My poor girl got attacked by a weasel (we think) Saturday night-need advice

[pepperellchick]

I found her yesterday laying down, looked dead. She got up when I was there and opened coop door and her neck/head were all raw and bleeding. I sprayed the wounds with half hydrogen peroxide/half water. She is not eating but she is pooping. I have her in the basement with food and water raised on boxes but she is just standing there puffed up (in pain I am sure). I have blu-cote. Should I put that on there? I need to give her a thorough exam, I think it is just her head and neck but they looked like raw hamburger yesterday. Bleeding has stopped. :-(

 

[Henry&Friends]

I would clean it again, snap pictures and use the blu kote. You might have to trim some feathers away from it so they don’t crust onto the scab. further action will depend on how bad it is, but generally you’ll want to keep her in the dark & warm, she’s probably in shock. Do you have any vitamins or electrolytes water powder for poultry? Offer that or red Gatorade to give her a boost and perk her up, hopefully

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She is not eating but she is pooping.

Looks more like a raccoon attack.. I had a duck scalped once... and she recovered quickly despite moving slow short term! Seems like weasel attacks are usually much cleaner and more deadly.

Is she drinking? Dehydration can deadly fast. Consider putting her back with her friends (or at least putting her kennel in sight) if she has some.

Adding a little Poultry Nutri drench (and/or) some (homemade) electrolytes to the water (or direct dose to the beak if not drinking) can aid to support the immune system in healing. Rooster Booster brand Poultry Cell (product) is also a good product to use during times of stress.

A little scrambled or boiled & smashed egg... can be a nice pick me up that is easy to digest and often very palatable.

A pic of your set up and adding your general location to your profile can help folks make the best suggestions possible at a glance.

Chickens can be quite resilient, hope she recovers quickly!

 

[hayley3]

Poor thing....Vetericyn has always worked so well for me. I get it at the feed store, it has amazing healing properties.
Did you see any entry points in the chicken wire? Or was she locked inside her coop?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, I would look her over really well again.
Flush her wounds as needed. I would use saline, betadine, chlorhexidine or warm soapy water for cleaning the wounds. The initial use of the Peroxide/water was fine, but repeated use of Peroxide can inhibit healing.

I do like Blu Kote, but for a large area that needs to be monitored for infection, I would use triple antibiotic ointment or Vetericyn ( no blue coloring to deal with). Feathers can be trimmed and/or plucked away from the wounds so you can tend to her better and see the wounds more clearly.

Getting her hydrated as mentioned previously is important. Since she has head/neck injuries, she's likely very sore - you may want to hold a shallow cup up to her beak to see if she will drink. Also place her food/water dishes up fairly high so she doesn't have to bend her neck down quite so far. Once she starts healing, then you can lower them.

Keep us posted on how she's doing. When you do your next clean-up on her wounds, photos of the damage may be helpful too.

 

[pepperellchick]

Warning-graphic description follows! Thank you everyone. I took her to the vet yesterday and had to put her down. She had a thorough exam and back part of her scull was missing all skin and her brain stem showing with nothing to close over it. The tissue there turned black which means it was dying off. The prognosis was very bad and I had her cremated. :-( The poor thing, she was our best girl! The video I took showed how bad her injuries were but cannot be uploaded without hosting it somewhere which I won't do. I think I should delete it, it was so horrible!! It would have been better if she had been killed quickly. There was no sign of a break in to the coop/fencing anywhere although the electric fence was off due to snow and it shorting out. As always, this is wonderful supportive community and I thank you!​

 

[Henry&Friends]

Warning-graphic description follows! Thank you everyone. I took her to the vet yesterday and had to put her down. She had a thorough exam and back part of her scull was missing all skin and her brain stem showing with nothing to close over it. The tissue there turned black which means it was dying off. The prognosis was very bad and I had her cremated. :-( The poor thing, she was our best girl! The video I took showed how bad her injuries were but cannot be uploaded without hosting it somewhere which I won't do. I think I should delete it, it was so horrible!! It would have been better if she had been killed quickly. There was no sign of a break in to the coop/fencing anywhere although the electric fence was off due to snow and it shorting out. As always, this is wonderful supportive community and I thank you!​

sorry for your loss Seems like it’s always the best hens who go first

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Warning-graphic description follows! Thank you everyone. I took her to the vet yesterday and had to put her down. She had a thorough exam and back part of her scull was missing all skin and her brain stem showing with nothing to close over it. The tissue there turned black which means it was dying off. The prognosis was very bad and I had her cremated. :-( The poor thing, she was our best girl! The video I took showed how bad her injuries were but cannot be uploaded without hosting it somewhere which I won't do. I think I should delete it, it was so horrible!! It would have been better if she had been killed quickly. There was no sign of a break in to the coop/fencing anywhere although the electric fence was off due to snow and it shorting out. As always, this is wonderful supportive community and I thank you!​

I'm sorry to hear of your loss

Have you had any luck catching the Weasel?

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

There was no sign of a break in to the coop/fencing anywhere although the electric fence was off due to snow and it shorting out. As always, this is wonderful supportive community and I thank you!

So sorry for your loss.

Thank you for taking her to the vet and doing your very best!

Chicken wire on your run is mostly sufficient for keeping chickens in and aerial predators out. A weasel (and things in that family) can easily slip through chicken wire without having to break in. Raccoons are known to reach through and usually pull the whole head off or severely maim. Rats are also known chicken predators that find many ways in... for informational purposes. Many of us add or use 1/2 inch hardware cloth to cover openings when possible. E- fencing is great at blocking a lot when it's functioning, I happen to be upgrading mine this week also.

I swear, it only takes once and it's often our most valued of the bunch that gets effected.

Do you know when this happened or what location? Were there any signs of blood or missing feathers at the attack site... Did it happen over night or during the day.. with the chickens locked IN the coop or with only the run locked? Sorry, just trying to help pin down who done it... without a trace and help protect the survivors. I also thought weasel kills were much cleaner and get more birds but realize new situations come up all the time and here to learn.

Did your girl have a name? Why don't you go ahead and delete that video! If you have happier pic or memory you'd like to share, I find it a lot more healing than.. when you're ready.