Fox attack - limp neck

[FlyingNunFarm]

You could try mixing the exact to a cookie dough consistency and offer her little globs. Throwing a few crumbles in if that goes well.
My ace in the hole when I had a girl that didn't want to eat what I was offering... show her the others eating it.
I would mix up 'exact dough' in a peanut butter jar lid and take it out to the coop. With her in my lap she would eat and eat then slow down. I could feel her crop so I know there was room for more. As the others came in all interested in what treat she was getting I would offer them a little blob on my finger. As soon as she saw them getting it she would start eating again. LOL Silly Birds.

 

[RNPAULIE69]

The yellowish soft scab forming is the tissue reepithelizing (growing back). I don't know much about chickens, but if this was a human you would want to irrigate out the wound with sterile water and hydrogen peroxide and see where the wound goes. If it is just a puncture wound and the swelling is causing the vent to pop out you could either just keep it clean irrigating it 2-3 times a day, or you could pack it with wet to dry dressings changing it once a day. Some ideas for you that we did in cosmetic surgery, I'm sure it would work on a chicken! I hope that she continues on the road to recovery, she seems like a tough girl!

I would be very careful using hydrogen peroxide.. studies have show it is damaging to healthy tissue. We don't use it at all on human wounds any more.

 

[6PeckinChickens]

I would be very careful using hydrogen peroxide.. studies have show it is damaging to healthy tissue. We don't use it at all on human wounds any more.

It can be damaging just as much as it can be beneficial. It is a lot more damaging if used full strength, which is why I said to irrigate with it mixed. When you irrigate with hydrogen peroxide mixed with normal saline or sterile water it's a way to debride the tissue without having to go in and physically debride it. We mixed 1-2 cap fulls to 500 mL, so very little. There are some doctors that use it and there are some that don't. Doctors preference.

 

[casportpony]

I would be very careful using hydrogen peroxide.. studies have show it is damaging to healthy tissue. We don't use it at all on human wounds any more.

It can be damaging just as much as it can be beneficial. It is a lot more damaging if used full strength, which is why I said to irrigate with it mixed. When you irrigate with hydrogen peroxide mixed with normal saline or sterile water it's a way to debride the tissue without having to go in and physically debride it. We mixed 1-2 cap fulls to 500 mL, so very little. There are some doctors that use it and there are some that don't. Doctors preference.

This link says it's not a good antiseptic, so that's the main reason I don't used it.
http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/16.pdf

 

[biophiliac]

Thanks for the link. I saw where it says Hydrogen peroxide is ineffective against bacteria but can be an effective sporicide in case of suspected clostridia infection as well useful in the initial cleansing of wounds/debridement.

This was pretty much my view [except i did't know about the clostridia], but good to see it from a reliable source.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks for the link. I saw where it says Hydrogen peroxide is ineffective against bacteria but can be an effective sporicide in case of suspected clostridia infection as well useful in the initial cleansing of wounds/debridement.

This was pretty much my view [except i did't know about the clostridia], but good to see it from a reliable source.

Lots of good info there. Here is the master link. The two books there are my avian bibles.
http://avianmedicine.net/

 

[Eleanor C]

I'm sorry I've had a few fox attacks but never one like this. But I found that after a possum attack one of my hens survived even though she was mostly limp and had bite marks too. I cleaned her bites once a day fed her mush food ( chicken feed smashed with water ) once I tube fed her because I couldn't do it with an eye dropper. I kept her in for about 4 days give her extra water she started getting back up on day four but I've read other cases and sometimes it takes longer. Sorry about that make sure that foxes won't get in again.

 

[Loona]

Hi Everyone,
We have had a bit of a break through. We graduated Olga to a litter box that has a lid. LOL I think she was getting tired of sitting in the bin. She kept pulling her legs up and sitting on the towel alot. Later I was having a party for my daughter and the excitement would be too much so we put her on the deck in her litter box inside of a pen. She liked it so much. She seemed very content. This went on a couple days and then yesterday I let her walk around the deck. She really did a good job walking. I was astounded. I picked her up and took her in the yard and what do you know she was all floppy and falling down and couldn't get up. Put her back on the deck and voila, back to walking. LOL I can't figure this chicken out! She is mind-boggling!
Another breakthrough is food. She is beginning to peck at her food bowl AND drinking water. But she will only drink water out of this certain cup. Weirdest thing! She is spoiled rotten!
So she ate some leftover mexican rice today. She's also eating cooked corn niblets. She loves them. But it's extremely good to see her interested in her feed again. I am seeing some good signs within the past two or three days.

But now I'm seeing a concerning issue and it's not just recent, it's been an on and off thing, but now it's almost daily and consistent. She pants. Usually she really pants after a time of being in the yard. I don't like her to get too worn out so I do bring her back in. But now that she has become a bit more mobile, I think it's a problem. I've checked into gapeworms and respiratory illness. I'm not sure if she has either one, but she might. I don't know what to do. I checked her throat by looking with a flashlight but I don't see anything. Today I noticed on nostril looked wet but wondered if it was from her drinking.

I will upload a video and you can see that panting that she does. It's on and off, on and off all day. I'm so worried. After all this rehab and something else comes on. Hmmm. I just don't know what it is.
Today my daughter was home sick and laid in the big chair with a blanket and Olga decided to walk over and rest with her. It is so adorable. Tonight I told Olga come on, come on as I pat the ottoman, and she jumped right up on it. This bird will walk all over the house and as soon as you put her outside, she flops around like a rag doll! I don't get this! But her panting is a real concern right now and I'm hoping someone might have suggestions. I do have some Clavamox leftover and I do have some Tylan powder from a previous Avian vet a couple years ago. I don't know how she could've gotten gapeworms as she hasn't been out in the pen for two months and the others aren't panting. So maybe it is respiratory. Any clues or suggestions? Thank you! I will upload a video of her now walking in the house. You will see her mouth breathing.

 

[Loona]

This is her walking around the house yesterday.

This is her tonight after she jumped onto the ottoman. She does have a bit of poopy butt because she was in the litter box. Her poopies vary. Some days they look like normal chicken poop, another day a watery blog, today I noticed normal looking poops but on a very small scale, like as big as a regular size marble.

This is her this morning. She wants so badly to reach around to her preening gland but she does have a hard time doing so.

 

[Loona]

I'm sorry I've had a few fox attacks but never one like this. But I found that after a possum attack one of my hens survived even though she was mostly limp and had bite marks too. I cleaned her bites once a day fed her mush food ( chicken feed smashed with water ) once I tube fed her because I couldn't do it with an eye dropper. I kept her in for about 4 days give her extra water she started getting back up on day four but I've read other cases and sometimes it takes longer. Sorry about that make sure that foxes won't get in again.

Oh yes, we've taken all precautions under tight scrutiny since the event. All the coops are tight as a drum now with locks and clips and we don't take any chances leaving any doors open. The only thing that might get in there is a bear, and what do you know, for the first time in my life a bear was in our yard last week in the middle of the night. A Big Huge black bear!! It was casually checking out the yard and I begged, oh please leave my chickens alone! It did. Shew! It didn't even care about them. It went away not caring we were watching it with a flashlight. It was so silent as it walked, it was creepy. I also keep the window open and listen for the outside. My dog sleeps at the corner of the bed and that is how we were alerted to the bear or more like saw it moving. I seriously couldn't believe my eyes. We don't get bears around here, but there were sightings in another town over which is the foothills of the Bull Run mountain in Manassas, VA. I think over-development is pushing them out. But it's basically unheard of here. Not anymore! That sucker is out there. We do have horses and it saw the horses and I'm not sure if it deterred it, but it just moseyed away. I hope we don't see that ever again.