Chicken Attacked?

[YoshiWolfox]

Last night I noticed one of my brooding hens was missing (she barely leaves the box) and my rooster, Hickory, looked really beaten up. The back of his neck is bare and there's a penny sized opening (I cleaned it up a bit so it scabbed a little at least). His tail feathers are also missing, and he's lowering his head because it's probably really painful to raise it. Is there anything I can do to help him heal? I don't want him to die. I have him in a separate coop so the other hens don't pick on him.

 

[YoshiWolfox]

Bump

 

[WiddleChix]

First thing I would do is make sure you really clean the wound, I had a chicken last year who was scalped by a turkey down to her skull. I cleaned the wound with antibacterial dial soap( the orange stuff) about once a day to make sure it stayed clean and I also applied neosporin WITHOUT painkillers, as the painkillers are harmful to chickens, a couple times a day. Once it looked like it was drying out really well ( not oozing like a fresh wound) I stopped cleaning it and applied neosporin about once a day for a couple more days just to make sure it wouldn't get infected.

You really want to make sure he is eating and drinking, I suggest giving him some electrolytes in his water like sav-a-chick because they will really give him some energy to get through this. You can also give him some scrambled or hard boiled eggs to make sure he is eating and to give him energy as well.

If you really feel as if he needs some sort of pain relief you can give him a 81mg baby aspirin or the kind of aspirin for people with heart problems but make sure it is 81 mg.

Check over his whole body to make sure he doesn't have any other wounds you missed and just try to clean everything really well, infection is going to be the worst thing in his situation.

It's so hard to deal with a pet/animal who is injured and I feel for you. Try to pinpoint the predator because it could come back if you don't do something about it and it likely will knowing there is prey for it. Secure your coop or run as best you can ( I'm not sure what kind of area your chickens are living in). Keep us posted and feel free to ask for advice

Edited to add: I forgot to mention my scalped chicken completely recovered. I think you're rooster will be fine if you make sure he stays clean so the wounds don't get infected.

 

[YoshiWolfox]

@WiddleChix
Thank you so much for the advice, I will definitely try this. I found a pile of feathers where he was attacked, and my neighbours said they saw a fox with something in its mouth (it could be my missing hen) yesterday. I bought a trap to catch and get rid of it so it won't come back. I live in a pretty wooded area, so there's lots of predators around. He doesn't seem to wanna eat, is there any way to get him to eat and drink? I do have a syringe I can use

 

[WiddleChix]

You're welcome I'm really glad I could give some advice!

Try to give him things easy to eat and things he likes, maybe some watermelon or egg, you could also try soaking some of his feed in water to make a mash of his food. If he still isn't eating you could try tube feeding, you don't want to syringe it into his mouth because he could choke on it. If you're really desperate you can find a thread on here called "Go team-tube feeding" and it will tell you the supplies you need and how to properly tube feed him.

I'm sure he's in shock and I would wait a little while more before I tried tube feeding him because he might start to eat on his own in a little bit. You could put a small bowl of water up to his beak and see if he drinks it might be painful to bend his neck to eat and drink so you might want to bring it to his beak and see if he tries to eat or drink.

How is he today? I know you replied yesterday but how is his progress, is he a little better? Just hang in there I know it's stressful when your pet is like this.

 

[YoshiWolfox]

@WiddleChix
I noticed roosters don't seem to eat as much as hens, but we have blackberry bushes everywhere and he seems to eat a lot of those rather than tortilla pieces (he ate a few of those too). I spent today painting, and checking up on him back and fourth. My mom picked up some hen healing cream from the feed store, so I applied some of that to his skin a few minutes ago. He's still lowering his head (he's raised it a few times to eat though). I've kept the hens in the coop until I get rid of the fox because I know it'll be back because it knows there's vulnerable chickens here. Hickory seems to have a few bruises under his skin, and there hasn't been any fresh blood, just scabbing. He also closes his eyes a lot, almost like he's sleeping (we also stay in bed all day a lot too when we aren't feeling good haha)

 

[WiddleChix]

That's great that he's eating some. Has he drank anything? It's really important that he drinks.

Really make sure his wounds stay clean so he doesn't get them infected, this is so crucial to his survival.

He's probably very tired and weak from the attack, have you gotten him some electrolytes? Those should help him a lot. You're right about wanting to stay in bed when you don't feel good lol, he needs to rest and heal up.

You're doing a good job and the best that you can, he just needs time to heal up and it's a really good sign he's lifting his head because that means he still has mobility of his neck.

Keep doing what you're doing and keep us updated please.

 

[YoshiWolfox]

@WiddleChix
As I went to set a trap for the fox, Hickory jumped off the lower roost (I put him with the hens at night so he doesn't get scared from being away from them), and he's currently drinking from the water container all by himself! The hens aren't picking on him which is very good. How long will his feathers grow back? His long ribbon-like tail feathers are missing too. But I'm more concerned about his neck healing

 

[YoshiWolfox]

Here's an updated picture of him, he's drinking right now

 

[WiddleChix]

That's great! I'm really glad to hear he's drinking by himself, he looks really good and he's a really handsome boy. If the feathers were pulled out like you said, they should start growing back in about a month or so, if they were broken they will grow back when he molts.

You can probably leave him with the hens as long as they aren't picking at him, I'm sure he'll feel not only be more comfortable and not lonely, but happy to be with his hens as well. He's on the road to recovery and he needs all the help he can get even if it's just feeling comforted by his hens. Keep up the good work!