Hi all, wasn't sure whether to post this in injuries or predator, so here I am. (I have a "flock" of six.. hens are BO, RIR, Black Star and SLW. Then I have two roos, a SLW and BR- long story, I know it's a bit much but for now it works)
Just wanted to share, we were gone from about 4pm until 10pm last night and when I went out to close up the flock, got a surprise. First bad sign was my Black Star girl on the floor of the coop, dazed, and walking around. The others were all up to roost. I also saw a big clump of her black feathers. Opened the walk-in door to check her out and found my RIR hen was missing.
I helped the Black Star up to roost and found that she had a large clump of feathers missing just above her tail and a small tear in the skin. Guess her wing was sore so she didn't fly to roost. After a couple times helping her she was finally able to balance herself and settle in. Everyone else looked ruffled but OK, just a bit stressed.
We walked around with the flashlight and found clues.. One huge pile of RIR feathers looked like the first attack site. Second pile was roo feathers... they were about 15 feet away from the RIR pile. Leading back to the barn area were two more piles of roo feathers, then inside the pasture was another small pile of RIR feather and another big roo pile.
Well, lo and behold, this morning I went out to do some daylight investigating and to see how everyone fared the night.. and who was wandering around outside the coop but my RIR girl!?!? I figure the two roos put up just enough of a fight to help her get away. I am so proud of them.
HOWEVER, upon further inspection the RIR hen isn't doing so well. She spent the whole morning bedded down in the coop so after she rested a bit I got her out to check her. Her hind end is torn UP. Her vent looks to be torn up, though everything is so swollen and swirled with messy feathers it was hard to tell. I did hold her so hubby could hose off the hind end, a friend held up her tail and plucked some of the messy feathers from around her vent and then we poured a ton of betadine on her whole hind-end. So we will see. She did let loose a VERY big BM immediately after, so that made me feel good. She is eating and drinking.
Can anyone else think of anything I should do? I really hope we don't end up having to cull her. Also, I'm thinking this was likely dogs? It wasn't a very clean job at all so I'm thinking it was no kind of true wild, experienced predator. There are lots of stray dogs around here, two JRTs amongst them lately.. and I read that a fox usually goes for the neck.
Anyway, just wanted to vent/share. It's just been a roller coaster, thinking RIR was dead, then she's alive! Then hurt pretty bad. Guess I just got a false sense of security with as much time as I've had them with no incident. Ugh...
Just wanted to share, we were gone from about 4pm until 10pm last night and when I went out to close up the flock, got a surprise. First bad sign was my Black Star girl on the floor of the coop, dazed, and walking around. The others were all up to roost. I also saw a big clump of her black feathers. Opened the walk-in door to check her out and found my RIR hen was missing.
I helped the Black Star up to roost and found that she had a large clump of feathers missing just above her tail and a small tear in the skin. Guess her wing was sore so she didn't fly to roost. After a couple times helping her she was finally able to balance herself and settle in. Everyone else looked ruffled but OK, just a bit stressed.
We walked around with the flashlight and found clues.. One huge pile of RIR feathers looked like the first attack site. Second pile was roo feathers... they were about 15 feet away from the RIR pile. Leading back to the barn area were two more piles of roo feathers, then inside the pasture was another small pile of RIR feather and another big roo pile.
Well, lo and behold, this morning I went out to do some daylight investigating and to see how everyone fared the night.. and who was wandering around outside the coop but my RIR girl!?!? I figure the two roos put up just enough of a fight to help her get away. I am so proud of them.
HOWEVER, upon further inspection the RIR hen isn't doing so well. She spent the whole morning bedded down in the coop so after she rested a bit I got her out to check her. Her hind end is torn UP. Her vent looks to be torn up, though everything is so swollen and swirled with messy feathers it was hard to tell. I did hold her so hubby could hose off the hind end, a friend held up her tail and plucked some of the messy feathers from around her vent and then we poured a ton of betadine on her whole hind-end. So we will see. She did let loose a VERY big BM immediately after, so that made me feel good. She is eating and drinking.
Can anyone else think of anything I should do? I really hope we don't end up having to cull her. Also, I'm thinking this was likely dogs? It wasn't a very clean job at all so I'm thinking it was no kind of true wild, experienced predator. There are lots of stray dogs around here, two JRTs amongst them lately.. and I read that a fox usually goes for the neck.
Anyway, just wanted to vent/share. It's just been a roller coaster, thinking RIR was dead, then she's alive! Then hurt pretty bad. Guess I just got a false sense of security with as much time as I've had them with no incident. Ugh...
Last edited: