After a year and half of having backyard chickens and no problems with predators, it happened the other night (we think a raccoon). My partner and I woke up to a horrible sound and immediately grabbed the flashlights and went towards it. Flash forward and all hens were alive but one sustained probably all of the injuries and was taken to the vet as soon as possible. She has a few gashes, one of them between the wings is particularly gnarly, and we thought she lost an eye - aaaand she was also in the middle of her first adult molt. 
The vet made it sound like she will recover well with meds, rest etc. and her eye is still there and will probably recover as well. So that was was a huge relief.
However I'm not sure the vet was able to witness that when she tries to eat on her own, her aim is off. She can walk slowly, and is standing, sitting, etc. just fine. So "balance" isn't really the proper word for the title of this thread but I didn't know how else to phrase it.
Also liquids haven't been a problem so she's been getting water and food/nutrients in liquid form. But when I present her favorite thing in the world, a blueberry, she's interested and goes for it but can't get it on her own. She consistently aims too far to one side. It seems like it's getting more and more accurate each day (writing this at the end of day 3) but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this. I'm hoping it's just because the eye is swollen shut but also deeply concerned it's something more complicated (neurological damage, disease, etc.).
This is my first post that's not a "reply" so apologies if I did anything incorrectly. I've seen other posts introducing similar situations with eye injury and abnormal head movements, but couldn't find one with any conclusion.
The vet made it sound like she will recover well with meds, rest etc. and her eye is still there and will probably recover as well. So that was was a huge relief. However I'm not sure the vet was able to witness that when she tries to eat on her own, her aim is off. She can walk slowly, and is standing, sitting, etc. just fine. So "balance" isn't really the proper word for the title of this thread but I didn't know how else to phrase it.
Also liquids haven't been a problem so she's been getting water and food/nutrients in liquid form. But when I present her favorite thing in the world, a blueberry, she's interested and goes for it but can't get it on her own. She consistently aims too far to one side. It seems like it's getting more and more accurate each day (writing this at the end of day 3) but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this. I'm hoping it's just because the eye is swollen shut but also deeply concerned it's something more complicated (neurological damage, disease, etc.).
This is my first post that's not a "reply" so apologies if I did anything incorrectly. I've seen other posts introducing similar situations with eye injury and abnormal head movements, but couldn't find one with any conclusion.
