HELP! Something got some of my chickens and I found one alive

[No 1 rockstar]

I came home from work to find feathers everywhere and 4 chickens missing. I followed the trail of feathers and found my little silkie, rock star, alive. She is missing a lot of feathers from the area behind her wings and on her butt and legs. She and has a couple of small puncture wounds. She was covered in ants so I rinsed her in lukewarm water in my kitchen sink, ran the blow dryer on low heat her for a while, picked the remaining ants off, wrapped her up in a towel for a while then covered her bare skin with panalog ointment which is a antibiotic for horses. I put her in my atrium, it's warm and humid in there.

Did I do anything wrong? Is there anything better I can do? It gets really hot in the atrium during the day should I put her outside tomorrow morning?

A few months ago I had a momma hatch 5 baby ducks and something got them all in one night, left no trace, I set a trap and caught a fox the next night. I set a trap again tonight.

I'm worried about rockstar and I would appreciate any advice.

 

[NovaAman]

Puncture wounds... first thing comes to mind is antibiotics... penicillin... And no, I would not put her back out with the other birds, but I would keep an eye on the heat in the atrium... Keep the wounds clean, when they look like they are healing well, then you may be able to put her back out...

Hope she recovers.

 

[Ladybug922]

Hi. I'm so sorry this happened to your little girls. I would probably flush out the puncture wounds with some dilute betadine solution. Use a smaller gauge needle on like a 10 cc syringe and flush well. I think animax has a steroid in it, I would opt for a neosporin instead and get some right in the holes. They also make special ointments for chickens, go get some tomorrow at your nearest food store. Horse stuff in an emergency is ok, but it's best to treat with species specific products. I hope this helps! I would also be worried about internal injuries at this point. Good luck, I hope she makes it!

 

[No 1 rockstar]

Thank you for the replies, she seems comfortable, I'm going to the vet tomorrow and I will see about getting chicken specific medicine.

 

[No 1 rockstar]

Well my little silkie is still kickin' the vet said panalog was ok and to keep using it. She seems happy and she eats.

 

[Melabella]

Hi there,

Was wondering how the little silkie pulled thru? Hope she healed wonderfully and also if you caught the new culprit with the trap you set?

Let us know!

Hope all is well,
MB

 

[No 1 rockstar]

Hi thanks for checking in on her, she is alive and well and still living in my atrium, I treated her with panalog for the first week then I sprayed vetrycin on her skin once a week, she still hasn't got her feathers back but she happy and enjoys dusting her self. Here is a pic

 

[Melabella]

Oh SO HAPPY to hear she is well and healing. I can't belive what her back looks like! I understand nature and how it works, but can't those foxes go get some wild stuff to eat? I think I will faint, when or if that happens to me!

Thanks for getting back to me,
Glad she is ok,

MB

 

[Melabella]

Oh, and WELCOME TO BYC!

 

[No 1 rockstar]

Well I forgot to say that I never caught anything in the trap....I'm starting to think it was the new neighbors dogs because I found feather piles all over my yard, and wild animals don't usually hang out to eat...the neighbors always keep their dogs penned when they aren't supervised, but my neighbor in between us and the dogs saw the dogs in his yard Wednesday, the day it happened. About a week after that I found one of their dogs in my yard playing with my dog....the last time I had a problem was before they moved here I had 6 new ducklings and something came in the night and took them. There was no trace of them left and I caught a fox 2 days later...but it is what it is. I'm surrounded my national forest, and chickens are easy pray for wild animals. I just hope the neighbors dogs stay over there! I only have 2 families as neighbors because we are surrounded by forest and they are good neighbors, I would hate to have problems over dogs.