Neck Wound

[Klcourington]

It seems as though a coyote has tried attacking one of my hens. She has a nasty wound on her neck with a hole. I thought there was grass stuck to the wound but instead it is the grass she has been eating that is coming out the side of her neck. She is still acting fine, walking, eating, breathing and sleeping nut I'm worried she may not make it because of the food coming out of her neck. I've sprayed it with Vetericyn Poultry Aid but I'm not sure what else I should do. I feel quite certain a vet would put her down. Everyone keeps saying put her down but then I see other stories like this where the chickens survive. How can I increase her chances of survival? This makes the second hen that the coyotes have tried snatching out of the coop after dark this year so I assume it's time for an electric fence. She only acts like it bothers her when I'm spraying it with the Vetericyn.

 

[ChicNmom]

If she is going to pull through she would likely need stitches, Can you post a picture?

Definitely reinforce the coop. How are they just reaching through to grab a chicken at night? Even with an electric fence you need to close that gap.

 

[Klcourington]

If she is going to pull through she would likely need stitches, Can you post a picture?

Definitely reinforce the coop. How are they just reaching through to grab a chicken at night? Even with an electric fence you need to close that gap.

I'll get a picture when it's light outside. There are 1-2" gaps for ventilation that the chickens will stick their heads through to grab grass, even at night, so I'm assuming that's when it happened. The coyotes can't get into the coop, but my hens aren't afraid of other animals either so even if there's a coyote outside the coop, they will still poke their heads through. I'm afraid their curiosity may cause much more harm. I put all kinds of treats/snacks in the coop but they still go for the grass outside. I don't believe there's a vet in my area that would treat a chicken with any form other than euthanizing. I have her separate from the rest of the flock inside the garage and she's acting normal, other than the gaping hole. Someone else mentioned wrapping it and taping it but this is all so new to me.

 

[ChicNmom]

You need to put some kind of caging or fencing around the vents.

This is just my opinion of what I would do based on your description and not seeing pictures if I did not have a vet available.

If she's still acting OK the it doesn't sound like anything more than maybe some muscle and skin damage. If it wasn't bigger than an inch I would clean it really well and try some Vetbond (liquid sutures) as long as the skin looked healthy. Then I would put the hen on a broad spectrum antibiotic like amoxicillin to take care of any potential infection.

Or, if you have a friend that is a nurse they might do it for you. I have a client that is a nurse and has sutured her own hen that was attacked by a fox.

Vetbond should be available on Amazon

 

[coach723]

Pictures of the injury might be helpful to see what may actually need to be done, but if food is leaking out then the crop needs to be repaired. Otherwise she will end up with an infection and/or slowly starve. Here is a link to another similar thread, my advice is in post #2, with some links there that may be helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/possible-esophagus-or-crop-puncture.1302708/#post-21223393
Many have done crop surgeries or repairs when they did not have access to a vet that could help. I would also recommend an antibiotic. You can get amoxicillin as Fish Mox at many online retailers to give orally, you can get inject-able penicillin at most tractor supply stores, if you are in the US.
All the gaps in your coop should be covered with 1/2 inch or smaller hardware cloth. That will prevent them from sticking their heads through, and prevent anything from being able to reach in. 1/2 inch will stop most predators, though small mice can still fit through in some cases. 1/4 inch will stop even that. It comes in rolls of various width and lengths. All openings for ventilation should be covered with it, windows, vents, etc. And their should be a predator proof door that is secured at dark. If that doesn't make sense, then pictures of your set up would help in making suggestions.

 

[CLSranch]

If your hens stuck their head out and a coyote or almost any predator touched it, they would have beheaded it and pulled it half way through the wire. I have had coons dig a small hole in the side of an above ground coop about 3' high and pull chickens out. I put foot traps under it and had a trapped coon a much much bigger hole and a dead hen the next morning.
It seems almost every new predator problem I suggest a dog proof coon trap and several live traps for smaller than coyote predators and that is usually what it is.
A game cam helps.

 

[Chuck-n-cluck]

It could absolutely be a coon.
When I first got chickens I lost have of them in the first six months to coons. 6 in one night.
One was still alive when I got out there in the morning but its head was mauled raw and it was blinded. So I had to put her down.
They can get in in places you wouldn't think they could. So, when you think you've got it predator proof. Go over it again. I ultimately ended up with a double electric fence around the top that had 2.2 jules output and will give you one heck of a jolt, TRUST ME! HAHA.
I also cut down all small trees that could be climbed on the outside and three that were on the inside. (that was a mistake to leave them as shade trees).
There will always be predators as long as you have chickens. I have something leaving what looks like fur filled scat about 4-5 inches long around my fencing on the outside. I finally put the game cam out to see if I can get a picture.

 

[sassychickens76]

@Chuck-n-cluck did you catch what was leaving the scat?
Did the hen live?

 

[Chuck-n-cluck]

@Chuck-n-cluck did you catch what was leaving the scat?
Did the hen live?

Hello. Sorry just saw this. Been busy fixing stuff. I never found out out what left the scat, YET. Haha.
the chick that got that major wound has lived! My wife and I cleaned it out really good with peroxide and water flush. We then isolated her in the garage and used t-shirts for bedding so she wouldn’t get a bunch of junk in the wound again. She slept for hours afterwards. I bought some poultry wound spray and used that for a couple days. She was up and ready to get back with the other chicks in three days. They checked out her wound and did a little pecking but very little. Anyway you can hardly tell she was wounded unless she stretches her neck.

 

[sassychickens76]

Yay!