Injuried hen from a fox attack, what else should I do???

[Dawnee]

Hello. I am new to this site and forum. I have a small hobby farm in rural Connecticut. I rasise ducks and chickens at this time. Currently, my numbers are down due to raccoon and fox attacks--only having 4 ducks and 2 chickens.

Two days ago, my hobby farm was attack by two foxes. I was able to rescue one hen (my sweet and lovable Tina Rex) but she is very injuried. Many of her feathers gone, one side is ripped open down to the flesh, and top behind has what appears to be bite wounds. I have been flushing her wounds three times a day with betadine mixed in water. She is isolated and in a large crate in my garage and is eating and drinking. She is in good spirits and seems to be holding her own. Is there anything else I can do for her? I ended up losing one buff hen and three ducks in the last month.

 

[Judy]

I'm so sorry.

The Betadine is great for early treatment, but unless she is producing a lot of pus, I would change to saline and smear the wounds up with an antibiotic ointment, or perhaps that anti-fly stuff (I think it's called Scat) they sell for horses. You can also flush with Betadine then rinse it off with saline after a minute. Too much betadine kills off new cells, and in the garage she would be in danger of flies laying eggs in her wounds, thus the scat. You can make your own saline, just google it.

Really, first aid for chickens isn't that different from any other animal. Except for one caution: no topical medications that contain any of the many "caine" drugs they sometimes add to them. Examples are cetacaine, benzocaine, lidocaine -- you get the idea. Chickens are extremely sensitive to this drug group, and can OD and die from a relatively small amount. The pain reliever in Neosporin (and the generics of it I've seen) is fine, a different drug group.

Good luck!

 

[Kitty Cat]

What ddawn said is pretty much what I was thinking, except that you could also give your hen a soak in warm water and epsom salt. It draws out infection and helps promote healing quickly. But (I think they meant SWAT) is certainly a good idea for keeping flies off. You're doing everything right so far, so keep up the good work. If any questions you can PM me if you like.


You could also try posting in the predators section of the forum and see about getting rid of those pesky killers you have. I've read a few that say fly bait and beer. ?? Never tried it. But give it a good look and you'll probably find a good solution for your predator problem.

 

[Daisy668]

As long as she's eating and drinking and in good spirits she should pull through. Chickens are tough and fight through a lot.
Very sad to hear about your attacks.
Good luck to you and your chicken.
Daisy. xx

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Bite wounds are very high risk for infection, such instances can be a good case for the use of antibiotics if you have access. Given a couple days have past and things are going ok I might hold off on that but at the first sign of going down hill after such an injury I would give antibiotics a serious thought.