Gub-Gub
In the Brooder
- Jul 19, 2017
- 7
- 2
- 32
Hi all,
I live in a suburban neighborhood with lots of opossums and raccoons so I make a point of locking up the girls in their coop each night before dark. The other night (4-8-20) I had a brain lapse and forgot to lock a door on the coop, and at around 4 am I was woken by the screams of chickens. As I ran out to the yard I saw a raccoon leaving the scene, one hen was beheaded, and another, a black silver lace wyandotte, was in a heap in the mud but still alive.
After inspection, this is what I found:
about 2/3 of her comb is torn off, a deep cut but I don't see bone (but could be to the bone) and the bleeding stopped on its own
the upper beak is cracked in three spots, lower has one that I've noticed, both are still connected and in one piece
both eyes are closed, does not seem due to swelling, opening the lids manually revealed one eye full of blood
an egg was broken inside her- she pooped yolk+white first day and some shell the second day, no blood found
light wheezing
wobbly/ unstable/ sitting on floor mostly
What I've done so far:
give epsom salt bath to wash off mud and help to inspect for wounds and try to help her relax
cleaned dried blood from face both outside and inside of beak
cleaned head wound with gauze as best as I could and applied neosporin, cleaning and reapplying neosporin 2x/day
isolated her in a dark quiet space warmer than the coop
giving plain water by syringe by dripping on beak (I am currently working on making an electrolyte solution)
Her current condition:
eyes still closed
not eating/drinking from bowl
mostly lies down, not on her side but upright with head tucked back on top of wing
occasionally stands and repositions herself
breathing seems ok, wheezing reduced
made one soft "bok" today
I've tried giving her food and water from a bowl but she doesn't respond, I assume because she can't see.
I am going to try feeding her from syringe after typing this but I don't want to get forceful because of her broken beak, and also I don't want to put the food down the wrong pipe
Any advice would be very appreciated! Please understand that because of the coronavirus my wife was laid off and money is very dear at the moment, so any recommendations that I can make at home would be greatly appreciated. Currently spending $50 on antibiotics is not possible.
Thanks all!
I live in a suburban neighborhood with lots of opossums and raccoons so I make a point of locking up the girls in their coop each night before dark. The other night (4-8-20) I had a brain lapse and forgot to lock a door on the coop, and at around 4 am I was woken by the screams of chickens. As I ran out to the yard I saw a raccoon leaving the scene, one hen was beheaded, and another, a black silver lace wyandotte, was in a heap in the mud but still alive.
After inspection, this is what I found:
about 2/3 of her comb is torn off, a deep cut but I don't see bone (but could be to the bone) and the bleeding stopped on its own
the upper beak is cracked in three spots, lower has one that I've noticed, both are still connected and in one piece
both eyes are closed, does not seem due to swelling, opening the lids manually revealed one eye full of blood
an egg was broken inside her- she pooped yolk+white first day and some shell the second day, no blood found
light wheezing
wobbly/ unstable/ sitting on floor mostly
What I've done so far:
give epsom salt bath to wash off mud and help to inspect for wounds and try to help her relax
cleaned dried blood from face both outside and inside of beak
cleaned head wound with gauze as best as I could and applied neosporin, cleaning and reapplying neosporin 2x/day
isolated her in a dark quiet space warmer than the coop
giving plain water by syringe by dripping on beak (I am currently working on making an electrolyte solution)
Her current condition:
eyes still closed
not eating/drinking from bowl
mostly lies down, not on her side but upright with head tucked back on top of wing
occasionally stands and repositions herself
breathing seems ok, wheezing reduced
made one soft "bok" today
I've tried giving her food and water from a bowl but she doesn't respond, I assume because she can't see.
I am going to try feeding her from syringe after typing this but I don't want to get forceful because of her broken beak, and also I don't want to put the food down the wrong pipe
Any advice would be very appreciated! Please understand that because of the coronavirus my wife was laid off and money is very dear at the moment, so any recommendations that I can make at home would be greatly appreciated. Currently spending $50 on antibiotics is not possible.
Thanks all!
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