I Recovered a Chick Taken Off by a Hawk; Now What

[Salt and Light]

Watched 4-week old bantam carried off by a RT hawk. Chased the hawk down and got him to give up his prey. Poor little chick has some puncture wounds and may have a broken leg. I've got him in a box in the garage wrapped in a flannel blanket. He is alert and chirping when approached.

What now and what next?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I requested it be moved to the Emergency section, so hopefully someone will be around to help you out.

Oh yeah, once you get the little guy taken care of, you will HAVE to elaborate on this daring rescue. It sounds like it would be a good story.

I hope he does well! If he's cold put a light in there, just in case(leave room for him to decide whether he is cold, hot, or comfortable.

-Kim

 

[robinaggie]

When my chick was hurt by a predator I took it to a vet. My $2 chick cost $75 in vet bills. I hope somebody here can help you soon. :|

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Can you get pictures of the puncture wounds and the broken leg?

That way we know how severe the wounds are.

-Kim

 

[dlhunicorn]

Let us hope there are no major internal injuries...
what you must first do is to put some electrolytes in the water for shock.
Then you need to make up some sterile saline solution and FLUSH (squirt into) those puncture wounds and then fill them with antibiotic creme and repeat again in six hours or so...
you can make the saline yourself by boiling 1/4 tsp salt in a quart of water for five minutes (allow to cool of course) > make fresh daily.
Report any change (fluffing up, lethargic) immediately.
As you did not state where the break is or if you feel you are capable of "putting" the bones back where they should be...
Often you can imobilize the break sufficiently by taking some strong medical tape (two pieces) and squeeze them very tightly along the break (once you have realigned to the proper position)... trim and then carefully bead along the seam of the tape with superglue... if more support is needed then add to it.

 

[Salt and Light]

UPDATE:

Chick is still alive and appears to be more alert. He is better able to stand but still has difficulty maintaining weight on his right leg.

I can't identify the specific injuries because of the feathers. There is not a large amount of bleeding. I tried giving the chick some water, but he won't drink.

I have him comfortable (at least what I think is comfortable), and I will just see how he is in the AM.

I'm not going to irrigate the wounds or mess anymore with him. I'm a little concerned about causing more harm by jostling him around.

THANKS A ((((BUNCH))))))

 

[eggchel]

Good job getting your chickie back from the hawk.

If you dont want to mess with the wounds, then just keep him in a quiet place, away from the other chicks so that he has a chance to heal without being pecked by the other birds. You could feed him some scrambled egg yolk or cat food for some extra protein.

chel

 

[jossanne]

It's amazing what chickens can recover from. Our 9mo old pup killed several of our chickens one night. Two days later, my daughter came in yelling that she'd found a chicken stuck in the fence in a pile of weeds. It was the one I'd chosen as a pet, Norma, a SLW. Her back looked like someone had skinned it - literally no skin on a probably 3"x5" area. I figured she had been in the fence for two days that way, any crud that was going to get in the wound already had, so I put her in a rabbit hutch by herself with food and water, and just watched her. She pulled through, and a couple of months later you couldn't even tell that she'd ever been attacked. She even regrew all her feathers and was beautiful.

Best of luck to your little boy - hope he does as well as my Norma did!

 

[Salt and Light]

UPDATE:

Chick made it through the night. He is able to stand and take a few steps, but with quite a limp...

Now, my concern is him not drinking any water. Should I force him to drink?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Nevermind...