Chicken was attacked, how can I help her

[CatBarr]

One of my girls was missing all day yesterday and finally showed up after dark, tired, hungry, thirsty and weak. I think she had been attacked and hid all day. After looking her over, she had some minor cuts on her legs, and what looked like a prolapsed vent, and a floppy wing but I did suspect some internal damage/pain. And I can’t figure out if her wing is broken or not. I cleaned her wounds with warm water but wasn’t sure what to do about the vent, and placed her in a crate where she could eat and drink and sleep for the night. This morning she has developed raspy breathing, like what you normally hear in a severe respiratory infection. We have her set to go to the vet in the morning but I’m worried for her. What can I do to help her in the meantime? Should I address her vent situation? Is her wing painful and should I wrap it or something? Should I be giving her any special food, liquids, or meds that might help her feel better?

 

[cherrynberry]

One of my girls was missing all day yesterday and finally showed up after dark, tired, hungry, thirsty and weak. I think she had been attacked and hid all day. After looking her over, she had some minor cuts on her legs, and what looked like a prolapsed vent, and a floppy wing but I did suspect some internal damage/pain. And I can’t figure out if her wing is broken or not. I cleaned her wounds with warm water but wasn’t sure what to do about the vent, and placed her in a crate where she could eat and drink and sleep for the night. This morning she has developed raspy breathing, like what you normally hear in a severe respiratory infection. We have her set to go to the vet in the morning but I’m worried for her. What can I do to help her in the meantime? Should I address her vent situation? Is her wing painful and should I wrap it or something? Should I be giving her any special food, liquids, or meds that might help her feel better?

For the legs, you could coat the wounds in pain killer FREE nesporin/original ones. Does she have any wounds on her back? (thats where her lungs are).

@Wyorp Rock

 

[CatBarr]

For the legs, you could coat the wounds in pain killer FREE nesporin/original ones. Does she have any wounds on her back? (thats where her lungs are).

@Wyorp Rock

Thank you! I will do that, I have some! We couldn't find any other injuries that were visible which is why I'm worried about internal damage. I wish I had more background info but we honestly can't figure out what happened to her (none of this matches up with the usual predators we have around here) because she really doesn't have a lot of injuries that you can see but she's clearly in pain

 

[cherrynberry]

Thank you! I will do that, I have some! We couldn't find any other injuries that were visible which is why I'm worried about internal damage. I wish I had more background info but we honestly can't figure out what happened to her (none of this matches up with the usual predators we have around here) because she really doesn't have a lot of injuries that you can see but she's clearly in pain

Do you have pictures? Also of her vent?

 

[Eggcessive]

It would be helpful to see pictures of her wound and vent. I would clean all wounds with warm saline and apply plain antibiotic ointment twice a day. The vent area should be soaked in warm soapy water or Epsom salts daily. Apply a mild ointment or cream to the area, and keep the prolapse moist until it can be pushed back inside, so that the tissue does not dry out. Honey, sugar syrup, vaseline, or hydrocortisone cream are some examples. Do you think that she was attacked and the predator attacked her vent? Is there any damage around her vent?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is the vent still prolapsed? If so, is she able to poop at all?

 

[Katanahamon]

One of my girls was missing all day yesterday and finally showed up after dark, tired, hungry, thirsty and weak. I think she had been attacked and hid all day. After looking her over, she had some minor cuts on her legs, and what looked like a prolapsed vent, and a floppy wing but I did suspect some internal damage/pain. And I can’t figure out if her wing is broken or not. I cleaned her wounds with warm water but wasn’t sure what to do about the vent, and placed her in a crate where she could eat and drink and sleep for the night. This morning she has developed raspy breathing, like what you normally hear in a severe respiratory infection. We have her set to go to the vet in the morning but I’m worried for her. What can I do to help her in the meantime? Should I address her vent situation? Is her wing painful and should I wrap it or something? Should I be giving her any special food, liquids, or meds that might help her feel better?

One tip from Gail Damerow’s book Chicken Health Handbook about prolapse is hydrocortisone cream after soaking and cleaning to take down swelling as someone else mentioned, but also to seclude the hen and discourage laying by only allowing 8 hours of light while healing.

 

[CatBarr]

It would be helpful to see pictures of her wound and vent. I would clean all wounds with warm saline and apply plain antibiotic ointment twice a day. The vent area should be soaked in warm soapy water or Epsom salts daily. Apply a mild ointment or cream to the area, and keep the prolapse moist until it can be pushed back inside, so that the tissue does not dry out. Honey, sugar syrup, vaseline, or hydrocortisone cream are some examples. Do you think that she was attacked and the predator attacked her vent? Is there any damage around her vent?

I'm so sorry I've been silent all day! We were able to get a spot at the vet this morning and spent all day there. The vet determined that the injuries were more likely from a blunt force trauma rather than a predator attack. Although, I'm still not sure what happened. She's terrified of the road and avoids it altogether.

Anyways, in trying to not go into too much debt, I opted for an x-ray which helped us determine that nothing was broken except for a fractured wing. That was splinted and I'll be keeping an eye on that over the next month. Her cloaca that was hanging out was a big worry for the vet because there was concern that it wasn't entirely healthy tissue. My girl also had a full egg ready to come out so I decided to bring her home with anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. The goal was to have her lay her egg, give her lots of rest, and see if she could start to feel better. The risk is that there could still be internal damage but I really hope not. The doctor pushed her cloaca back into place but when she had her egg this evening (yay!), it came back out again

Can I push it back inside? Do I need to clean it? I've been trying to keep her bottom clean with warm water but I can't get every bit off. Is it safe to try to put it back into place with a little debris on it?

She ate a dinner of scrambled eggs, worms and mash enthusiastically, which was encouraging.

 

[CatBarr]

One tip from Gail Damerow’s book Chicken Health Handbook about prolapse is hydrocortisone cream after soaking and cleaning to take down swelling as someone else mentioned, but also to seclude the hen and discourage laying by only allowing 8 hours of light while healing.

I actually have some hydrocortisone cream somewhere. I will go find it!

She's been inside with us since last night when we found her. I did bring her sister inside to see her and they were both pretty happy about that. Her sister waited up for her last night until it was very dark. It was so sad. They normally go to bed together and sleep right next to each other - every single night.

 

[CatBarr]

Is the vent still prolapsed? If so, is she able to poop at all?

It looks like poop is still coming out. I'm not sure if her ability to poop is hindered at all though, it very well could be. I'm sorry I don't have a photo yet. She's pretty comfy right now so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to get a pic.