Does my bird have a broken wing or infection? Coyote attacked my coop. Help please!

[operabird]

Hi BYC, I'm having trouble determining what's wrong with a couple of my chickens. Over the holiday weekend, a coyote tore down the chicken run and forced his way into the coop. He/she broke the leg of one of my hens and he/she bit and tore into the wing of another. Our dog chased the coyote off right away so I haven't lost any birds. And we identified the weakness in the chicken run and fixed it. One of the chickens has a broken leg but she's already getting better.

The other hen though was being dragged off by her wing. The coyote had bit into her wing and there was one bloody spot. I rinsed it with saline and I sprayed Veterycin on it to keep it from getting infected. Been feeding them eggs and yogurt in addition to crumbles and lettuce for extra protein. The day after the attack I just kept her wound clean. No extra bleeding or pecking from the other girls. Two days after the attack though she started dragging the injured wing. I plan on wrapping her wing- but I'm wondering if her wing is broken or infected? She is a very sweet bird but lately she really doesn't want me to touch her wing or take care of her wounds. I can only assume that means it's painful for her? I'm very gentle in handling her. I really do love my chickens. My biggest fear is that she's suffering and I should have put her down all along. I don't want my bird to suffer. This is a young flock- under a year old. So I know they can heal quickly which is why I'm fighting for this bird. Advice anyone?

 

[Stiggy]

trim back her feathers on that wing, s they will be heavy and causing her to droop it, and drag it round. try keeping it clean and bandaged, if you have to then pack it with wound powder or something similer. if its got pus coming out of it then its already infected. I would also be worried about the one with a broken leg, as leg injuries in chickens can lead to painful movement and arthritis over time. if you are concerned that all isn't well then taking her to a vet would be a good idea, they may also give her a rabies shot as a precaution.

 

[operabird]

Thanks, Stiggy, for the reply. I had already trimmed feathers back which makes it easier to clean and see the wound. The wound itself is about the size of a dime? It does look much improved. Called a vet and she said that she didn't think it was a broken wing and told me not to bandage it myself and to just keep the wound clean. The bird with a broken leg...or what I thought was a broken leg? Was walking around on her leg today with less of a limp than yesterday. Vet told me that if I'm already seeing improvement then it may not be a break but a fracture/sprain type deal.

On a sadder note, a completely unrelated pullet dropped dead today and we have no clue why. All the other 5 month old pullets look great. This was our Barred Rock. She was actually bigger than all our other birds so we don't know if that had something to do with it? Considering taking the bird to the vet to figure out why it died. This was a bird completely unrelated to the coyote attack and uneffected by it. We're planning on cleaning out the coop as a precaution and cleaning all the feeding and watering supplies. Is there anyway to know why the bird died? My boyfriend says that sometimes birds die the first time they try to lay an egg, but I think it was too early for this bird to lay. My boyfriend said that he was shocked at how heavy the bird was. Does that have anything to do with it?

Sorry so many questions. All of a sudden my flock is puzzling me.

 

[Stiggy]

she could of had a heart attack, which can happen suddenly in young birds, and older obease ones especially. however she may have gotten such a fright and gone into shock which is aso possible

 

[operabird]

I think you are right. She was "obese" in comparison to the other birds. She was always abnormally large but we never saw her eating more than any other bird- but who knows. We don't hover over them 24/7. And the two barred rocks we have are our first ones so we didn't really know what to expect. Anyway, we've been keeping a close eye on the other birds and all of them are fine. And the three hens that were attacked are doing better. The one with a broken leg is doing better and started trying to fly so we clipped her wings to prevent her further injuring her leg. And the bird with the hurt wing is looking better too. I think we've done everything we can to prevent any more attacks. We built our coop out of scrap wood from a demolition in our backyard. So now we know that we periodically need to test hinges and locks etc to make sure nothing is loose- things like that. Tough learning experience for sure. Thanks, Stiggy!