Hawk Attack... injured hen! Please help with where to start...

[JacP]

I was out cleaning the coop today when my chickens started freaking out!!
My Roosters were screaming I was looking around trying to figure out what had them upset I noted 4 hens were missing.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement, I walked over thinking it was my hens!! … it was 1 hen, dead being eaten by a hawk! My nicest hen Mama! RIP little one (so sad). The hawk flew to the roof & hissed at me!!!
I quickly went & got the hens I could find & my roos into the hen house. I walked through the ditches to find my other hens, I did find them but 1 is badly hurt.
It looks like the hawk tried to rip her head off? She has a peck wound that’s open not bleeding…
No feathers on her back she is plucked bare. She is very dirty!
Her eye is very swollen, pretty much closed… lots of blood under it, inside the soft skin making her nose bleed.
It seems the bleeding has stopped although she sounds wheezy & gurgled when breathing.
I have put her in a very big dog crate in my mud room to keep her warm, lots of hay in it for her to sleep on, I have given her some water but she isn’t interested.
I don’t know what to do for her other than that!
She is ultra alert, very skittish, swollen & bloody.
Questions:

1. Do I just let her sleep now for the rest of the night & not worry about the wounds as they seem to be ok.. (That’s what she is doing in the crate, sleeping. She gets very stressed when I go look at her)
2. Do I feed her now? If so what? if not when?
3. Do I have to worry about her going into shock?
4. Do I need to provide her with a heat light.. or pad? I could heat the bottom of the crate?
5. How will she do on her own? The mudroom is dark & quiet, slightly cool.

Because the boot/coat room is dark should I leave the lights off for her, or turn em on so its bright???
Please help me!!!! What should I do to help her!! She is a mess! (so am I, what a nightmare!)
What would you do??
I can post some pictures of the eye if needed..

 

[ronott1]

I was out cleaning the coop today when my chickens started freaking out!!
My Roosters were screaming I was looking around trying to figure out what had them upset I noted 4 hens were missing.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement, I walked over thinking it was my hens!! … it was 1 hen, dead being eaten by a hawk! My nicest hen Mama! RIP little one (so sad). The hawk flew to the roof & hissed at me!!!
I quickly went & got the hens I could find & my roos into the hen house. I walked through the ditches to find my other hens, I did find them but 1 is badly hurt.
It looks like the hawk tried to rip her head off? She has a peck wound that’s open not bleeding…
No feathers on her back she is plucked bare. She is very dirty!
Her eye is very swollen, pretty much closed… lots of blood under it, inside the soft skin making her nose bleed.
It seems the bleeding has stopped although she sounds wheezy & gurgled when breathing.
I have put her in a very big dog crate in my mud room to keep her warm, lots of hay in it for her to sleep on, I have given her some water but she isn’t interested.
I don’t know what to do for her other than that!
She is ultra alert, very skittish, swollen & bloody.
Questions:

1. Do I just let her sleep now for the rest of the night & not worry about the wounds as they seem to be ok.. (That’s what she is doing in the crate, sleeping. She gets very stressed when I go look at her)
2. Do I feed her now? If so what? if not when?
3. Do I have to worry about her going into shock?
4. Do I need to provide her with a heat light.. or pad? I could heat the bottom of the crate?
5. How will she do on her own? The mudroom is dark & quiet, slightly cool.

Because the boot/coat room is dark should I leave the lights off for her, or turn em on so its bright???
Please help me!!!! What should I do to help her!! She is a mess! (so am I, what a nightmare!)
What would you do??
I can post some pictures of the eye if needed..

Clean up the wounds and put anti bacterial ointment without pain killer on them. Giver her water with electrolytes today and see if she will eat a scrambled egg. Try solid food tomorrow.

It sounds like the hawk tried to fly off with her and dropped her. If so, she may have internal injuries and my die from those. The next couple of days will be critical so lets hope for the best!

 

[JacP]

She is not wanting to eat or drink.. It worries me a bit.

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[JacP]

It's hard to see in the picture but there is blood under her skin, under her eye.. Swelling the eye closed.
She is in rough shape.
Would she do better having another hen with her?

 

[ronott1]

It's hard to see in the picture but there is blood under her skin, under her eye.. Swelling the eye closed.
She is in rough shape.
Would she do better having another hen with her?

Let her recover on her own. When she is better, put her back with the flock at night.

I hope she gets better soon!

 

[JacP]

Ok so she is still not eating today...
I syringed some yogurt & apple sauce made thin with water into her... she accepted it in slow little bits but I don't know how much got into her her little face is so swollen I cant really put the syringe into her beak as the swelling today is tremendous! If i dip her beak into water she will drink small little bits... 1 or 2 swallows (it has electrolytes in it)
I'm worried if I don't get food & water into her she will just get weaker & die. Poor darling!
she is quite warm to the touch too... like hot warm...

I just feel lost here!

I was reading on here to feed some wet cat food..?? thin it with water & syringe it in?


I need somebody to help me with information on treatment for her!
She is still in a Kennel in my family room. If I just left her alone she would sleep all day, not eat & not drink!!

PLEASE!!!!
What do I do now? I really dont want to cull her & I dont want her to suffer.
Any help??

 

[JacP]

So stressful!!!

 

[PerfectPoultry]

So sorry for your loss and your injured hen!

1. Keep her in a dog crate with some hay.
2. Make sure she has plenty of water w/ electrolytes and apple cider vinigear.
3. Put antibacterial ointment on her wounds w/ NO pain killers! Make sure they are always dressed with it and that they are not bleeding.
4. Could you post a close up pic of her eye? Get a warm rag and hold it over her eye for about five minutes... Should reduce SOME swelling.
5. Make sure she's in a warm dark and quiet room.

Good luck to you and your hen!

 

[Dudu]

You are doing such a great thing trying to save her. I actually feel that you will succeed - unless there are some serious internal injuries, she should pull through.

I would not worry TOO much about her not eating for a day or two - although it sounds awful, in my (limited, mind you) experience, if they are in an OK condition, not eating a few days is not going to kill them. Water is a different thing however.

We once had a hen who was in a crate with another one (temporarily as they were both broody, so we wanted to break them from broodiness) and being partly fighting breeds, one picked the other's head so bad there was hardly any meat on the back of her skull. I tried a honey based healing cream that usually is excellent for people and dogs with cut paws etc... But it didn't do anything for the hen. Then we just sprayed everything with Blue Spray as that's the only thing we could do. It worked MIRACLES. It took a long time to grow everything back, but Naomi is perfectly ok now. Therefore for injuries and wounds, including ugly and infected ones, I personally recommend blue spray (but I'd have to see what ingredients ours has because they can be different).

With this hen, after a few days I had to begin to tempt her with some greens - ruccola (rocket) salad did it for her, but I'm sure some other greens would too. But she was in so much pain or shock that she would not pick anything, so I had to gently open her beak and push a piece at a time in it, and she would taste it and swallow it. Then, to begin to fill her with something serious, I made scrambled eggs with some chick crumbs baked into them (cos I couldn't just shove pellets one by one into her beak) - that way, I'd break off a small peace of this "omelet"/scrambled egg and in every piece there would be some chick crumbs baked into it. I had to hand feed her for a week and what a celebration it was when after 7 days she finally picked for the first time from my hand.

I don't know if it will help your henny, but thought I'd post what I've seen so far. Fingers crossed for your girlie, and for you too, of course.

 

[JacP]

She is still not eating on her own... But she seems to be looking better... Her eye is so swollen. It looks like the hawk tried to rip her head off.
My friendly little hen s no longer friendly... She is very scared & just a bundle of nerves.
Yesterday I thought er jaw may be broken but seeing her move today I don't think so...
Ill take some pics of her progression & post them tonight.