Chicken unable to use leg after attack

[Foxythechicken]

I had raccoons terrorize my flock early one am while free ranging. Happened one week ago. Lost several, one was in intense shock, bite wounds and a lot of feathers gone… nursed her back to health she’s in separate cage in my garage. She’s now alert, eating drinking pooping and reacting to being handled. But her one leg is totally lame. I can’t feel any breaks. Her toes are curled and she can’t balance herself well one one foot and when she tries to walk she stands on her lame foot. I feel bad for her and I don’t know what else to do… she wouldn’t survive in the coop. I can give her more time solo…. Any suggestions

 

[ChickenLady4eva]

So sorry about that. I lost my whole flock once to a fox. I had a chicken once go lame after our dogs rescued her from a fox- tried casting it but she learned to get around ok on her legs.She died two months later from a infection we tried to treat. How injured is your bird?

 

[Foxythechicken]

Thank you for the reply. She has some either claw or teeth wounds, which I flushed with water, hydrog peroxide and applied antibiotic cream and have been spraying daily with vetimycin poultry spray.

Other than the missing feathers on her back and tail, and lame leg, she looks good. I don’t know what else to do for her. There isn’t really anything I can splint or obviously see wrong.

 

[ChickenLady4eva]

Maybe try splinting the leg otherwise I'm not sure.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

Thank you for the reply. She has some either claw or teeth wounds, which I flushed with water, hydrog peroxide and applied antibiotic cream and have been spraying daily with vetimycin poultry spray.

Other than the missing feathers on her back and tail, and lame leg, she looks good. I don’t know what else to do for her. There isn’t really anything I can splint or obviously see wrong.

If the wounds are still visible, she's probably still in pain. Splinting the leg may take pressure off of the painful area. She may need an oral or injectable antibiotic. Bites get infected easily.

You could try applying lidocaine cream for pain, but very sparingly. Chickens are more sensitive to lidocaine than humans. But it really sounds like she just needs more time to recover.

 

[picklestheduck]

Sorry to hear you had an attack! I hope you hen heals!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When one of my hens was injured by a dog, we made up some sterile saline and put it in a spray bottle. Twice a day we sprayed her wound thoroughly with the saline to cleanse and hydrate it. Much better than peroxide, which actually can kill tissue and burn. That way we didn't have to scrub the wound. Then we gently patted it dry with paper towels and applied Neosporin Original, which does not have pain killer in it, and finally we sprayed it with Veterycin gel, which kept it moist and acted as a sort of bandage, sealing dirt out. It was a pretty deep and ugly wound and had even gotten a bit of flystrike before we realized it, but to my surprise she healed right up. Good luck with your bird!