my chicken just barely made it out alive from a possum attack, what do i do?

[EggSighted4Life]

searching for what could possibly be wrong with his eye,

It doesn't look like an open wound per say.. or puss filled from what I can see.

Agree with and appreciate advice from wyorp.

The swelling above the eye.. if just fluid filled should retreat before to long. If it happens to get puss.. it turns thickened in chickens and get's solid filling.. then it *may* need excising.. but NOT now.

So you do have other birds in your flock already??? Is he already friendly with them?

Now that he's acting a bit normal.. watching ins and outs will HELP to rule out internal injury.. (intake & output).

@BigBlueHen53 I can appreciate you line of thinking! I have not had chickens respond to mirrors in the way others do. Your thought about it being seen as competition.. is entirely possible.. though I'm not sure if they can tell that by looking and without sensing the hormones, pheromones, etc that might otherwise be the indicators they use. I don't think a grown boy EVEN a Silkie.. is dumb enough to mistake a stuffed animal for company, but WHAT do I know?!

Yes Silkies are a melanistic breed like Cemani despite not being known quite as well for THAT feature since they do come in other feather color varieties than just black. Just for informational purposes.. or quick easy refresher reference..

Cemani are also clean legged, straight combed, 4 toed, and hard feathered.

Silkies *should* be feather legged, walnut combed, 5 toed, Silkie feathered.. and can come in bearded and non bearded..

The one being helped in this thread is the later, non bearded.. and does indeed have beautiful dark features as one should.

Looks like he'll make a full recovery.. with or without the eye or use of it! Still cautious.. but very optimistic!

 

[Peckyweck01]

It doesn't look like an open wound per say.. or puss filled from what I can see.

Agree with and appreciate advice from wyorp.

The swelling above the eye.. if just fluid filled should retreat before to long. If it happens to get puss.. it turns thickened in chickens and get's solid filling.. then it *may* need excising.. but NOT now.

So you do have other birds in your flock already??? Is he already friendly with them?

Now that he's acting a bit normal.. watching ins and outs will HELP to rule out internal injury.. (intake & output).

@BigBlueHen53 I can appreciate you line of thinking! I have not had chickens respond to mirrors in the way others do. Your thought about it being seen as competition.. is entirely possible.. though I'm not sure if they can tell that by looking and without sensing the hormones, pheromones, etc that might otherwise be the indicators they use. I don't think a grown boy EVEN a Silkie.. is dumb enough to mistake a stuffed animal for company, but WHAT do I know?!

Yes Silkies are a melanistic breed like Cemani despite not being known quite as well for THAT feature since they do come in other feather color varieties than just black. Just for informational purposes.. or quick easy refresher reference..

Cemani are also clean legged, straight combed, 4 toed, and hard feathered.

Silkies *should* be feather legged, walnut combed, 5 toed, Silkie feathered.. and can come in bearded and non bearded..

The one being helped in this thread is the later, non bearded.. and does indeed have beautiful dark features as one should.

Looks like he'll make a full recovery.. with or without the eye or use of it! Still cautious.. but very optimistic!

I do have other chickens but they all have roosters in them. I am going to have to get a hen for him from my other silkie flock when he can go back outside. I also have to prepare a different pen or fix up the one i have. He is friendly with some hens. If they are skittish he will be mean to them just because they run away and he takes advantage of them being scared sometimes. Thanks for all your help!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I do have other chickens but they all have roosters in them. I am going to have to get a hen for him from my other silkie flock when he can go back outside. I also have to prepare a different pen or fix up the one i have. He is friendly with some hens. If they are skittish he will be mean to them just because they run away and he takes advantage of them being scared sometimes. Thanks for all your help!

Sounds like you have an understanding of dynamics, so go with your gut!

If you're able to put him is sight of the other birds, next to, or what have you.. during the day time where he can see, hear, and somewhat interact with them without anyone getting hurt.. That is a perfectly acceptable option.

If you are feeding ALL your roosters "layer".. that's not so much a wise choice.. since you have invested so much in care, individual pens, and such.. and honestly don't consider layer feed sufficient or adequate for Silkies.. who are (at least sometimes) special needs birds even when functioning at FULL capacity. If you are able to consider making the feed switch for your entire flock.. I can fairly well assure you that you WON'T regret the change and I would be highly surprised if you don't notice a difference in overall condition within 4 weeks. Your eggs will still be 34% protein and 64% fat calorie wise but there will be more micro nutrients, so your family and other consumers/hatching chicks actually win and so do the birds.

On the other hand.. plenty of people feed layer to Silkies and roosters without it damaging their psyche or feeling like it's a threat to their investment the way I feel about it. I'm not here to judge, just share the information.

 

[micstrachan]

How is your little patient doing?

 

[Loreta Hen]

So right now where im at it is 10:22 PM and i heard cackling outside. I went with my dad with the .17 and shot the possumm so hes not a problem anymore. Anyway, the hen that was with him got shredded and he made it out barely alive. All of his tail feathers are gone, but the only thing wounded to bleeding is he has a small cut on his waddle, his comb is kinda beat up, and his eye is badly injured. His right eye is jabbed in and the pupil is red. He wont open it so unless i should do otherwise for now im just going to leave it alone. He cant walk by himself so I have him in a small crate in the house. He is wrapped with a towel to keep warm because he is wet and muddy. Also, I dabbed as much blood as i could off his face and nostrils so he could breath. Home made treatments are preferred. He is still breathing pretty normal.

Sorry to hear this! I fasten mine up each night in the coop, and their run has concrete wire around the run so that nothing can dig under.

 

[Peckyweck01]

How is your little patient doing?

He is doing good!! His eye is almost halfway open and he is talking and even crowing!! I am going to wait for his eye to heal a little more before I put him back outside. And I got my friend to take him so that’s good.

 

[Peckyweck01]

So he keeps doing this and I’m not sure why, it could be due to a head injury since his eye got jabbed in but I’m not sure. I only caught the beginning of it but he does this daily, a good amount of times. He will lean back or pretty much sit down and crank his neck and head back to his back and shake it, then he goes back to normal and his neck is normal and everything. I cant upload a video because for some reason my computer or phone wont let me. If i can get a picture i will post but it may be a bit to catch him doing it when i have my camera ready.

 

[Peckyweck01]

Ok so he did it again and I was able to get a few pictures. Kinda blurry but it should do. So like I said in the previous post, he does this then goes back to normal like nothing happened. (Also sorry about the cage mess, I’m going to clean it tomorrow morning)
So here’s what he does with his neck

And then he goes back to normal.. here’s a picture so you guys can see what he looks like normal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor guy! I would get some vitamins into him 400IU Vitamin E and 1/2 tablet B-Complex daily.
Check to make sure his crop is emptying overnight.

I would also watch to see that he's drinking really well on his own.

No worries about the cage photos but here's a tip Line your cage with puppy pads, makes for easy cleanup.

 

[Peckyweck01]

Ok so apparently im worse than i thought at trying to tell if the crop is empty or not. I cant tell if its the base of his neck attaching to the rest of his body or his crop. Can any of yall tell just by him standing? I would say thats his crop right? For him, he is standing pretty straight and tall.