Hawk attack

[matilda19]

Hello, one of my year old buff orpingtons was attacked by a hawk yesterday afternoon. She admirably fought it off and we scared it away and immediately brought her inside to the house and put her in a dog crate. We confined the rest of the flock to their coop and run and I cleaned her wounds with saline solution and applied neosporin. She is in our basement in the crate and is up and alert , eliminating normally and had some scrambled egg with garlic mashed into it this am. I also mixed some layer pellets with a lot of water and I think she has taken some of that but she seems really disinterested in drinking water. She has energy and is vocal and was an exceptionally good girl when I cleaned her wounds this am. I’m obviously concerned with infection and am unsure what to look for as red flags. She doesn’t feel overly hot to the touch and I read on here that I should be able to feel a temp increase in her body and feet and so far I don’t. Should I use an eye dropper to get her more fluids or stay watchful and wait for her to drink? Any advice on care of open wounds is most welcome. She lost a great deal of feathers so I plan on keeping her inside until fully healed and or the weather improves. We are located in Maine and it’s still quite cold for a good few weeks here to come. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[coach723]

It sounds like she's doing well considering, and that you are doing everything you can. Since she is acting pretty normally I would just keep offering things and keep an eye on her, if she's eating she's probably drinking. Here is a link to a longer article, with pictures, of the healing process of a hen that was attacked and wounded pretty severely. Should help with what to look for and what things may look like. http://richie-cunningham.com/2012/04/11/chicken-wound-healing-process/
If you have questions about the wounds specifically, then posting pictures of them would help in getting suggestions. Veterycin wound and skin care spray is usually widely available and is good for use on them: https://www.chewy.com/vetericyn-plu...VS16GCh2I7g20EAYYCCABEgJqBvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Most feed and pet stores carry it, it may be in the dog/cat section but is good for all species, may be in a blue or white bottle. You can use it for as long as needed and it will aid in healing. As long as there is no infection, and no internal damage, they are pretty resilient and can heal up from some pretty severe wounds. Best of luck with her.

 

[Jrose]

I’ve dealt with a wide variety of awful wounds on birds and have never used antibiotics for them. A healthy bird shouldn’t develope infection if you clean the wound well initially and keep her clean. There’s a wide variety of medical sterile solutions as well as natural herbal methods for cleaning wounds. I had one of my first hens get chomped by a huge dog. Her ribs were cracked in many places, her back was bloody, her feathers ripped out and her skin blue and green with bruises. She had bloody stool. I thought she was a goner. I flushed the wounds daily and treated her with topical herbal solutions, and shoot, she lived another 4 years!

 

[matilda19]

Thanks so much for the info and pep talks! She seems to still be fever free and it’s astonishing how quickly she’s rebounding, her abraised skin looks so much better already and so far her many wounds look infection free and on the road to healing. I am much less panicked today.

 

[coach723]

Lucky bird!! Everything looks pretty good right now, so I'd just keep doing what you are doing and watch for infection. It may take until she molts for the feathers to come back in, you'll have to see, so she may be a naked neck for a while. I wouldn't put her back with the other birds until she's not a pecking risk. If you have room in your run you could move the crate out there so they can see each other, but not get to her wounds, once she's well enough and it's warm enough.

 

[Sublight]

My silkie got attacked by a red tail hawk, and I chased it off. But not before it gashed her open.
She lost a lot of blood and stuff, but survived.

My suggestion, try to keep it clean.
If you have it then spray vetricyn on it to help the wound.
Give it feed and water.
Put electrolytes in the water.
Your chicken should be fine.

 

[Kat C]

We had a hen attacked by a hawk last year. When I brought her in the house she couldn't even hold her head up. I thought maybe a claw had pierced her skull but couldn't find any wounds. Still she couldn't walk, her head flopped, I thought I would just let her die inside or maybe dispatch her. An hour later she jumped out of the box. She's fine and laying up a storm. Chickens heal faster than humans from wounds that look horrible. I agree with others that cleaning is enough, antibiotics aren't needed.

 

[Kat C]

PS if a bird won't eat you can try open her mouth and push food in. I've gotten quite good at that. Few birds can keep me from feeding them! For drinking I hold a small lid with water under the beak and use it to push the top beak open a bit and drizzle water in. Or sometimes it is enough to just put her beak in water to get drinking started.

 

[matilda19]

Well she’s eating and drinking and even laid an egg in the dog crate so she’s graduated up to an xpen . She’s pretty energetic and definitely annoyed with being in the hen hospital. Thanks everyone for the advice and support!!