Could this be shock?

[Mum]

I was awake at 3.30am, so I got up, made a cup of tea and took it back to bed with me. Around 4am, I heard one of my chooks making a noise. Grabbed my dressing gown, ran downstairs to the back porch, turned on the torch - nothing around the chooks; so, back to bed.

The chook made a noise about every 10 minutes; but I must have fallen asleep between 4.30 and 5am.

At 7am, I went to let the girls out, as usual they all came running - except for Sienna. She was in the nest box, breathing rapidly, couldn't stand up and offered no resistance when I picked her up.

I put her in our "hospital" pet carrier with a little food and water and brought her into the house. She was falling asleep, not interested in water or food, still breathing rapidly and, frankly, I would have said she only had a couple of hours to live

It is now 7hrs on. She's looking perkier, breathing back to normal, still not eating but has drunk something, albeit a little; ;hasn't stood up yet, but she is now moving her legs a little. So, not at deaths door as I feared, but still not 100%.

I'm now thinking she may have been in shock (literally petrified!). Now, I didn't see anything around their home when I checked early hours - only heard a chook noise. If it was a predator of any kind it would have to have been an extremely small one!! All the other chooks are fine; just Sienna.

Any thoughts/ideas??

I'm going to keep her indoors for the rest of the day and over night to monitor her and let the extra warmth do its healing job for her.

 

[ChicKat]

I hope Sienna fully recovers.

Do you have Snakes where you are? (I know St.Patrick chased them out of Ireland, but .... :O) are you in the UK?) The reason that I ask is that my chickens went berserk making noise twice, and it was due to a snake in the area. following the information that you have stated, perhaps the predator was NOT something large that you were expecting, but something small, and well hidden? A chicken nightmare perhaps. It sounds like it must have been something that disturbed the chicken in question from sleep based on the timeline.

Good luck with the outcome.

 

[Mum]

Thank you, ChicKat for taking the time to post and for your opinion

I am reasonably confident it was not a snake - but accept I cannot rule that out! I am in the uK ( South East)

As I type, I have my girlie on my leg - that is not *the* news ... THE news is ... she has laid an egg!!!! Despite whatever caused her symptoms, she is still fully functional and improving by the minute!! (Thank you, God!!!) She is, at this moment, standing on both legs, but not walking (yet!) Her breathing has returned to normal but her appetite is still meagre.

Bottom line though is: she ladi and egg!!! So she must be improving; right!?

 

[ChicKat]

Absolutely----

egg laying is a sign of a healthy happy chicken. -- Pay close attention to tomorrow too, since the egg cycle is usually something like 24-hours.

I had a chook with a near-death experience last summer. She fully recovered....and is now healthy and happy. Thanks for posting back to update too...it is nice to hear the rest of the story.

Never-the-less, although I'm not much help, I have always heard that in darkness chickens are sort of in a zombie-like stupor, so the fact that she was hollering in the wee hours of the morning is strange.

Neat news about the egg!!!!!