Hawk attack. Injured silkie hen, help

[Juliechickens]

Hi Friends,
Today a hawk attacked my smallest white silkie hen. Hubby ran out just in time. Hawk was on top of silkie but let her loose as hubby went out. Hubby shot at hawk with a pellet gun and didn't seem to phase hawk too much even though we think he may have hit hawk. Hubby stepped in hole as he was running through yard and has pulled muscle in leg, now limping and in pain. Hubby more injured than hawk.
Silkie in inside on my couch with another silkie friend. She was laying sleeping on her side. She is standing up, squatting and resting fine now. Hawk pulled out about 100 of silkie's feathers. Other than that,,,there was no blood and I can't tell what's hurt on silkie. By the way, silkie's name is "Baby" as she is my smallest bird of my flock. When I hold Baby, her underside feels warm to the touch. Warmer than usual. She may have fever. Her legs and feet are warmer than usual too. I tried bringing her out to the coop tonight with the rest of the flock and she just stood there and would not move. She started shivering a little again when we were in the coop/barn like she was scared again. So I brought her and another silkie hen back inside to sit on couch. I'm afraid she may have internal injuries but I'm not sure. I don't know what to look for and maybe she is just still in shock. I think I will let her and the other silkie hen sleep inside tonight since they both feel comfortable with that. I bring them inside a lot so they are used to this room and the couch.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank, Julie

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I hope she is ok

 

[silkiechicken]

I would give her time to recover. She sounds comfortable on the couch so leave her there if you can with her friend. Right now she is probably still in deep shock so will need to rest. Generally people put the birds in a dark area to calm them, but sounds like the couch is working. Hope she makes it.

 

[nccountrygirl]

She might be in shock, keep her inside in a quite place. I hope she is ok.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

Its a good sign that you see no blood.
If there is internal injurys you can not help her.
I would guess shock.
We saw a hawk grab a white hen of ours. It only got a tallon full of feathers. She died 3 days later, she never fully recovered from the fright I truly think it weakened her hart.

LUCK I will watch tis post I sure hope she recovers.

 

[speckledhen]

Hope Baby's okay, Julie! Sounds like she is in shock, but I hope that's all. She's one lucky little hen to get rescued like that. Sorry about DH, though.

 

[CarriBrown]

Julie-
I hope your girl gets better soon! I had the same thing happen to me last Friday. The hawk was on top of Elvira, my black Silkie, when I chased it off. Elvira's eye was swollen (it is ok now) and she was in shock.
What I did for her was took her inside and put her in a dark area to keep her calm and warm. I gave her Polyvisol vitamins (four drops a day) for a few days. This was along with the Avia Charge in the water.
You can find liquid Polyvisol in the child's section of the Pharmacy.

 

[speckledhen]

For my own info, can you use the Polyvisol plus Iron? That's the only kind I can ever find. Is there a plain one without added iron?

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Hum...
I wouldn't use the iron because iron is lethal in high doses (I know from experience...

) and I would think that Polyvisol for a child would have way too much iron for a chicken.
What you can get instead is Gerber Vitamin Drops w. Vitamin D for children ages 0-3. There is no iron in it and, as far as I can tell, it has the same vitamins as the Polyvisol.

Edited to add: No, I did not kill a chicken with iron. I overdosed on iron when I was younger and spent time throwing up in the ER. Don't buy children's vitamins with iron!!!!

 

[Juliechickens]

Awww you guys are so sweet

Thank you for your support and info. The room I have her in is my sunroom and it is dark besides a real small christmas tree that is lit up with lights on the coffee table. Baby and the other silkie hen Luvy, are both resting fine. I think it could be shock too. Baby had always been so independent running with the big flock. She hangs out in the wooded yard with the rest of them and walks far from my house and it has always scared me to death. I go out about 30 times a day and check on my birds and talk to them. Today when this happened, I was inside ironing and heard nothing. My husband said the birds were giving the warning call like he had never heard before. They were screaming and running towards him as he ran outside and thats when he saw Baby with the hawk attacking her. He ran inside calling me to go get Baby and said he didn't know if she was alive or not. She was huddled down shivering by a wood pile. Feathers all around. She is still losing feathers when I pet her. A lot of feathers have been removed from her face and head bless her heart.
I was afraid to leave her in barn tonight not only because she wasn't moving but if she is injured, I didn't want the other birds to peck her. I will keep yall updated. Hopefully, she will recover and maybe if we are lucky she is just in shock. I told my husband after it happened I was amazed that Baby didn't have a heart attack.
A few weeks ago we had another hawk attack with the hawk killing a huge dark brahma bird of mine. Baby sat and watched the whole thing from about 15 feet away. When I drove up the driveway I could hear birds giving the alarm so I ran outside and could see Baby in the woods. I thought she was dead as the hawk flew up in the air. I ran out there and it was the dark brahma that died that day but Baby stood still and did not move as much as a blink when I found her. So poor Baby has witnessed this hawk before. This time, the hawk came after her though.
I realize it is against the law to kill a hawk but I will also say that hubby went and borrowed a friend's shot gun today

I'm actually hoping tomorrow hawk will return for his 20 piece chicken meal. If he does, he is in for more than a pellet gun this time. Will keep yall posted about Baby's recovery. She is so precious to us. She is my daughter's favorite bird and Baby gets babied a lot. She is a true survivor I told her. A strong girl! Hope she stays that way and gets over this shock she seems to be in. Thank you guys for all your support, it means a lot. Julie