strawberries
In the Brooder
- Oct 20, 2022
- 7
- 36
- 36
Summary: One month after a head injury from a bobcat attack, hen appears to have recovered, and is drinking water, but does not eat food on her own -- should we expect a full recovery? Is there anything we should do other than keep waiting and keep feeding her?
The long version:
I didn't write down the date initially but counting back, I think it was on Oct. 17, a Saturday morning, my spouse let the hens out in the back yard and a few moments later, there was a big commotion and he said he saw a very large cat - likely a bobcat, since the neighbors reported seeing one around a few times - it was carrying off our biggest bird, an Orpington. He chased them and I think the bobcat ran into an old chickenwire fence that extends out into the woods. We thought she was gone, but about half an hour later, I saw her at the edge of the woods, walking back toward the house. We both think the bobcat dropped her when it ran into the fence.
Her legs and wings appeared uninjured, she showed full range of motion. She lost most of her tail feathers and some around her neck. There were lacerations on her face and near her ear which were oozing blood, and one small laceration on her abdomen. I cleaned the head wounds with iodine and applied Neosporin, but hadn't noticed the abdomen laceration until later on. We had lost another hen over the summer after a fox attack, unfortunately, so we didn't want to take a risk and we took her to the vet. They gave us an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic. We were feeding her boiled egg and some layer pellets and giving her daily medication, also a daily dose of Vitamin E because she would rest with her head flopped over to one side like she had wry neck. She developed sour crop on Day 2 after the attack - that resolved by massaging the crop and giving her some grit and withholding food. She has now had her full course of antibiotics and all of the anti-inflammatory, and the wounds appeared to have healed and feathers are growing in. This whole time she had been pretty listless, but about a week and a half ago, she started walking around a bit, building up to small excursions outdoors. Last Saturday, 10/15, about two days after finishing the last antibiotic, she drank water on her own for the first time, and now she drinks regularly, but she seems to continue to be unable or refuses to eat on her own. When she goes outdoors, she seems to eat little bits of clover or grass, just a couple of bites, and if we put pellets in a dish in front of her, she moves them around with her beak but doesn't manage to pick any up or eat any. We put a large rock in her crate so that she can file her beak on it, but haven't seen her doing that yet. When she sleeps she still has her neck flopped over, but when she is awake, she holds her head up high like normal. Poops were watery on the medication, and have slowly started to have a bit more bulk, but still on the watery side and still a bit yellow.
My concern here is that feeding her every day is not sustainable in the long run. I also do not want to torture her by prolonging something that she cannot recover from. Does anyone have experience with something like this? Is there anything we can do to help or entice her to eat on her own? Or are there any ideas about what could be wrong and whether or not she is going to pull through and eat on her own?
Also, sort of a strange full disclosure and kind of a completely separate issue, but my spouse and I had been in talks about downsizing and possibly re-homing the hens prior to this incident. I don't want to separate them or make any changes until she's recovered, if she is going to, and fully reintegrated with her flockmates.
Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any insights or thoughts.
The long version:
I didn't write down the date initially but counting back, I think it was on Oct. 17, a Saturday morning, my spouse let the hens out in the back yard and a few moments later, there was a big commotion and he said he saw a very large cat - likely a bobcat, since the neighbors reported seeing one around a few times - it was carrying off our biggest bird, an Orpington. He chased them and I think the bobcat ran into an old chickenwire fence that extends out into the woods. We thought she was gone, but about half an hour later, I saw her at the edge of the woods, walking back toward the house. We both think the bobcat dropped her when it ran into the fence.
Her legs and wings appeared uninjured, she showed full range of motion. She lost most of her tail feathers and some around her neck. There were lacerations on her face and near her ear which were oozing blood, and one small laceration on her abdomen. I cleaned the head wounds with iodine and applied Neosporin, but hadn't noticed the abdomen laceration until later on. We had lost another hen over the summer after a fox attack, unfortunately, so we didn't want to take a risk and we took her to the vet. They gave us an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic. We were feeding her boiled egg and some layer pellets and giving her daily medication, also a daily dose of Vitamin E because she would rest with her head flopped over to one side like she had wry neck. She developed sour crop on Day 2 after the attack - that resolved by massaging the crop and giving her some grit and withholding food. She has now had her full course of antibiotics and all of the anti-inflammatory, and the wounds appeared to have healed and feathers are growing in. This whole time she had been pretty listless, but about a week and a half ago, she started walking around a bit, building up to small excursions outdoors. Last Saturday, 10/15, about two days after finishing the last antibiotic, she drank water on her own for the first time, and now she drinks regularly, but she seems to continue to be unable or refuses to eat on her own. When she goes outdoors, she seems to eat little bits of clover or grass, just a couple of bites, and if we put pellets in a dish in front of her, she moves them around with her beak but doesn't manage to pick any up or eat any. We put a large rock in her crate so that she can file her beak on it, but haven't seen her doing that yet. When she sleeps she still has her neck flopped over, but when she is awake, she holds her head up high like normal. Poops were watery on the medication, and have slowly started to have a bit more bulk, but still on the watery side and still a bit yellow.
My concern here is that feeding her every day is not sustainable in the long run. I also do not want to torture her by prolonging something that she cannot recover from. Does anyone have experience with something like this? Is there anything we can do to help or entice her to eat on her own? Or are there any ideas about what could be wrong and whether or not she is going to pull through and eat on her own?
Also, sort of a strange full disclosure and kind of a completely separate issue, but my spouse and I had been in talks about downsizing and possibly re-homing the hens prior to this incident. I don't want to separate them or make any changes until she's recovered, if she is going to, and fully reintegrated with her flockmates.
Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any insights or thoughts.
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