injured buff orpington

[rossafini]

Hi all,
6 weeks and 2 days ago one of our 1 yr old buff Orpington hens was attacked by either a hawk or dog. She had a blood stain on her neck and was lying on one side. We isolated her immediately and assumed she would be dead in the morning from shock. Well, she's still alive. Here's the catch...she can't walk (or even sit up all the way). My husband built Missy her own pen so she can be out with the flock. She eats, drinks, poops, and appears to be completely healthy (except for the not-able-to-walk part). To get around her pen, she pushes with her feet and rolls. When we attempt to sit her upright, she flops over. Has anyone had a chicken stay injured for so long? We'll keep her around if there's hope of recovery. Otherwise, she'll have to go.
Help!!

 

[shortcake1806]

Sounds like she may have broken a bone. If so I don't think her chances for recovery are very good.

 

[spudchild]

Side note: Sorry moderators, I accidentally hit report instead of reply the first time...

We had an old english bantam with similar injuries. He was attached by a stray cat, and broke a wing and leg. It was on opposite sides of his body though. He took 3 months to heal. With the breaks being on opposite sides of his body, he managed to figure out how to counter-balance himself and hobble around.

We kept him isolated for the full 3 months, and gave him lots of vitamins, but he eventually fully recovered to the point that you couldn't even tell he was injured.

 

[rossafini]

Thank you so much for your replies! I'm so relieved to hear that 6+ weeks for recovery isn't unheard of. She seems so alert and otherwise healthy that culling her just wasn't feeling right! I guess we'll wait and see. I'm a little worried because when she tries to move (aka doing a backwards somersault) she pushes all of the straw away and ends up sitting in her inevitably spilled water and poop...she spends a good deal of time with 50% of her body wet. I'm hoping she doesn't end up with some other infection/unforeseen problems. We change her straw almost daily and feed her what the rest of her flock gets, but still...I worry.

Thanks!

 

[jaku]

The survival instincts of animals after injuries are amazing, compared to people. I once saw a deer with horrible broken leg that healed improperly and it managed to relearn to walk. An animal will take a gunshot to the chest and run away. They just have that instinct. We studied it quite a bit in my police academy with reference to not giving up if you get shot/stabbed/punched, etc.

Especially when protected from the cruelties of nature, animals are amazing, and can survive a lot.

 

[rossafini]

The buff orpington has been doing great!

She can stand up if she has something for support. Oh yah... She layed an egg

I think its a broken leg