Chased by a dog

[Aina]

Hello
My 5 years old hen "CHICA" who has one eye a one valid leg was chased by my neighbor's dog 3 days ago and ran under the house. She seemed ok at first but a day later she was lethargic barely standing on her one leg and dropping her head and closing her one eye to sleep. I gave her some papaya and one raw egg and she ate. Drank water as well and eventually laid one egg that day. Next day she seemed worse and didn't want to eat and barely drank so I took her to the vet. She found large bruises on her chest and said that otherwise she sounded fine with a good heart and breathing. So she diagnosed that she get beat up during her escape and traumatized and gave her one week of NSAID Med: meloxicam 0.2 ml per day. I kept her in my bed last night and around 2 AM she did a watery greenish poop and appeared more alert. At 4 AM I put her back in her coop so she won't wake up surrounded by my three cats. Today she is still so sleepy: dropping her head and closing her eye. And refuses to eat. I gave her her medication and a bit of water: 3 mini gulps... Maybe two beaks of papaya and one of baby food formula... Now I don't know what to do! Leave her alone so she doesn't stress more and just give her water every two hours or should I try to force feed her??? Thank you for your help! She is my sweet little girl!!!

 

[boskelli1571]

Hi there - sorry for your troubles. Chica is an old hen, so she may need more time to recover from the stress. I would give her vitamin/electrolyte supplement in her water - Sav-a-chick or similar. Scrambled eggs, finely crushed mealworms etc. to try and get her to eat. Small amounts offered frequently. Make sure she's warm enough and in a quiet place so she can rest. If you do decide to tube feed her, there is an article about it in the learning center here.
Good luck and keep us posted,

 

[Aina]

We live in Hawaii so it is warm. Everything is closed today in my area so I just bought some vitamin water citrus flavored... Should I cook the egg or give it raw? Aloha

 

[boskelli1571]

I would cook it to a semi-liquid consistency....

 

[Aina]

Thank you.

 

[Aina]

She is not doing better today. Looks like she is interested about food but barely opens her beak and does not grab anything... Then closes her eye lower her head and sleeps...

 

[boskelli1571]

You must get her to drink - if she doesn't she will surely die. A syringe or medicine dropper works well. Drop the liquid to the side of her beak where upper and lower meet and see if she will take some. I cannot advise you on tube feeding, I have never done it. If it doesn't cause too much stress to her, you can try opening her beak and putting a drop of water (with vits/elecs) in and see how she does....

 

[Aina]

Dear all
So I took Chica back to the vet today. She showed me how to tube feed her. She told me it doesn't hurt them they just feel weird and get used to it. I showed the vet the video I took earlier were Chica looks interested about food and tries to grab it but misses it by just a bit getting nothing in her beak. The vet said it was very weird and when I asked her if it was brain damage she replied she did not know... Now I read one post if a too who displayed the same behavior after being pecked in the head and died soon after... I am not sure I can upload a video to show you but will try... I made an appointment tomorrow for blood test and X rays... The vet said she could get metal poisoning... What do you guys think? She is just a stray hen I rescued from the side of the road 4 years ago: she had a crooked leg and lost one eye to avian pox. Yet she is my cute little girl and I don't want to see her go but don't want either to pursue her misery... She had a great life in my yard as a free little girl and even raised two silkies roosters as a surrogate mom... Thank you for your precious advice! Aloha

 

[boskelli1571]

I have my fingers crossed for you - she sounds like she has been through a lot in her life!

I'm not sure why the vet would think about metal poisoning....praying for good news for you.

 

[boskelli1571]

How is she doing? With regard to age, the oldest recorded hen was in her teens I believe! 5 is a good age for an initially feral chicken. Had you not rescued her she would surely be dead by now. My 'old ladies' are coming up on 5 -6 years now, and some still lay but not every day.