I Got Impaled by a Hawk While Saving my Chicken!

Pics

RabbitGirl

Songster
6 Years
Dec 13, 2016
70
715
186
So we had just let out our three chickens (Scarlet, GJ, and Twilight) my dad @Nifty-Chicken went inside and I was feeding them some wheat seeds when a Red Tailed Hawk came out of nowhere and started attacking Scarlet! My baby! My little one! My only thought process was “save Scarlet” I wasn’t even thinking about myself so I ran to the hawk and grabbed it! As I was pulling it off my chicken it dug it’s claws in my right hand! My left hand holding it’s right wing! The whole time screaming louder than I have ever screamed before “NO NO NO NO NO!!!! DADDY!!!” My dad when he heard my first scream jumped out of his office and ran over! He had to pull the claws out of my hand! Scarlet was still in the corner. I hadn’t even realized they were in me! After they were out he was holding it! My top priority was still “make sure she’s okay” and I’m so proud and thankful my dad was there because if he wasn't I wouldn't have been able to get it off my hand! His top priority was “make sure my daughter is okay” he then threw the hawk and it flew away. I was looking at Scarlet and she looked dead. She thankfully still had life in her and my dad put her in the coop and closed it. We went inside into the bathroom and I was still very worried but at that point I was a bit worried about my hand too! While my dad was helping me with my hand I kept asking questions like “Do you think we should to go to the ER?” or “Are there any animal hospitals near here?” My dad said “You should be ok, you can still move your hand.” We put Iodine on my hand and rinsed it off with water, I kept saying “Oh my god! Dude I held a hawk!” (I still am even while writing this!) I then brought her into the cage that we usually put my bunny Clover inside of when she’s there so that the other chickens wouldn’t peck at her blood. We then called my mom because she has been dealing with and taking care of our animal injuries for 12 years! She hurried over and started taking care of Scarlet after she cared for her a bit she cleaned my wounds up. I have about 5 wounds from it the two on my palm are the worst ones though. Here’s a picture.
hawkow.jpg
bhand.jpg


After she took care of me we went back to scarlet. She looked at her first then cleaned her up and took care of her wounds mostly. We didn’t get a pic of her when she was all bloody but here are a few of after she got cleaned up.
20190119_125241.jpg

20190119_125224.jpg

My mom left after that and I started writing this. I just realized that this whole time I still haven’t eaten breakfast! I’m going to do that now. I’ll keep you guys posted, thank you for reading this crazy story.:frow

***UPDATE*** We have talked to the doctor's office, they don't seem to worry but will probably put me on antibiotics.


--- Edited by Dad (yeah, I'm abusing my site-admin powers :p ) Here's a vid I just discovered of me throwing the hawk:

hawk-throw-gif.gif
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So we had just let out our three chickens (Scarlet, GJ, and Twilight) my dad @Nifty-Chicken went inside and I was feeding them some wheat seeds when a Red Tailed Hawk came out of nowhere and started attacking Scarlet! My baby! My little one! My only thought process was “save Scarlet” I wasn’t even thinking about myself so I ran to the hawk and grabbed it! It’s claws in my right hand! My left hand holding it’s right wing! The whole time screaming as loud as I have ever screamed before “NO NO NO NO NO!!!! DADDY!!!” My dad when he heard my first scream jumped out of his office and ran over! He had to pull the claws out of my hand! Scarlet was still in the corner. I hadn’t even realized they were in me! After they were out he was holding it! My top priority was still “make sure she’s okay” and I’m so proud and thankful my dad was there because if he wasn't I wouldn't have been able to get it off my hand! His top priority was “make sure my daughter is okay” he then threw the hawk and it flew away. I was looking at Scarlet and she looked dead. She thankfully still had life in her and my dad put her in the coop and closed it. We went inside into the bathroom and I was still very worried but at that point I was a bit worried about my hand too! While my dad was helping me with my hand I kept asking questions like “Do you think we should to go to the ER?” or “Are there any animal hospitals near here?” My dad said “You should be ok, you can still move your hand.” We put Iodine on my hand and rinsed it off with water, I kept saying “Oh my god! Dude I held a hawk!” (I still am even while writing this!) I then brought her into the cage that we usually put my bunny Clover inside of when she’s there so that the other chickens wouldn’t peck at her blood. We then called my mom because she has been dealing with and taking care of our animal injuries for 12 years! She hurried over and started taking care of Scarlet after she cared for her a bit she cleaned my wounds up. I have about 5 wounds from it the two on my palm are the worst ones though. Here’s a picture.
View attachment 1646754View attachment 1646764 View attachment 1646765

After she took care of me we went back to scarlet. She looked at her first then cleaned her up and took care of her wounds mostly. We didn’t get a pic of her when she was all bloody but here are a few of after she got cleaned up.
View attachment 1646746
View attachment 1646748
My mom left after that and I started writing this. I just realized that this whole time I still haven’t eaten breakfast! I’m going to do that now. I’ll keep you guys posted, thank you for reading this crazy story.:frow
My gosh hope you and the chicken are ok!:hugs
 
It was pretty dang crazy running outside and seeing my daughter in a death grip with a huge Red Tailed Hawk!

Pulling the hawk's talons out of her flesh was pretty intense! That thing was NOT going to let go! While prying it's claws apart, it dug into the tip of my finger... but not anywhere as bad as how deep it was into @RabbitGirl's palm!

I'll be honest, once I could ascertain that things weren't getting worse with her, the hawk, the chickens, etc., I was VERY tempted to pause and get my phone to take a pic.

... I mean, I'm pretty sure @RabbitGirl would have loved to share some super crazy pics of her talon-holding-hands with a giant hawk hanging upside down!
 
Pay attention to your wounds! I did battle with a feral cat once and ended up with such a staph infection that I went through about 3 different antibiotics before having to go to the ER for an antibiotic drip and a cast. A cast! After the skin wasn't even broken anymore.

A similar thing happened to my husband when he fell down in the woods and opened his leg. He had a First Aid unit with him when it happened. He got first class immediate intervention. But he also got some nasty forrest floor detritus rubbed in there. He had to go through several different antibiotics before someone cultured the stuff and came up with a very narrow profile antibiotic for the unusual toxins he'd been exposed to.

That was about 20 years ago and now I've got horrendous arthritis in the hand that took the bites. He didn't have any lingering effect, I'm happy to say. But the point is, your parents did a good job of cleaning you up but you really need that assessed before you end with the kind of infections that we had. Wild animals carry all kinds of bacteria that aren't in our normal environments and, if we haven't had exposure, our bodies haven't developed any antibodies for them.

Secondly, I'm pulling for Scarlet! She looks like my Sicilian Buttercup, Sadie, who is so wonderfully soft and lovable. Can you put the kennel out in the run with her flockmates? They heal better when they're not dealing with isolation as well as injuries.
 
I'll be honest, once I could ascertain that things weren't getting worse with her, the hawk, the chickens, etc., I was VERY tempted to pause and get my phone to take a pic.
Tough choices!

Puncture wounds are scary.....prophylactic antibiotics might not be a bad idea.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom