My bird was bit in the head

[heatherfeather123]

I forgot to lock my chickens up two nights ago. Maybe a racoon bit one in the head. When I found the chicken it was staggering around. I brought her inside and she doesn't eat on her own. She is too weak to stand up. I drop some wet bread and gatorade mixure on her tongue and she swallows. She looks fine everywhere else, but her head has some puncture wounds. I cleaned them with peroxide and applied ointment. Now she just wants to sleep all of the time. When i try to stand her on her feet she falls over. Do you think she will recover? Any reccomendations?

 

[stubbornhill]

I would keep her inside, separated from others, in a dark area. Keep her warm, maybe add a heat lamp and keep her quite. I would get her some electrolytes for her drinking water and see how she does. Best wishes.

 

[PDurkin]

Check how deep the puncture wounds are, if they are very deep it could cause brian swelling and that would be a major issue for her.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Oh I'm sorry to hear she was attacked. It sounds like it is hard to say how deep the wounds are. She may partly be suffering from shock as well. I had a hen attacked by a hawk with a long gash who wouldn't sit up after the attack and she amazed me by making it through the night and sitting up. Their digestive system kind of shuts down for a while when they go into shock, too. It sounds like you have found a way to get water and electrolytes into her. We had to hand water our hen for a few days too. Once she made it through the night we decided we should give her a fighting chance and bought injectable penicillin G at the feed store. It is a lot easier to get a clinical dose of antibiotic in a chicken to treat a wound with an injectable antibiotic. If she makes it through the first couple of critical days she might surprise you.

 

[heatherfeather123]

She is doing much better. She is more alert and tries to jerk her head away when I open her beak to put food or water in. Each time I feed her she seems to get better. Should I look for any signs of infection? Thanks so much for the help.

 

[PDurkin]

Yes ma'am but I wouldn't worry to much, it sounds like you got yourself a fighter!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm glad she has improved some. Of course pus is the obvious sign of infection. A bad smell can be another indication. The tough thing about puncture woulds is that they are hard to clean really thoroughly. You may not need to cover her wounds with dressing unless she ends up really scratching at it.

Here is a helpful link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=197681

 

[Chickengal505]

It sounds like she's going to pull through, but I would pack the wounds with antibiotic cream or slave and put band-aids over them. It sounds crazy but it works

 

[heatherfeather123]

My chicken is slowly showing signs of improvement, but nothing earth shattering. She is still not eating on her own and she can stand but not walk, as she just falls over. I am putting food in her mouth and squirting water in. However, I am afraid that I might get it in her lungs and cause her more problems. Any advise, and is there a medicine I can give her to prevent pneumonia?

 

[Kitty Cat]

I don't think it will get in her lungs if you go slow and are persistent about doing it right. I've squirted water down plenty of hens and none have ever gotten pneumonia. I'm not sure about an antibiotic for chickens.

Once the wounds get better I would use Betadine. It dries and it isn't sticky like ointment. But it sounds like whatever you're doing is working. I wouldn't be too worried about her. She's showing progress and it will just take time.



Keep up the good work!