Chicken Attack — No wound, but can't walk and mostly sleeps

[NoraC]

Hi guys,

One of my wonderful hens who is almost a year old got attacked last night. My husband and I forgot to close the coop last night (and we feel SO HORRIBLE about this), because we were distracted by the news of my grandfather passing away. Needless to say this has not been a great 24 hours! Anyway, our hen got attacked last night, we are thinking either cat or possum. She is the leader and we think she was trying to defend the other chickens, fend off the predator, cause the rest are safe and her feathers are strewn around the coop and the yard.

We found her this morning under a bush. She lost a number of feathers, but there doesn't seem to be any open wounds. She can move her head and grip our fingers when we put them under her. But she is super sleepy and can't stand up (she tries, but kind of rolls back on her butt, like a baby).

We moved her into the house and she is laying in a cosy box with hay. We got her to drink a few sips of water, but she is not really interested, mostly she just lays weirdly trying to sleep and when she does perk up she is panting a bit.

Any advice on how to care for her? Should we take her to the vet or is there nothing they can do since there is not an open would? I have been searching the forum this morning, but it seems most things I find are about tending to chickens with wounds. Any help would be appreciated, this has been a rough day!

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm so sorry to hear about that.

Don't give up on that hen though! Attacks by cats can leave small wounds, but their saliva is toxic to birds and can quickly lead to infection with medication. I would certainly suggest you take her to the vet if you can! They could give her the medication and dosage they need and rule out any internal injuries or broken bones.

I hope she gets better! Keep her drinking, hydrated and warm. Best of luck.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

With no external wounds, internal injuries are still a concern. For the time being, the best thing you can do is provide excellent supportive care to help her recover from the shock that she is in. This means providing appropriate temperature (warmth may be necessary depending on the ambient temp of your home), hydration, nutrition and quiet. An area of your home removed from general human traffic that can be closed off from any indoor pets is where you want to put her. The lighting should be dim. Water is good, but if you are going to have her take liquids, it will be a great opportunity to get some nutrients in her as well - products such as save-a-chick, etc. can be used in the water she is willing to take in. Wetted feed, scrambled egg, etc can be used to tempt a bird not feeling all that hungry, but you are not yet at the point where you want/need to consider force (tube) feeding as you are hoping that with support to recover from the shock she will come around to wanting to eat on her own as her body is ready to do so vs. forcing the issue and potentially doing more harm than good just yet.
From there, it becomes a matter of wait and see.
If you can find an avian or exotic vet, and that is something you want to do, there is no harm in taking her in.