quick HELP please

[steve&kris]

I just caught my Brittany running full speed across the yard with one of our favorite chickens in his mouth. I zapped him with his e-collar and he immediately dropped the chicken and ran into the house. I figured the chx was dead....but when I went to check it was alive and sitting upright. I don't see any wounds, but it was not a gentle carry by any means. It's seeming a bit in shock. I brought it in my garage to be warm and quiet.

I found another chx in my yard a month ago that something had gotten. Same situation.... it seemed in shock and not moving around, and that one had a gimpy looking wing. It lived in the coop by the food and heat lamp for a couple days then died. It may have had worse injuries than this one...but I'm worried that it's just a tramatic experience shock and they don't recover.

Is that a thing? If this chx seems okay but is just sitting and not walking around normally right after an extremely tramatic experience, will it bounce back with a little time.... or will chickens die of just being scared to death? Is there anything I should do other than short term comfort and then moving it near it's food, water and heat lamp in the coop?

Thanks!

 

[janiedoe]

Seems like you are doing what you can. She may just be in shock. I'd continue to keep her warm and pay attention to whether she is eating, drinking, and pooping.
Because I respect her advice I'll tag @casportpony for you.
Good luck. I hope everything works out for you and your chicken.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I would bring the chicken inside in a basket or dog crate in a quiet dim room. Place food and water near within reach. Some bits of scrambled egg would be good as well. They can be in shock for awhile after being attacked.

When my flock were pullets, they started jumping up on and over a 4 foot chainlink fence into out yard. Our gentle golden retriever could not resist investigating them. He injured one and later another a few weeks later, but both recovered with mild feather loss. The third time it happened, we had already purchased a shock collar to train him. The third chicken had the least visible damage, but she died 10 minutes later, possibly from internal injuries or a heart attack. We put the body down in the yard and put his collar on. After he was shocked twice, he would not even look at the chickens again. We removed the collar the same day, and he taught out other dogs to stay away from the chickens for the next 8 years. Eventually we had 2 chickens who lived inside our yard separate from the large glock. They were never bothered and would even sleep near the dogs or cats.

The only time after that which we lost a chicken was young chicks who got through our electric poultry netting. Most dogs will chase baby chicks, since they seem like wild birds. Our electric poultry netting (with the power off) has worked well to keep chickens from jumping our fence. It is only 30 inches high, but chickens cannot jump up on it to then hop to the other side.

 

[steve&kris]

Thanks for the responses. Much appreciated. To give an fyi follow up on this, my wife sat in the garage holding the chicken "Checkers" for about an hour and a half. She slept in her arms and woke up and seemed okay, so my wife took her down to the coop where she ate food and drank water before my wife came back to the house. Everything was fine and she was unharmed by the dog.
As our luck would have it.... my wife went back down to the coop shortly after dark to shut the coop and check on the chickens. All the other chickens were scattered away from the coop and she couldn't find them, and Checkers was laying dead on the floor of the coop with her side ripped out. Our dog had been in the house the entire time. I'm guessing a coon got in...could be a weasel (weasel would normally go for the neck though)... but something ate a hole into the middle of the chicken, but didn't carry it off. We found all the other chickens but one hiding in our wood shed. The other one we're pretty sure is gone.
Poor Checkers had what has to be an all time Worst Day Ever for a chicken. She was truly one of the sweetest chickens we've ever owned. Super shame this happened.
I put out deer cams around the coop and a live trap. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I find the culprit.

 

[Boobumpbeanbear]

That is such terrible, sad news i'm so sorry for loss.

 

[Shezadandy]

Did any of your other chickens have blood on their beaks? It's not unheard of for chickens to attack flockmates who aren't acting "right".

 

[steve&kris]

Did any of your other chickens have blood on their beaks? It's not unheard of for chickens to attack flockmates who aren't acting "right".

I didn't specifically look for that... but not that we noticed when we gathered them. The fact that all the other birds were scattered out of their coop where they sleep at night tells me they were escaping danger in the coop. This was something deeply eating into the bird. I'm quite sure I have a predator situation.

 

[steve&kris]

That is such terrible, sad news i'm so sorry for loss.

Thanks... much appreciated. It is sad, i just hope I can catch the culprit before anymore happens. Things like this seem to go in phases, unfortunately.

 

[MROO]

Thanks... much appreciated. It is sad, i just hope I can catch the culprit before anymore happens. Things like this seem to go in phases, unfortunately.

What a nasty, nasty day ... not just for Checkers, but all of you! Aside from identifying the culprit and checking over your predator defenses, you may want to get some electrolytes to keep on hand for next time ... and I'm sorry to say it, but there's always a "next time" when you have chickens. If you can't get poultry electrolytes (Like Sav-A-Chick,) a children's version (like PediaLyte) or even Gatorade can make a big difference n recovery from sudden shock and injury.

 

[steve&kris]

What a nasty, nasty day ... not just for Checkers, but all of you! Aside from identifying the culprit and checking over your predator defenses, you may want to get some electrolytes to keep on hand for next time ... and I'm sorry to say it, but there's always a "next time" when you have chickens. If you can't get poultry electrolytes (Like Sav-A-Chick,) a children's version (like PediaLyte) or even Gatorade can make a big difference n recovery from sudden shock and injury.

Thank you... that is good advice. No doubt there's a next time. My wife is upset right now...I know she's not in the mood for it but I just sent her links to local people getting rid of some 1 yr birds and another guy getting rid of a rooster (which we need right now). I told her, the average chicken life on the planet is probably about 3 months when you factor in all the factory birds that die at 6-7 weeks....so our girls that sometimes make it past 5 are living some fortunate lives. It's just sad when they meet a tramatic end -- which is the way of nature and there's no avoiding it for most animals.
I think I still have some sav-a-chick around...but if not I'll grab more next time I'm at tractor supply. I wouldn't of thought of that, but certainly seems sensible.
Thx!