Help for Traumatized Bobcat Survivor

[fernfam]

Hello! On Monday evening we had our first attack from a bobcat. It attacked while people were outside to witness what was happening. It grabbed a hold of one of our barred rock pullets and took off running. For some reason it dropped her and we were able to get her back. She had a little bit of a bloody face and just a few feathers missing with a little bit of bleeding under her wing. She won't eat or drink and she buries herself in a corner of the coop. She is now isolated from the rest of the flock in a large brooder cage but she's still in the coop. Should we remove her from the coop? Should we cover the brooder box so she doesn't feel threatened by the rest of the chickens (I'm worried about the heat and humidity, this is Texas) What can we do to get her to eat or drink? The wounds seem to be healing. We've applied some hydrogen peroxide to the bleeding wounds. Should we try some antibiotic ointment?

I should mention that the same bobcat got a hold of one of our guineas as well. She was dropped as well and went missing the whole next day. My son found her trying to get back onto our property behind our fence on Wednesday morning. She went straight for the food and water and has been mingling outside with the rest of the flock. She's fine; doesn't seem to be shocked like our barred rock. Maybe it's because she wasn't injured?

Thank you in advance!

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

Keep her up and warm, and get her hydrated. I would not cover the brooder(I think they do better when in range of the flock/not as scary?) I would put petroleum jelly on the cuts to help them heal. It sounds like shock/trauma is the bigger concern, because physically chickens are pretty darn resilient. Good luck!