It's now been a week since a bobcat attacked my flock. One of my surviving chickens has been doing very poorly ever since. I have thoroughly examined her twice and cannot find anything physically wrong with her, other than a few mites around her vent, which I sprayed with poultry protector. It's like she has simply given up on living. Here is all the information:
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a 7 1/2 month old Americana/sussex mix. She had not yet commenced laying at the time of the attack, although I think she was close. as her comb and face had started to redden.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is not eating, drinking, dust-bathing or preening. She stands in a corner of the yard with her head drooped or drawn in, with her eyes often closed. She's not interested in any type of treats. She does have energy to run from me and fights being picked up. Her demeanor and condition have been unchanged the last several days.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Since Dec 27, the morning of the attack.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. Six of the other surviving hens were spooked the first day, but have since returned to normal and are laying again. One of the other surviving hens was bitten in the head and, although she got an infection and initially was in much worse shape than the downer hen, she appears to be recovering and is almost back to normal.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Not that I can find, and I looked pretty hard. No feathers were missing, she wasn't limping.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Bobcat got into coop and attacked chickens, killing many of them. The bobcat came back the second night, but wasn't able to get into the coop, although it prowled all around it and I think this further traumatized the hen. The bobcat is now dead.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
The very first day, she was still drinking water and eating treats. The second day she stopped as far as I can tell. On the 3rd day, I began force feeding and watering her. I have tried yogurt, meal worms, tuna, eggs to tempt her. If I place food in her mouth, she will swallow it, but seems to have no interest in feeding herself.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Since I started force feeding her, it looks normal. Prior to that it was green/yellow and watery.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Syringing honey sweetened water into her and force feeding her a combination of her usual mash, plus some eggs, tuna, yogurt and mealworms morning and night. I've been letting her stay with the flock. This morning I tried to isolate her in a darkened carrier, but that seemed to make her anxious, she wasn't eating or drinking in there, so I released her again after a few hours.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Treat her myself.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
There's not much to see, but here's a picture of her standing with her head down.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Standard wooden coop with straw. Since Day 2, she has been sleeping in a nest box, rather than the roost.
I'm at a loss of where to go from here. Should I stop force feeding her for a day to see if that spurs her to start eating? Has anyone had anything like this happen to them and has the hen eventually snapped out of it?
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is a 7 1/2 month old Americana/sussex mix. She had not yet commenced laying at the time of the attack, although I think she was close. as her comb and face had started to redden.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is not eating, drinking, dust-bathing or preening. She stands in a corner of the yard with her head drooped or drawn in, with her eyes often closed. She's not interested in any type of treats. She does have energy to run from me and fights being picked up. Her demeanor and condition have been unchanged the last several days.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Since Dec 27, the morning of the attack.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. Six of the other surviving hens were spooked the first day, but have since returned to normal and are laying again. One of the other surviving hens was bitten in the head and, although she got an infection and initially was in much worse shape than the downer hen, she appears to be recovering and is almost back to normal.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Not that I can find, and I looked pretty hard. No feathers were missing, she wasn't limping.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
Bobcat got into coop and attacked chickens, killing many of them. The bobcat came back the second night, but wasn't able to get into the coop, although it prowled all around it and I think this further traumatized the hen. The bobcat is now dead.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
The very first day, she was still drinking water and eating treats. The second day she stopped as far as I can tell. On the 3rd day, I began force feeding and watering her. I have tried yogurt, meal worms, tuna, eggs to tempt her. If I place food in her mouth, she will swallow it, but seems to have no interest in feeding herself.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Since I started force feeding her, it looks normal. Prior to that it was green/yellow and watery.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Syringing honey sweetened water into her and force feeding her a combination of her usual mash, plus some eggs, tuna, yogurt and mealworms morning and night. I've been letting her stay with the flock. This morning I tried to isolate her in a darkened carrier, but that seemed to make her anxious, she wasn't eating or drinking in there, so I released her again after a few hours.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Treat her myself.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
There's not much to see, but here's a picture of her standing with her head down.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Standard wooden coop with straw. Since Day 2, she has been sleeping in a nest box, rather than the roost.
I'm at a loss of where to go from here. Should I stop force feeding her for a day to see if that spurs her to start eating? Has anyone had anything like this happen to them and has the hen eventually snapped out of it?
