Kelley Homestead
Chirping
- Feb 22, 2020
- 13
- 28
- 64
We've had several of our chickens and guineas taken and/or killed by the numerous hawks around where we live. By far the worst that we've dealt with is our current hen who was cut down to the bone in several places on both sides of her body.
My husband found her laying in the corner of our big coop, not moving at all. He thought she was dead. However, she moved slightly when he brought her outside and that's when he noticed the four deep, six inch long slices along her sides. All of her back and side feathers were broken off and it appeared that the hawk had started eating her in the area in front of her right wing. I was horrified at the thought of what she must have felt during this gruesome attack. The rooster who helped save her life was limping badly so we brought them both inside.
The rooster had no open wounds. It appeared like he just pulled a muscle or something, defending his hen. One of his claws was broken off to the nub. Other than that, he seemed in shock. So, we put him into one of our large dog kennels in our dining room with lots of hay. We added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to his water and gave him regular feed sprinkled with dehydrated black fly grubs, seedless red grapes and some chopped fresh green cabbage.
The hen was so much worse off than the rooster. I immediately cleaned all of her wounds with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water which I loaded into a large syringe and dispensed into every wound, making sure that the liquid reached deeply into the cuts. I rinsed them out repeatedly for about 5 minutes. The hen was in shock and moved very little during this time. I dried off her skin by gently patting the skin with a soft towel. Then, I loaded each open area with triple antibiotic ointment. Finally, I sprayed her down with a poultry wound care spray that I keep on hand. I got it from our local feed store or Tractor Supply.
I bandaged her entire body with a non-stick gauze pads and wrapped her with self-sticking Ace bandage material. We placed her in her own dog kennel with lots of clean hay. I gave her the same water mixture and food as we had given to the rooster. We then prayed and waited.
The rooster was fine after 3 days so we let him out to rejoin the flock. The hen had moved very little and ate small amounts each day. She did seem to be improving, very slowly though. I changed her bandages and repeated the whole process every two days. The wounds started closing despite being so deep and long. One troubling issue was her massive diarrhea. We just kept her area as clean as possible and even bathed her with warm salt water to keep her body free of waste to fight any infection.
It's now been almost 3 weeks since the attack and I'm happy to say that our hen's physical wounds are almost healed completely. It will take a long time for her feathers to grow back but that's okay. I'm happy to report that she's had her first day of healthy poo. And, she moves around the kennel more freely. She is acting shell-shocked, however. Her head is constantly flicking and changing positions and, when she feels threatened, she quickly buries her head deeply into the corner of the kennel and emits a sad, anguished sound. I reassure her as best as I can during these times. It seems to help as her corner times are getting shorter and shorter.
We're thinking we'll let her rejoin the crew in a week or so. All of our 43 chickens and 9 guineas free range on our 2 acres of fenced yard and we offer plenty of cover for them all. Their two coops are covered with protective netting and are closed at night. I hope that this is the last of this kind of injury we'll see, but I know it won't be. I just can't stand the thought of keeping our birds locked up all day and night. They so love free ranging. So, we'll be vigilant in deterring the hawks while giving our chickens the best life we can offer them.
My husband found her laying in the corner of our big coop, not moving at all. He thought she was dead. However, she moved slightly when he brought her outside and that's when he noticed the four deep, six inch long slices along her sides. All of her back and side feathers were broken off and it appeared that the hawk had started eating her in the area in front of her right wing. I was horrified at the thought of what she must have felt during this gruesome attack. The rooster who helped save her life was limping badly so we brought them both inside.
The rooster had no open wounds. It appeared like he just pulled a muscle or something, defending his hen. One of his claws was broken off to the nub. Other than that, he seemed in shock. So, we put him into one of our large dog kennels in our dining room with lots of hay. We added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to his water and gave him regular feed sprinkled with dehydrated black fly grubs, seedless red grapes and some chopped fresh green cabbage.
The hen was so much worse off than the rooster. I immediately cleaned all of her wounds with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water which I loaded into a large syringe and dispensed into every wound, making sure that the liquid reached deeply into the cuts. I rinsed them out repeatedly for about 5 minutes. The hen was in shock and moved very little during this time. I dried off her skin by gently patting the skin with a soft towel. Then, I loaded each open area with triple antibiotic ointment. Finally, I sprayed her down with a poultry wound care spray that I keep on hand. I got it from our local feed store or Tractor Supply.
I bandaged her entire body with a non-stick gauze pads and wrapped her with self-sticking Ace bandage material. We placed her in her own dog kennel with lots of clean hay. I gave her the same water mixture and food as we had given to the rooster. We then prayed and waited.
The rooster was fine after 3 days so we let him out to rejoin the flock. The hen had moved very little and ate small amounts each day. She did seem to be improving, very slowly though. I changed her bandages and repeated the whole process every two days. The wounds started closing despite being so deep and long. One troubling issue was her massive diarrhea. We just kept her area as clean as possible and even bathed her with warm salt water to keep her body free of waste to fight any infection.
It's now been almost 3 weeks since the attack and I'm happy to say that our hen's physical wounds are almost healed completely. It will take a long time for her feathers to grow back but that's okay. I'm happy to report that she's had her first day of healthy poo. And, she moves around the kennel more freely. She is acting shell-shocked, however. Her head is constantly flicking and changing positions and, when she feels threatened, she quickly buries her head deeply into the corner of the kennel and emits a sad, anguished sound. I reassure her as best as I can during these times. It seems to help as her corner times are getting shorter and shorter.
We're thinking we'll let her rejoin the crew in a week or so. All of our 43 chickens and 9 guineas free range on our 2 acres of fenced yard and we offer plenty of cover for them all. Their two coops are covered with protective netting and are closed at night. I hope that this is the last of this kind of injury we'll see, but I know it won't be. I just can't stand the thought of keeping our birds locked up all day and night. They so love free ranging. So, we'll be vigilant in deterring the hawks while giving our chickens the best life we can offer them.
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