Chicken injured by bobcat

[Kj379]

Last Thursday a small bobcat grabbed our young leghorn chicken out of the yard. We ran outside and were able to scare it off and it dropped the chicken. She has a puncture wound in her back and chest, which we treated with some antibiotic ointment and have her isolated in a separate cage in our garage. She was not eating or drinking on her own so for the first few days I syringe fed her electrolyte water and have been trying to get her to eat some pullet food mashed with water. She’s pooping fairly normally and will now drink if I just dip her beak in water but is still having trouble eating. She doesn’t move around much and is unsteady on her feet and her eyes seem a little wonky, almost like she can’t really see well or normally (she closes her eyes a lot too) and her pupils are constantly changing sizes. When she chews the bottom portion of her beak will sometimes go off to the left a little but she doesn’t seem to have any jaw or neck issues. Could this be a neurological injury and does anyone have any recommendations? I know its only been 3 days and she will need some more time. Just worried about getting food in her.

 

[CluckerFamily]

It sounds like she may be in pain. I'm not sure of the dosage of aspirin or tylenol. Hopefully someone knows.

 

[SarahGfa]

Can you tube feed her?

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post some pictures of her beak and her in the morning. She could have a painful beak injury and not be able to take enough food and water.

 

[AngelGoose]

I'm no expert but could she be in shock? I don't have chicken experience but I took in a severely mangled goose and the vet put her on metacam - she said it was primarily for the shock, not even the pain. If they're in shock they won't eat and I think will have similar symptoms to what you're describing. Poor thing, I hope she'll be okay!