Hen in shock I think...help

[ronan]

Our gorgeous hen who has co-existed with our very sweet choc lab for the last year. She decided to try and claim his food bowl and he gave her a warning bite on the back between wings four days ago. He did not draw blood and we can't find any wounds.
However when it happened I really thought by the way she fell down and flailed around then went limp and could not get up that she was a gonner. So I picked her up in a towel and put her in a box and brought her inside our room to see how she did over night. We woke to her sitting on the edge of the box in the morning. However her pupils are dialated and she is not eating or drinking voluntarily. We tried to put her back in the coop but she just sways head head back and forth and goes bye, bye in her sweet little head.
So I have been mixing up the special anti-shock mixes listed here and making her eat and drink water three times a day. It is not easy, but she seems to be getting a little better. I put her next to the sister coop and she climbed onto it but still no eating, scratching, communicato with the other hens. We have her in her own single coop and she seems a lot more relaxed there....but she just seems like she has left her body. Has anyone ever encountered this? Help!

 

[HeatherLynn]

The only experience I have with this are geese we had who survived attack by a pack of dogs. Most of the flock died but the few who lived were touch and go for several weeks. Not because of injuries but because they just stopped eating. My only advise is keep her eating and drinking and hopefully she comes out of it.

I would sit for hours in our greenhouse which became a goose hospital singing to them which I had done when they were tiny. Hold them to water to drink, force them to drink if I had too. I made warm mashes and slurries. I got avian vitamins the farm vet said could not hurt although he thought it was futile. I mixed baby cereals into water and made them drink. Just anything I could think of to keep their strength up. All the while petting, singing and just trying to let their nerves heal.

I hope your hen recovers and try not to hold it against the lab too much. He just treated her like he would another dog.

 

[babsbag]

I don't know what is in an anti-shock formula but I would try to find a food that she really really likes. Mine adore scrambled eggs, cooked oatmeal and yogurt, pears, apples, strawberries, and tomatos. Since they are drawn to the color red the strawberries might be very attractive. I hope she gets better.

 

[ronan]

Singing...exactly what I am doing with a little bit of Reiki thrown in the mix.
Our dog Loki was just treating her like a pup...we are not mad at him at all just learned a good lesson there about feeding him when the chickens are near his bowl.


So did any of your geese survive and if so how long did it take you to get them there?