Hen got bit on foot by rattle snake

[Terri74]

My hen was bitten by a rattle snake, she seams to be better today thye swelling is going down and the color is less purple. My question is if she makes it will her eggs be okay to eat as well as her meat when that time comes? Thank you for your help.

 

[BMHarness]

Did you actually see her get nailed by the snake? Or see the snake? Rattlesnakes use very powerful hemotoxins that woukd kill an animal the size of a chicken in minutes. That's why they have the venom in the first place, to kill quickly kill small prey items. Heck they can kill something the size of a full grown man within six hours when using the venom for defense. Your chicken may have been but by something but it wasn't a rattlesnake. It wouldn't still be around for you to even worry about.

 

[MercyMe03]

Does she have puncture wounds in her foot? If there is she was probably bitten by something other than a rattle snake. Rattle snake venom would kill a chicken very quickly. I wouldn't worry to much about it otherwise. She could have been bitten by a non venomous snake and that can still cause irritation. If the swelling doesn't go down you can give her a few drops of children's liquid benedryl. It will help of she is having any kind of reaction to something.

 

[Terri74]

Oh Good! No I did not see the snake, but with the amount of rattle snakes in our area (neighbor just killed 5) and we found a baby one when we first moved in. the only other snake I have ever seen was a garden snake that I took away from the hens. We also have scorpions and apparently tarantulas (though I have not seen the big furry spiders yet) What ever it was it left 2 puncture wounds perfectly spaced apart on her toe. I also thought for sure if it was a rattle snake she was going to die. I have to now assume it was either something else or if it was a rattle snake it didnt get enough venom into the tip of her toe to kill her. I had thought rattle snake because 1 we have so many and 2 the look of the wound it was all purplish black like the photos of a rattle snake bite. Thank you all for the responses I appreciate the help.

 

[MercyMe03]

Wow! You have alot of venomous animals to watch out for! If it was a rattle your right, it was probably just a dry bite. I'm sure it was still painful! How is she doing today?