Chickens were out in the meadow (as they are every day when it’s not raining) with our dog on watch duty and I was inside taking a nap. Woke to very alarmed calls by chickens and barks by dog. Raced out in my house shoes to find dog patrolling the area and the rooster having herded his hens into a corner by the gate. My big slow Brahma and one of my Welsumers were just rounding the corner of their coop to join the rest. I did a head count and they were all there. I called them into their run with treats and all but the two usual stragglers and that Welsumer went in. I walked over and the Welsumer didn’t budge, I could pick her up without a fuss (very unusual, non of my hens are happy being handled at all). I looked her over and saw a few loose feathers and some blood from one of her waddles. She was breathing with an open beak. Went around the coop and saw a pile of her feathers in one spot. Dog sniffed intensely around the area. I put some vetericyn on the wound and checked her all over - nothing else. More loose feathers in her neck area and under her wings. I set up a pen in the coop with a pile of hay and feed and water. Offered treats but she didn’t want them. Her breathing got a bit better after a while and an hour later she looked a tad livelier, so I hope she’ll be fine. I wonder what it could have been? I wonder if it was a hawk, and that’s why the dog missed it? But the location of the loose feathers suggest something might have tried to carry it off? And what about the injury to the wattle?
Anyway - does this ring a bell for anyone? And do chickens go into some type of shock with an attack that could explain why she was so droopy even without showing much injuries?
Thanks!
Anyway - does this ring a bell for anyone? And do chickens go into some type of shock with an attack that could explain why she was so droopy even without showing much injuries?
Thanks!