Help! Hawk Attack, Chicken Still Alive **Update, 9 p.m.**

[serinat]

Had a hawk attack moments ago. Our one and only chicken with a name, Speedy, was attacked. We can't help but love the stupid thing - he was given to us by friends who raised him alone, so he thinks he's a person. When my husband ran out there, he was lying on his side, breathing heavily and twitching, but alive. His eye is bloody, but he has no other visible wounds. He is not getting off his side, however, and his neck seems twisted.

Do I wait, or put him out of his misery? I don't want him to suffer, but I don't want to kill him if there's a chance he can be saved. Please help.

This is why I didn't want a pet chicken!

 

[awesomefowl]

Disinfect disinfect disinfect. Put some antiseptic cream on the eye after it stops bleeding. Try to keep him calm, and isolate him from the other birds. Put some Duramycin in his drinking water. Hope this helps. I don't know about the neck though.

 

[serinat]

he's in the house in a box right now, just lying on his side. the way he's holding his neck twisted makes me think he's not going to get any better. but i don't know how to tell.

 

[Judy]

Are his wings or legs moving at all? If you lift one a little, do you feel any muscular response in him? If not, his neck is probably broken....

I'm so sorry.

 

[MissJenny]

Give him several hours to calm down and get his bearings. Sometimes what looks like a great big monumental irreversible trauma turns out to be a great big nothing. Keep him calm, coo too him -- since he thinks he's a person he will be comforted by your voice.

Let us know how he does,
Jenny

 

[terrilhb]

I wish I coud help. All I can say is you can also go onto the emergency part there are lots of posts about hawk attacks. Prayers sent to you and your family and the baby. I am so sorry

 

[tammye]

may sound crazy, but can he move his feet? does he react when you touch his feet, if so, then he has feelings in them and probably does not have a broken neck. best you can do is get him inside in a warm area, he may be in shock also form the attack. clean any wounds, antibiotic cream is fine, but not so sure about in his eyes, I would read the instructions to see if that would be safe to do first. If he gets better by days end I would try to give him some electrolyte solution in his water. hope he does OK, good luck with him.

 

[Noelg]

how about a pic of how he is holding his head?

inside is good, he might just be in shock, keep him warm and maybe a bit of sugar water if you dont have electrolytes available. i will see if i can find the post for you i read a while back on treating after a trama.

hawks will grab and go for the neck, double check and make sure there are no wounds.... if his feet will still move,i would take it as a good sign. if his neck was broken, i dont think he would be able to move his legs.

got my fingers crossed for you, i lost a silkie to a hawk not that long ago.

Noelg

 

[serinat]

he can move his feet and wings. he just tried to talk to me, which is good. still flopped over funny and sideways.

thank you for your help. i'm encouraged to know there's hope, but worried about his neck. no visible injury there.

 

[serinat]

speedy is still hanging on. he's trying to stand up and can bear weight on both legs, so i know they're fine. but he is unable to stand up straight for more than a second or two. he can move both wings. his head and neck are still tilted to the side. he is not using his right eye, so i know he was injured there. he opens it once in a while, but i don't think he can see out of it. he keeps his neck and head craned to the left and i think that's the reason his balance is so out of whack.

he is cheeping and talking to me, and i can't see giving up on him now. but he is unable to eat; he tries, but either can't see it or can't control his neck well enough to get where he wants to go. i hold the food right up to his mouth, and once in a while he takes a little nibble, but most of it falls. drinking is completely out of the question; he freaked out when i tried to gently push his beak toward the water.

every time i go down to check on him, he cheeps and tries to stand. he even tries to jump out to get in my lap. (he was raised for his first eight weeks by a family with five children, and was handled by them often. my other chickens would never let me hold them.) but he's so...crooked. i don't know how to describe it. i think something must be stretched or broken, but i don't know how to tell what or how or what to do to help.

any suggestions? i can't give up on a chicken who seems to have so much fight left and no visible injuries, but i can't imagine that a crooked, wobbly chicken is a good thing.