Chicken doing poorly (in shock?) after bobcat attack

[Morrigan]

As I've detailed in another thread, we had a bobcat attack two morning ago. Of the survivors, all look good except for two. I thought I'd start a new thread to ask for advice on these two. Sorry for the length.

The general scenario for those that didn't read my earlier thread is that one or more bobcats got into the chicken coop at dawn, Wednesday, and killed 9 hens. Sometime last night or this morning, at least one bobcat got into the chicken yard, and spent part of the night lying directly outside the chicken coop, in front of a vent, where the chickens could presumably hear and smell the bobcat. That bobcat could not get into the coop and has since been dispatched. None of the chickens were physically harmed last night.

The first chicken was bitten in the head. From the toothmarks it looks like her head was literally inside the cat's mouth, but she somehow escaped. I cleaned the bite marks as best I could. They were tiny slits on her skull, above her eyes, so it was very hard to flush them out. I did as best as I could to clean them with warm water and then liberally smeared triple antibiotic cream on. I separated her and kept her warm. By the end of yesterday, she seemed to doing great -- she was eating, drinking, looking around with interest and even laid an egg in her carrier. I put the carrier in the coop overnight, so she could be with the rest of the chickens. Unfortunately, the carrier was near one of the vents where the bobcat was stalking, so she had a front row seat to hearing and smelling bobcat prowling about. This morning, the poor hen did not look good. She was back to standing with her head down and eyes closed. I checked the bite marks, and those looked good. I had to search hard to even find them. No redness, no swelling, no heat, no smell, no pus. I've moved her into a warm (80 degree) area, and put some scrambled eggs down for her. She's not eating, not drinking and just standing with her head drawn in and tilted down and eyes shut. She doesn't squawk or struggle if I pick her up.

The second chicken was not physically harmed as best I can tell. I examined her from head to two yesterday and couldn't find a single mark on her. However, she is standing by herself with that same head tucked in and down posture as the first chicken. Last night, she showed a little interest in some meal worms and fodder and I was encouraged, but this morning she is not interested in anything. I haven't separated her, because nothing seems physically wrong with her and I didn't want to further traumatize her. She is not being picked on, and the weather here is mild -- sunny and in the high 50s.

Is there anything more I can do? Does anyone know what might be wrong? Could they have just gone into a second shock from smelling the bobcat again last night? Maybe they weren't able to sleep and are exhausted. I don't want to lose any more chickens if I can help it.

Thanks, this has been a hard couple of days.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would bring the unharmed hen in with the other hen for company. Most chickens will like a mash made from chicken feed, water, and a tsp or so of plain yogurt, along with some egg. Make only what they will eat today, then make fresh tomorrow. Or try something new.

Shock can last a while. When 3 of my chickens were roughed up by our dog, the only one that had no marks was the one that died. They can be injured internally or just scared to death. Keep them warm and try to get their attention occasionally with offering a cup of water to their beaks. Being together may make them more comfortable, but watch that the one wounded doesn’t get pecked. Betadine can mask her wounds.

 

[Morrigan]

The injured one is not doing well. I couldn't get her to eat or drink anything, and she is still in the dog carrier. I noticed today that her wattle is swollen, so clearly she is fighting an infection. I'm bummed that my local tractor store does not sell any type of antibiotics. Its too hard and expensive to get a vet in a timely manner where I live.

The other ailing hen did drink some water and got herself into the coop for the night, but did not go onto the roost. She is still not interested in treats or food.

I feel I'm mourning the attack all over again, watching these 2 hens go downhill. I'm really hoping tomorrow brings signs of improvement.

The other 6 hens and rooster seem to be rebounding quickly, so there is some good news.

 

[Eggcessive]

TSC does sell injectable antibiotics, such as Procaine Penicillin G in the refrigerated medicines, and 20 gauge 1/2 inch needles with syringes as well in most states. Dosage is 1/4 ml once daily for 4-5 days. Use a new syringe daily, and inject 1/4 inch deep into breast muscle, while rotating sides daily.
If you have any oral amoxicillin, that can be used instead. Dosage is 1/2 of a 250 mg capsule given orally twice a day in a treat. The swelling may be from trauma, not necessarily infection, so use your judgement. Pictures can be helpful.

 

[Morrigan]

I did some research as to why I could not find antibodies at my tractor store. Turns out, California banned selling OTC antibiotics for animals. You must get them thru a vet, and only AFTER they have seen the animal. And if your vet has a week long wait list to see your chicken (and no avian experience), you are out of luck. Yes, I'm frustrated.

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

 

[Morrigan]

Here are some pictures. The first two are of the hen who was bit in the head. Her posture here is very typical of how she has been standing. (She's normally a bit of raggedly looking little bird). Since my last post I have given her some sugar water with a syringe. She also passed a firm, normal looking dropping during the night, which I thought somewhat encouraging, so she might be eating some of her mash when I'm not looking. The front shot shows her swollen wattle. Are there any natural anti-infection foods I can give her since I don't have access to antibodies? I'm also wondering if I should mix up some egg yolk with water and try to feed her that with the syringe.

The last picture is of my seemingly uninjured hen. She just stands around with the head lowered. I've seen her drink water and she walks over to the food dish from time to time, but I've not see her actually eat.

 

[Goose08]

As I've detailed in another thread, we had a bobcat attack two morning ago. Of the survivors, all look good except for two. I thought I'd start a new thread to ask for advice on these two. Sorry for the length.

The general scenario for those that didn't read my earlier thread is that one or more bobcats got into the chicken coop at dawn, Wednesday, and killed 9 hens. Sometime last night or this morning, at least one bobcat got into the chicken yard, and spent part of the night lying directly outside the chicken coop, in front of a vent, where the chickens could presumably hear and smell the bobcat. That bobcat could not get into the coop and has since been dispatched. None of the chickens were physically harmed last night.

The first chicken was bitten in the head. From the toothmarks it looks like her head was literally inside the cat's mouth, but she somehow escaped. I cleaned the bite marks as best I could. They were tiny slits on her skull, above her eyes, so it was very hard to flush them out. I did as best as I could to clean them with warm water and then liberally smeared triple antibiotic cream on. I separated her and kept her warm. By the end of yesterday, she seemed to doing great -- she was eating, drinking, looking around with interest and even laid an egg in her carrier. I put the carrier in the coop overnight, so she could be with the rest of the chickens. Unfortunately, the carrier was near one of the vents where the bobcat was stalking, so she had a front row seat to hearing and smelling bobcat prowling about. This morning, the poor hen did not look good. She was back to standing with her head down and eyes closed. I checked the bite marks, and those looked good. I had to search hard to even find them. No redness, no swelling, no heat, no smell, no pus. I've moved her into a warm (80 degree) area, and put some scrambled eggs down for her. She's not eating, not drinking and just standing with her head drawn in and tilted down and eyes shut. She doesn't squawk or struggle if I pick her up.

The second chicken was not physically harmed as best I can tell. I examined her from head to two yesterday and couldn't find a single mark on her. However, she is standing by herself with that same head tucked in and down posture as the first chicken. Last night, she showed a little interest in some meal worms and fodder and I was encouraged, but this morning she is not interested in anything. I haven't separated her, because nothing seems physically wrong with her and I didn't want to further traumatize her. She is not being picked on, and the weather here is mild -- sunny and in the high 50s.

Is there anything more I can do? Does anyone know what might be wrong? Could they have just gone into a second shock from smelling the bobcat again last night? Maybe they weren't able to sleep and are exhausted. I don't want to lose any more chickens if I can help it.

Thanks, this has been a hard couple of days.

We had a giant bobcat attack that left us with 2 chickens out of 32. One of the survivors was in the barn and didn’t get affected. The other, a small bantam roo, was in the coop at the time. It was probably very early morning when it was still dark, around 1-6 a.m. (we weren’t home) the rooster experienced the whole thing, and was just sitting on the roost despite the dead birds around him. He was in shock for a little while, but got over it. It was January, and now it being August, he acts like a normal bird with the other surviving bird and his new flock. Your birds are most likely in shock, and should get over it. Good luck!!