Help with injured hen- tongue protruding when eating.

linda85

In the Brooder
12 Years
Dec 2, 2007
13
0
22
Has anyone ever had this kind of injury? Yesterday my hen was attacked by our dog, who at the time was on a short leash, and our hen was able to

escape quickly. Since I didn't see it happen, I checked her out and she looked fine, just a couple missing feathers. As I checked on her a little later,

she had some dried blood around one nostril and in and around her beak. She was having some trouble swallowing and I was afraid of internal

bleeding of some kind. She wasn't eating, but drinking a small amount of water and otherwise acting pretty normal, resting of course. She made it

through the night and even laid her daily egg. Today she's drinking a lot more, but when she tries to eat her tongue keeps protruding all the way

out. She appears very hungry and I don't think she's consuming much food if any. I'm worried that if she's not able to eat she won't make it. Does

anyone have any idea what's maybe happen to her and if there's anything else I can do?
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The kids just love her so much. Thanks for any help.
 
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it does seem related to the dog attack doesnt it? If she is unable to eat you can make a slurry of the feed pellets by adding water to it till they almost dissolve so she can scoop it up and swallow (like she does the water) ...adding some baby parrot handfeeding formula to that would concentrate the nutrition in the slurry (you should be able to get it in the caged bird section at your pet store)
 
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Thanks. I hadn't thought of making a liquid food. I was just trying some starter mash. She won't even eat a ripe strawberry...her favorite. It's the

strangest thing, she looks like an ant eater the way she tries to eat. Breaks my heart. I will definitely try both your ideas. Thanks again.
 
I got her to eat some wet/liquid food, but not much. I'm really worried because I don't know how long this will last or why she can't eat food. I've

never seen a chicken's tongue jut out like that, and not be able to eat even though you can tell she wants to. What kind of injury could the dog have

done to her head area that would have disabled her eating ability? She looks/acts fine otherwise.

I'm sorry I'm rambling, I'm just so concerned for her.
 

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