Hawk Attack!!!

[USC Chick]

One of our beloved barred rock hens was attacked by a hawk today. He took a chunk out of her back (ripped the skin off). She still moves around but slowly. What should we do? Does she need to be quarantined so others don't peck her and to rest? Any home remedies? Thanks!

 

[NovaAman]

YES! You need to separate her IMMEDIATELY! A large tote, a dog kennel, pet carrier... Clean the wound up, apply neosporin or any triple antibiotic ointment that DOES NOT have pain meds in it, NO CAINE, this is very bad for chickens.

Also keep her warm and quiet. Put a towel over the pet carrier or dog kennel. Food and water in with her. Add a little poulty drench to water, or directly in her mouth for quicker absorbtion.

Chickens can recover from remarkable things. Good luck, and sorry about your girl.

Oh, keep her separate till the wound is closed up and healing. THEN you can spray it with blue kote before you re-intoduce her to the flock.

 

[NovaAman]

Watch for infection. You man need to give penicilin if infection occurs.

 

[USC Chick]

Thanks! We tried to separate HIM (we discovered that after we heard some growling and saw some "herding" ). He didn't take to being alone well and paced and rammed himself against the wire immediately, so we cleaned him up with betadine and have been applying neosporin but let him free-range with the others. It's been 5 days and he hasn't skipped a beat, and the wound is closing and scarring over. Keeping our fingers crossed - until we saw some of the attack picks on the forum we were sure he was a goner! Chickens are tough!

 

[mgtuttin]

My young Fayoumis hen got attacked by a hawk today. Thanks for the info! I was able to scare the hawk away but he got one bite at her. I put her in a carrier with food and water and will put Neosporin on her tonight. I think she'll be ok as long as it doesn't get infected. She'll be spending the night in our mudroom. Her best friend Skittles is worried. I'll get them together tomorrow.