time wr have had a predator situation.
 

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A common birth defect in chickens is a crooked keel or breastbone. If there is a breast blister or sire, you can apply a bit of Betadine daily. She looks very thin. I would try to get a weight on her with a kitchen scale to get a baseline, so that you can check if she is gaining or losing. Bring her aside a couple of times a day, and offer a small bowl with some fresh made chicken feed mixed with water, a little scrambled egg. That can be varied with a bit of plain yogurt, tuna, or canned cat food, making sure that she is mostly eating the chicken feed. Try feeding her with the others when you are giving a treat of scrambled egg to make sure she gets a share. Make sure that she has grit for digestion and that her crop is filling up, then emptying overnight.
 
A common birth defect in chickens is a crooked keel or breastbone. If there is a breast blister or sire, you can apply a bit of Betadine daily. She looks very thin. I would try to get a weight on her with a kitchen scale to get a baseline, so that you can check if she is gaining or losing. Bring her aside a couple of times a day, and offer a small bowl with some fresh made chicken feed mixed with water, a little scrambled egg. That can be varied with a bit of plain yogurt, tuna, or canned cat food, making sure that she is mostly eating the chicken feed. Try feeding her with the others when you are giving a treat of scrambled egg to make sure she gets a share. Make sure that she has grit for digestion and that her crop is filling up, then emptying overnight.
We have a scale so I can definitely check that. Never noticed an issue with that before(not that it may have been there and we just didn’t know), but she acted fine until after the predation situation so I assumed she had been injured somehow with all that.
I’ll definitely giver her some of the items suggested and check her weight and keep a check on her crop. Thanks!
 

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