Ol' Red Had A Run-in With Coyotes

[birdlover]

Definite good wishes and prayers being sent to Ol' Red (and you)!!

 

[Sabrina]

Ol' Red is still with us this morning. I gave him some more aspirin, gatorade, laying mash soup. He doesn't look good but I guess as long as he is alive there is hope.

 

[hawtchick]

This is so sad, but I have seen some make it through such things. I hope he will pull through.
bring that lady friend in for him. That's a great idea.

 

[Sabrina]

I've really thought about bringing one of the hens in but I am hesitant to do so. First of all, the only two left are very flighty sex-links and I really don't think either of them would appreciate being in here with us. These are all free range birds and really don't care to be around us.

I'm also very concerned that they would peck at his bare back and cause even more pain to the poor fella. I think he is just too sick to want company right now.

His head is in almost constant motion. I don't know if he is suffering from headaches due to the wounds at the base of his skull, or if it is just a sign of his impending doom.

Ol' Red is the tamest; maybe because we've had him the longest or maybe because the poor fellow suffered a broken leg last year and has been handled previously. He's really a special guy and it brings me to tears to see him in such condition.

Here are a couple of pics I just took of my guy:

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Thanks for the update, Sabrina.
I hope Red gets more of an appetite today and is able to rest well.

Carla

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

that is EXACTLY what my hen looked like!!! Like the whole on his back, exactly the same place and same size...EVERYTHING!!! Now Im thinking that she was attacked by Coyotes. The difference is that she died within a few hours after I found her....she may have been attacked 2 days before I found her tho...thats how long she was missing! Did you guys kill all of the Coyotes? Sounds like your doing the right thing for your roo! What all did you use one him? Like all the medicines and ointments and such, so I know what to use if/when I run into this problem again. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Have you thought about taking him to a vet? He probably has an infection by now and needs antibiotic injections. Looks like he has some muscle damage or nerve damage to his neck as well.

 

[Sabrina]

He didn't come in to roost Saturday night, so I think his attack started Saturday but we didn't find him until Sunday.

There are several things I would have done differently if I would have found this board sooner.

He has not eaten since the Monday. I should have offered him yogurt, cottage cheese and/or hard-boiled eggs while he was still strong enough to eat. At this point I don't think he could swallow it.

I would have put him on aspirin and Gatorade (or other electrolyte supplement) right away.

He would have received a shot of antibiotics immediately.

His external wounds (which we treated with Corona, a topical ointment) have not been an issue. They are actually healing very nicely.

I'm not beating myself up with "should've" or "what ifs" here; what happened, happened, and that can't be changed. Basically I'm just condensing suggestions that I have received and information posted in other threads.

I know those critters were here before people started populating this area so heavily. I really can't blame the coyotes for doing what comes naturally to them. They are running out of habitat in this area ... and they still need to eat. That doesn't mean that I have to provide the buffet for them.

I'm going to raise their outside run fences to eight feet, bury some wire at the fence line and run a couple strands of wire. I am also toying with the idea of getting some guines and a baby monitor. From what I have read, motion lights won't scare coyotes away but I am wondering if motion-activated toys (think Billy Bass, Buck the Reindeer, etc.) would do any good.

Please don't think me ridiculous when I say that if any of the information in this thread can help save the life of another chicken, poor Ol' Red won't have died in vain. No, he's not dead yet so there is still hope, but I really don't expect him to make it. I think he's just too weak to pull through this.

 

[Sabrina]

Quote:
I lost my job in June and my husband's hours have been cut so I can't justify the expense of taking him to a vet; we are really strapped right now. His neck isn't torn up but that is where the worst wounds are. He has full control of his head, but I've noticed that the last couple of days he holds it at an angle and moves it around a bit. I tend to think he is suffering from an incredible headache ... at least that's the impression I get.

 

[dancesWchickens]

One of my hens got torn up really bad by a hawk; she had 2 lacerations that looked an awful lot like your roo's, a scratched eye, and a lot of feathers missing. Our neighbor (a nurse) helped me flush out the biggest wound and drip a little tea tree oil into it; we left the other as is. In humans the rule is not to stich a bite wound (so it can drain), plus chicken skin is so thin sewing didn't seem like it would work, so we just left her lacerations open.

She seemed ok on the first day, but for the next week was slow, off her food, etc, kind of like she was very achy and going downhill. I tried hand-feeding her treats but she refused most of them for about a week. So many people on this forum had similar experiences that ended well. In the end she pulled through and all of her wounds healed up just fine... It took several weeks for her to get back to 100%, but given what she looked like after the hawk attack I really thought she was a goner! If something like that had happened to a cat or dog, I'm sure it would not have survived, but it seems chickens are much more resilient.

Best wishes for your roo and keep us posted!