Please Help - Sick Chicken

[konatreehugger]

Does anyone know what this is? This is Speedy, my Hen. I've had her since I found her egg...she was in the middle of hatching and all her siblings and mama were mauled in a dog attack. :-( She is use to being indoors. I recently (maybe 5 weeks ago) moved her outside into a small round coop. She seemed to love it. A wild hen with her three chicks started visiting and I fed them as well as Speedy. One afternoon, I went to give her more food and was HORRIFIED by what I saw.

I immediately took her to a vet and he says she "got beat up", maybe by the hen? Anyways, he gave me some antibiotics for her and she's been on them for a few days...the only real improvement I'm noticing is that she's not running a fever like she was. She's eating and drinking plenty, but I'm sad for her. :-( Any thoughts? Can being "beat up" by the wild hen do this kind of damage when Speedy in in a cage and the hen is outside? I know the wild hens chicks can get into Speedy's coop, and am wondering if they attacked her to?? The chicks are around 7-8" tall.

Also, the vet checked her body and feathers and said that other than the wounds, she's in good health... I'm just concerned.

May sound silly, but here's a little background on Speedy... I can home from the hospital one day with some bad news... and then she happened, or I heard her chirping outside...Her nest had been mauled and mama hen & siblings killed by neighbor dogs. I took her inside and raised her from there... She made me feel much better about my life and all that was going on... I'm so very attached to her. She's not just a hen, she's my pet, friend. I use her a lot in my macro shot photo contests - she loves pictures. She loves to cuddle, sleeps inside at times - BELIEVE it or not, she's TRAINED to poo in the litter box - and she's a Pisces.

PLEASE HELP - Concerned Mama.

Here's her Sweet Healthy Self...

 

[foxypoproxy]

I agree with your vet it looks like she has been hen pecked!
Once a chicken see's blood it will keep pecking and it can turn into cannibalism (killing the injured chicken).
You want to keep her away from other chickens until she heals.
I heard putting blue food dye on the wound stop them from picking at it, but i don't know if the dye could be dangerous.
So, if i were you, baby her and take care of her till she heals.

 

[Avalon1984]

Awww. What a great story. How nice of you to raise this chicken.

She will be fine. I have seen chickens do far more damage than that so it is definitely possible that it was another chicken. She is probably still a bit traumatized from the injury. You may consider giving her some mushed up egg yolk and electrolytes if you want. I am sure she’ll also appreciate a nice slice of water melon.

 

[konatreehugger]

I will keep her separate... I've moved her to the deck, in a smaller, more secure coop...and she stays in at night. Thank you for your reply, I was concerned that maybe it was something else? Some sort of Chicken Disease? The Vets here in Hawaii, unfortunately, are not as dependable as on the Mainland...

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
Luckily for you and your chicken, it doesn't look like any disease :]
Just make sure she heals up nicely and her wounds don't get infected and she should be fine.
Chickens are hardy little things!
Wish you both the best!

 

[Avalon1984]

Oh Sweetheart, trust me, when it comes to that we are all mostly on our own. I don’t have any vets nearby at all. Performed my first crop surgery on Sunday and patient is alive and well. Do separate her for a while, sorry I forgot to mention this. It will assure 3 things:

1) The bird is getting rest and can eat without having competition
2) No further pecking- you will want to wait until it is completely healed before reintroducing or they will start all over again
3) If anything changes in behavior, eating or pooping, you will notice it quickly

If you have access to a dog kennel that would be helpful. Here is my setup. Just to forewarn you, chickens make big messes in small crates

I love your little “wristband”

oh, and before i forget

Here is my little patient.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
I agree chickens adore watermelon!

 

[konatreehugger]

Thanks everyone! I feel much better! My Hen is very spoiled, so she will receive royal treatment! Thanks for all of the suggestions! I had to make her a "bracelet" to make sure that if she ever got out of her coop, the neighbors wouldn't hurt her... I live in Hawaii, in the Macnuts and Avocados... LOTS of Hunters here. But, she will be well taken care of.

 

[Julianna]

Hi! Judging by your user name, are you in Kona, Big Island, HI? I'm in Hilo! Where did you get the leg band???? For a fellow chicken lover: You can get vitamins and electrolytes in a powdered form to add to her water for about $6 from Del's or any farm supply store. I add it to my chickens' water whenever they are droopy or getting over some affliction. You can use it also for horses, swine, goats, other poultry etc! The bumps on your chicken look like what mine had once, called chicken pox. Not the same as what people get. But after a while it all went away. It might just be your picture, though. I'd go with what the vet said. You can treat minor injuries with alcohol, hydro-peroxide, or triple antibiotics, all from your personal first aid kit too. When my pheasant was wounded, the vet gave me some silver sulfide which worked well, but again, just go with what your vet said.

By the way, I have a similar story! Years ago, I had a surrogate mother silky hen and 7 white silky chicks in a coop. When I can home, the chicks were scattered and killed, and the mother had been dragged out of the coop and decapitated! I think it was a mongoose, but it could have been a cat. The murderer had burrowed under the cage and got them! I was crushed, and I just cried and cried. I kept hearing a peep peep peep but I thought it was a sparrow because sometimes they sound like chicks. I went outside to look 4 times, never finding anything, until finally I pried up the coop and there was one little chick who had squeezed itself into a crack under the bottom boards of the coop. It was like a ray of sunshine! I took her to school with me for about a week so I could keep her warm while I was going to college full time (I'm off the grid, so I couldn't keep a light on her at all times). So, I love your story and I know what you mean!

 

[konatreehugger]

Oh Julianna! Such a sweet story! And great to find someone on BYC from my Island! I'm actually in Captain Cook, since I moved out of Kona a year ago. Awe, I was wondering if she had the Fowl Pox, :-( But, It is possible to survive it, right? Right now, I set up a kennel on my Lanai, safe from any further harm, and at night, she sleeps inside. I will definitely try to find some of the electrolytes powder. Any Idea on how long the Pox might last? She seems to run a temp at times, and is still eating, but less... she is still as sweet as ever.

As for the Bracelet, I made it for her.

I would love to have a pheasant. Thanks for the great words!