Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

 Oh my goodness!!!!  It is absolutely amazing to me that she recovered from that at all, much less with no lifeflight so the nearest trauma center and an ICU stay!  That injury is pretty horrifying. You must've taken great care of her, and I really appreciate you posting that to show their resilience.  It certainly gives me more confidence that Buttercup will do just fine without stitches as long as we keep her clean and quiet.  I'm not going to ask what happened to your overzealous rooster after that event....  

Buttercup seems to be resting comfortably in her cat carrier in the basement.  It is very warm down there because our ductwork must be leaky, probably 80 degrees--hopefully that won't be a problem for her transitioning back outside in a few days.  I do have one of those flat panel heaters in the coop for the coldest days--I can always turn that on and put her in isolation next to it.  I can't tell if she ate or drank, but she is moving around (spilled a lot of the water, in fact), and had another big stinky poop that looked normal, so I take that as a good sign.   I'll move a big dog crate or pen down there for her in the morning so she can get up and stretch her legs a bit more than the cat carrier allows.      

If you see her panting with beak slightly open or resting with her wings spread away from her sides a bit she is possibly too warm. If you see that you may need to move her to another area.

 

[fisherlady]

A few pictures from the silky pen...some of our hatches from late summer last year.
These birds aren't show quality, just pets/broodies...but they are a nice group. The first picture shows one we call Palmer...it collapses into your palm as soon as you pick it up and seems content to be carried around. I'm hoping it is a female but not sure yet.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

 
Good afternoon all:

Just curious what you folks are focused on for 2017....

I have CCLs, Marans, and a pair or bk Americunas, and OE by default....looking to add Red Dorkings (Sandhill), BLRW and some variation or ORPS....The Red's are ordered, the rest is still open....what are you looking for???

Autosexing breeds and Ameracuanas for 2017
For 2018, I'm acquiring:
bantam ameraucana - buff and silver
Welsummers from Sandhill
Cream Braebanters

Possible breeds to acquire:
Mille Fleur Leghorns
Isabel Leghorns
Wheaten Penedesencas
bantam cochins - barred and black frizzles

I am also thinking about buying a large group (50 or more) of assorted chicks from Sandhill. I had so much fun with the mixed chicks from John Blehm last year. These would come in later (summer), and I will be selling off most of them, just keeping any that particularly intrigue me. It's a surprise what might be in there, and it helps out the hatchery because they can unload whatever surplus they hatch that they can't use to fill orders. If I do this, I will post a list of what I got here and anyone that wants them can have "first dibs".

Dibs!

I'm getting rid of the Marans. I'll be breeding lavender ameraucanas, silkies, silkied lavender ameraucanas, CCL, Welbars, and hopefully Ayam cemani on the chicken front. Turkey poults will probably be my main focus. I'll have bourbon buff/red, red bronze, mottled black, hopefully some royal palm, and any combination of those. I feel certain that I'll have muscovy ducklings too at some point whether by choice or not lol.

I'm going to try to get some hatching eggs from @duluthralphie sometime this spring if his "toads" are laying well so that we can raise some sustainable and self breeding meat birds

What is a "toad" ?

[@=/u/23779/hyzenthlay]@hyzenthlay[/@]


You have done well so far...I suggest you keep her inside for 24 hours or so, make sure she has eaten, drank and pooped normally. The wound you show doesn't appear serious and should heal quite well but bird bones are fragile and she undoubtedly was struck hard by the hawk so bruising and internal injuries can happen and don't show on external exams. Keeping her calm and quiet will allow her to spend her energy on recovery rather than keeping warm and trying to hide her weakness or soreness from other flockmembers.

Clean the area around the wound (I think you already did this) but look closely to see if any small feathers around the edges lay into it, these can stick to scabbing and cause more pull on the edges when the bird moves, so we trim them with a small pair of scissors. Triple antibiotic (without painkiller) can be used on the wound. I do suggest picking up some BluKote for use when she is ready to reintegrate, but no rush since it will be a couple of days.

I am glad you were able to intervene so quickly and hope her recovery is quick and uneventful!

Thank you!!  Based on this, I put in an Amazon order for BluKote, so it should be here in a couple days, in time for me to spray her before she goes back out with the flock.  It looks like she's pooped once since she's been in the cat carrier, but I'll watch for another one at least, since that's surely what she was digesting before the attack.  I will also watch her for any signs of internal injury or broken bones--thanks for the heads up on that, it hadn't occurred to me.  I will also check for small feathers around the wound.  I didn't notice that in my first inspection, but I wasn't looking for it, either, so I will check to be sure.  I will also check to see if I have antibiotic ointment without painkiller--if not, I can pick some up at the drug store.  Thanks again for the great advice!

 


HYZ:

For my two cents....neosporin (without pain med)...if you really need it 'closed up', use surgical glue.(need a friend who's a vet)....or in a pinch...super glue....my experience is that given a bit of TLC and nothing vital was compromised, they will bounce back....there are many tales of folks on here fixing all sorts of problems that would kill a human.....

Given the pics, I think your girl made out pretty well....and your flock got a lesson....hope things work out well!!! (my two cents)

Thanks, stake!  I was just talking with my husband, who is a doctor (but no avian vet!) and he said he could do the stitches, but suggested it might be better to leave it open so that it heals from the inside out and we don't trap infection inside.  He hasn't seen Buttercup's wound in person yet, though, just the same pic I posted here.  I was worried about the stitches causing her more pain and trauma, anyway, so if we did do something we'd probably do glue like you said.  I hadn't thought of that, but I like that idea a lot better than stitches for her.  I guess we will watch over the next 24 hours and see how the wound seems to be healing and if it looks like it will close up on its own or if she keeps pulling it apart when she moves.  One good thing is that it didn't seem to be bleeding almost at all.

[@=/u/23779/hyzenthlay]@hyzenthlay[/@] I'm so glad that she's ok! I would definitely stick with what everyone else said. Make sure it's cleaned really well. You can use peroxide but only for the initial cleaning then stick with neosporin (without pain relief). I think that the location it's in, stitches wouldn't help since they would pull everytime she moved her head. You should keep her in for at least the first couple days to watch her and make sure she's eating (she may go in to shock for a few days). Before you put her back out, give her a good spray with some bluekote and she should be just fine

Thanks, Auroradream!  You may well be right about the stitches getting pulled out.  We'll watch and see how she does, I guess.  She does seem to be in a bit of shock--I saw this once before when my Ameraucana met the neighbor's dog--that ordeal seemed worse and Delphine was more trembly/wobbly and apparently traumatized than Buttercup, but she did pull through and is outside happy and healthy in the coop now.  I took her to the avian vet, though, since her injuries seemed worse, and she got put on a course of oral antibiotics and topical cream, plus I think subcutaneous fluids at the vet's office.  I can't remember if she got stitches, but I don't think so because what she had was more of a puncture wound and a bunch of abrasions if I recall correctly.  I guess if Buttercup starts looking poorly, she may end up at the vet as well.  I wish I could see her eat or drink--I suspect she may have sneaked a bite while I wasn't watching, but whenever I go to the basement to look at her, she stands up and seems to be on high alert--certainly not snacking or having a sip of her vitamin water.... :/   

Everyone here has already given you great advice, so I won't chime in on specifics. I second Fisherladys comments below. I had a hen who was being attacked by a fox, thankfully I caught him in the act. She had some nasty lacerations, but even then, she was acting normal in a few days, and back to the flock within two weeks. She went in to continue to lay and be healthy.

@hyzenthlay

It is amazing how well birds can heal...sorry about the graphic photo , don't remember if i posted this before, but this hen was laid open by an over aggressive rooster.... we kept her isolated, kept the edges clean and covered with triple antibiotic, no stitches and no antibiotics, but she was healed well enough to return to the coop in 5 weeks and no long term problems, in fact she returned to laying after 8 weeks and has raised 2 batches of chicks for us since the injury. So don't give up hope when injuries are ugly, birds are amazingly tough when given a bit of help!

And the pictures are a bit hard to see, but she was opened right into her abdominal cavity, I could see her intestines, that is why I didn't try to close the wound, I figured infection would be a sure thing if we closed it, not sure if the skin would have stretched back over it anyway.

I also had another hen somehow impale herself on a 1/2" stick last summer...right through the meaty part of her breast and in quite deep...again we removed the stick, cleaned it, coated it and she recovered in pretty short time. I have pictures somewhere of that also but not sure where at the moment.

That is incredible! They are such tough animals! I have never seen that pic before. What good care you gave her.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Today I continued my work from yesterday on improving the coop and run. Here are some pics below of the current setup. I adjusted the pvc pipes so that they are now arched and hopefully be better to keep the rain and snow from piling up. The tarped roof is temporary for this winter. I finally made a door, and it barely fit! Oh well, it was my first time. Also, the last pic is of a sign my MIL found for me.

 

[hyzenthlay]

If you see her panting with beak slightly open or resting with her wings spread away from her sides a bit she is possibly too warm. If you see that you may need to move her to another area.

Thanks, I'll watch for that!!

A bit of good news for now, DH is doing some work down in the basement, and said that Buttercup has been eating while he's down there.

Fisherlady, your silkies are so pretty, especially Palmer!!

 

[hyzenthlay]

What is a "toad" ?

Everyone here has already given you great advice, so I won't chime in on specifics. I second Fisherladys comments below. I had a hen who was being attacked by a fox, thankfully I caught him in the act. She had some nasty lacerations, but even then, she was acting normal in a few days, and back to the flock within two weeks. She went in to continue to lay and be healthy.

I second this--what is a "toad"?

Thank goodness you caught the fox in the act with your hen, too! I hate to think what difference another minute would have made for them. I'm glad to hear your hen turned out so well!! They really are amazing creatures.

 

[fisherlady]

Today I continued my work from yesterday on improving the coop and run. Here are some pics below of the current setup. I adjusted the pvc pipes so that they are now arched and hopefully be better to keep the rain and snow from piling up. The tarped roof is temporary for this winter. I finally made a door, and it barely fit! Oh well, it was my first time. Also, the last pic is of a sign my MIL found for me.

Looks good! If you are concerned about strength you can place a long center 'beam' by standing a 2x4 on its narrow side at the highest point of the arch and holding it up with a 2x4 post on either end or attaching one end to the face of the coop and placing a post at the far end. Since it is only meant to be temporary you could keep the base of the post in place by just sticking it into one of the holes in a cement block laid on it's side.

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks, I'll watch for that!! 

A bit of good news for now, DH is doing some work down in the basement, and said that Buttercup has been eating while he's down there.

Fisherlady, your silkies are so pretty, especially Palmer!!   

Thanks
DH is particularly fond of that one and he named her/him.

Glad she is eating! That is a good sign...also, yogurt, hulled sunflower seeds (unsalted) and peanuts or raisins are also favorite treats here.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

A few pictures from the silky pen...some of our hatches from late summer last year.
These birds aren't show quality, just pets/broodies...but they are a nice group. The first picture shows one we call Palmer...it collapses into your palm as soon as you pick it up and seems content to be carried around. I'm hoping it is a female but not sure yet.

They're all adorable! I think Palmer looks girly

Dibs!

What is a "toad" ?
Everyone here has already given you great advice, so I won't chime in on specifics. I second Fisherladys comments below. I had a hen who was being attacked by a fox, thankfully I caught him in the act. She had some nasty lacerations, but even then, she was acting normal in a few days, and back to the flock within two weeks. She went in to continue to lay and be healthy.
That is incredible! They are such tough animals! I have never seen that pic before. What good care you gave her.

Long story short, Toads are his own meat birds crossed and bred from cornish X

Today I continued my work from yesterday on improving the coop and run. Here are some pics below of the current setup. I adjusted the pvc pipes so that they are now arched and hopefully be better to keep the rain and snow from piling up. The tarped roof is temporary for this winter. I finally made a door, and it barely fit! Oh well, it was my first time. Also, the last pic is of a sign my MIL found for me.

It's looking great!

I second this--what is a "toad"?

Thank goodness you caught the fox in the act with your hen, too! I hate to think what difference another minute would have made for them. I'm glad to hear your hen turned out so well!! They really are amazing creatures.

Toads are what he calls his home crossed meat birds. I'll find one of his pictures that he's shared. I know he wont mind.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

These pictures are property of duluthralphie. I borrowed them to show you guys what his toads are.





On the left is a young turkey. I can't remember for sure but I think he said it was around 12 lbs. On the right is a toad, about 15 lbs.