Help!! Injured girl!

[PAchixMomma]

Last week my flock was attacked by a rabid racoon. We killed the culprit and found over half our girls either dead or injured. I have one in the house right now because she didn't seem to be eating and lacked energy. I am able to hand feed her by spoon, however she has adopted a very strange movement to get to the food. She stretches her neck real tall and almost dive bombs the spoon. I have noticed a bony bulge in the front of her neck. It almost looks like her neck is kinked. I have gotten her to stand tall and stretch it to normal position, but she is VERY uncomfortable with this. I have 2 waterers in her kennel but she will not drink from them. I am still syringe feeding her water everyday but I work fulltime and I know she is not getting the required amount of water for a bird. I need some advice, while I have no desire to put another one of my girls down as I had to for the more badly injured/but not quite dead ones that I found after the incident. But if she is not going to be able to eat or drink on her own, this may be a losing battle only to prolong the inevitable. I may be able to get a video of her behavior if that is helpful. Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance!

 

[Sunny-Side Up]

I don't really know what to say, except maybe just take her to the vet, if that's possible...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @PAchixMomma
A video may help.

Is this the most recent photo of her? (like what she looks like today)

Without seeing the action you are describing I can only guess the "dive bombing" the feed may be because she is having trouble seeing. It looks like her eye was injured - is the other one as well? She may be having a hard time gauging distance.

From the photos it looks like most of her injuries are on and about the face and head? She may also have some brain and/or neurological damage.

Some people do tube feed, I'm sure @casportpony would be happy to coach you if need be, but check out the thread first - I believe she has some videos on there.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/updated-go-team-tube-feeding.805728/

How have you treated the wounds? Is the eye still swollen?
If it is or its' closed and crusted, you may need to see if you can start working on getting the eye open. You can gently flush with saline and apply some Terramycin eye ointment or Vetericyn eye gel to the eye.

If you have them, offer some poultry vitamins and maybe some wet feed - see if she will eat it from a bowl that you hold up to her or even hand feed - that may be easier than a spoon, but getting her hydrated is most important.

 

[PAchixMomma]

This was taken last night. She was actually falling asleep during that picture. Beside her one eye was injured, but we cleaned up what we could. I checked for reactivity to light and it seems to be ok. Her other eye wasn't harmed at all. The vision thing was my first thought with her action but its like she cant quite control her head. She is missing most of her feathers on her neck and had some bruising on the back of her neck and side of her head, but no other marks or punctures on her body. She was never our most friendly chicken so even in her current state, she is not the most cooperative patient. I have been alternating giving her electrolyte/vitamin water with crushed up bananas in it and plain; and she seems to be enjoying the baby food (peas, carrots and squash) but she only eats it if I am feeding her from a spoon. I have left a bowl in the kennel for a few hours and she hasn't touched it. I have chick crumble soaked in water down there now and she didn't want anything to do with it. I mounted a rabbit water thing on the side of the cage and drew her to it with a syringe full of water trying to make a connection. She will only drink from it if I am holding it. Stubborn is about the best way to describe her.

 

[PAchixMomma]

I don't really know what to say, except maybe just take her to the vet, if that's possible...

Unfortunately the only vet that will see chickens around here is booked for another 2 weeks unless I want to pay a 300 dollar emergency fee just to be seen. Ridiculous. I love my girls...but can't afford to throw that away on one chicken.

 

[peterlund]

Unfortunately the only vet that will see chickens around here is booked for another 2 weeks unless I want to pay a 300 dollar emergency fee just to be seen. Ridiculous. I love my girls...but can't afford to throw that away on one chicken.

It does come down to economics in the end.... whether time alone or time and money. First off, she is a very pretty bird. That makes it harder. If the racoon did some internal damage then she is just suffering. Did you try something wonderful for a chicken? Srambled eggs? Yogurt? Mashed fruit??
Cant offer much mire. Your are a great owner. Sadly you gotta make the choices.
Goid luck. We are rooting for you. ... and your girl.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It sounds like you are doing the very best you can. If she does have brain/nerve/spinal injury then it may take a good while for her to recover. You may want to see if she will take some chopped egg, tuna or beef liver - these are good sources of protein. Baby food is also fine is that is what she is looking for.

 

[PAchixMomma]

It does come down to economics in the end.... whether time alone or time and money. First off, she is a very pretty bird. That makes it harder. If the racoon did some internal damage then she is just suffering. Did you try something wonderful for a chicken? Srambled eggs? Yogurt? Mashed fruit??
Cant offer much mire. Your are a great owner. Sadly you gotta make the choices.
Goid luck. We are rooting for you. ... and your girl.

Thank you! She is pretty stinking cute...i hope she gets back to that point! The first thing I tried over everything was hard boiled egg yolk and she ate that as well. I know its slow going...but I will be overjoyed when she finally eats on her own. I take her out and let her stretch her legs a bit and she still wants to roost on what ever she can reach...so I guess that's a good sign. I will keep everyone posted on her (Butters) progress.

 

[PAchixMomma]

It sounds like you are doing the very best you can. If she does have brain/nerve/spinal injury then it may take a good while for her to recover. You may want to see if she will take some chopped egg, tuna or beef liver - these are good sources of protein. Baby food is also fine is that is what she is looking for.

I have tried egg ..almost forgot about that. I never thought of tuna..but I will try anything at this point! Any variety to keep her interested! I got a semi solid poop today...so I know she's getting something out of it. Anything is better than the runny stuff I was getting before. Thank you for the suggestions!