Missing chicken.

[ChickenCanoe]

we started with 5 hens 1 rooster....just this week one came up missing, no feathers etc....and still no sign of our girl....but we do live in a hawk filled state and are amongst mountain lions bob cats etc....so we said our goodbyes...and everyone went to free ranging....darned if I didn't leave the house but for one hour and came back to 3 hens 1 rooster and a load of feathers....went looking for our girl with hopes of she might still be alive...that was 4 days ago...low and behold this am she's sitting on the deck and looking pretty torn up....she virtually was ripped from the back of her head missing all the fat, muscle etc...just dry and crusty and a pitiful chatter that just had the other girls swarming us...got her into isolation room...and did a quick lookover and found much more damage on her wings and under her wings...down to the core! so grab my hydrogen peroxide did a spritz on what was obvious and lathered with triple antibiotic, powdered antibiotic after...once hubby gets home we are going to have to perform a more thorough search of her body for more damage...she is definitely depressed but has eaten some egg and some oats and feed softened and I hydrated her with my syringe and she did well at finding her tetra dosed water....there isn't enough skin on her neck to pull to close...and lets face it its been 4 days...so she has survived hidden from view until this am....this evening will give her a good once over, debride if necessary and get a better assessment....I do have injectable antibiotics penicillin g procaine...just need. to figure out dosage for her we believe a cat got hold of her...we saw one in the yard way off in the distance and scared it off with pellet gun...my biggest concern would be if its a feral cat....the infection if there is one would kill off her tissue she has left and probably end up having to cull her if she's going downhill .....we shall see what she looks like with two sets of eyes and 4 hands to calm and check her out...
so now until the pen is sufficiently secured..all are in lockdown in the coop and small run luckily we added on to the coop for reasons just like this....but it is hotter than heck so they have their fan going and my girl is in isolation in our feed room. any feed back would be appreciated in regards to protecting the exposed neck and wings...the bib would only work for her wing area that got chewed on....the neck is the most serious and exposed.

Growing up, we always used hydrogen peroxide to flush wounds. However I've since learned that it is the wrong treatment, especially after the first day.
Hydrogen will destroy new cell growth thereby inhibiting healing. A better alternative is betadine (organic iodine). It does the same thing without damaging healthy tissue.

I first flush with saline solution, then the betadine and then the eye type triple antibiotic. The eye type melts at body temperature, thereby seeping deep into wounds.

The penicillin wouldn't hurt as a preventative measure. Give subcutaneously as that will last longer in the system.

 

[beccaisfirst]

thanks for the heads up on the peroxide...she's been gone for 4 days...its all pretty much dry and nasty looking...been checking on her most of the day she's eating and drinking and pooping....not real well but at least she's trying...I noticed she is picking at her wing area so making a bib for her or rather a cape of sorts to cover most of her wings and low enough in back of neck area so it doesn't irritate ...gotta give her a chance though...hoping she's gonna make it through tonight !

 

[granitechickenh]

So when the wife got home last night we did a pretty thorough walk around most of our property and no sign of the missing bird. I still find it odd that the other birds seem fine. We had a small flock of 6 birds and i have never seen them more than 5 feet from each other. They remaining 5 show no difference in behavior. We decided to free range them again today but i have been more vigilant on trying to keep an eye on the yard, and so far so good.

The wife keeps reading stories of chickens disappearing for a couple days and coming back. I am less hopeful. I really wish i knew what happened to try and prevent it in the future. I would rather not confine them to a run especially since the run we have is on the smaller side.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm always hopeful but also understand that they may never come back. Over many years, I've had about 5 birds return and a few baby chicks after staying in the woods overnight.
Knowing what happened is critical but without trail cams or other surveillance or tracks in the snow, there's no telling.
IMHO, chickens know they are both predator and prey animals and seem to get over lost flock members pretty quickly unless it is a very small flock and they lose a lifemate.

 

[sheetmetaltom]

ive had chickens for 3 years now. lost one to a raccoon about a year ago, and last week one disappeared. some feathers around but theres always some so its hard to tell what may have happened. sometimes one goes missing for a night but then shows up the next day. not this time. sorry for your loss, unfortunately its part of having chickens. which wont make you feel any better good luck with the rest of your flock.

 

[granitechickenh]

I'm essentially going to use this thread as an online journal at this point. Still no sign of the missing chicken, the remaining 5 have been free ranging fine and i have no sign of predators in the last 3 days. I've thought about getting a trail cam but we have about 2.5 acres and even after that its mainly woods so the ladies have a lot of turf they cover.