Raccoon Attack

scjcb37

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I could use some advice. Night before last a huge raccoon literally ripped the hardware cloth off my run and attacked 2 of my girls. I ran outside as fast as I could and was able to get all but 2 of my girls out unscathed as he had the other 2 cornered. I managed to get it off of them and they came out of it better than I thought they would, thank goodness! BUT my one girl, Asia, had some damage to her beak and is not eating. She is missing a small piece, but it looks like the rest of the tip may fall off. What can I do for her?? Advice pleeease ❤
 

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I could use some advice. Night before last a huge raccoon literally ripped the hardware cloth off my run and attacked 2 of my girls. I ran outside as fast as I could and was able to get all but 2 of my girls out unscathed as he had the other 2 cornered. I managed to get it off of them and they came out of it better than I thought they would, thank goodness! BUT my one girl, Asia, had some damage to her beak and is not eating. She is missing a small piece, but it looks like the rest of the tip may fall off. What can I do for her?? Advice pleeease ❤
Horrible! I really hate raccoons! Good for you for saving them. As far as I know, from reading here, your girl should heal. Do you by any chance have a Dremel tool? I have seen advice given about using one - carefully - to even out the damage and let the beak grow back. Can you try making a soft mash of soaked chicken food and seeing if she will take that?
Also, just for our information, how did the raccoon rip off hardware cloth? Was it fastened just with staples, or was it held down with washers and screws?
 
Washers and screws. It managed to get a hole big enough for his fat butt to get in but couldn’t get back out. The next day 5 of us went out and reinforced with larger washers and a ton of metal wire. QUOTE="Eggscaping, post: 22811255, member: 529243"]
Horrible! I really hate raccoons! Good for you for saving them. As far as I know, from reading here, your girl should heal. Do you by any chance have a Dremel tool? I have seen advice given about using one - carefully - to even out the damage and let the beak grow back. Can you try making a soft mash of soaked chicken food and seeing if she will take that?
Also, just for our information, how did the raccoon rip off hardware cloth? Was it fastened just with staples, or was it held down with washers and screws?
[/QUOTE]
 
Thank you for responding. I made her some soft scrambled eggs and she ate them rite up
 
I could use some advice. Night before last a huge raccoon literally ripped the hardware cloth off my run and attacked 2 of my girls. I ran outside as fast as I could and was able to get all but 2 of my girls out unscathed as he had the other 2 cornered. I managed to get it off of them and they came out of it better than I thought they would, thank goodness! BUT my one girl, Asia, had some damage to her beak and is not eating. She is missing a small piece, but it looks like the rest of the tip may fall off. What can I do for her?? Advice pleeease ❤

Hopefully she doesn't have any other injuries. The beak is sensitive so you can do this a couple of ways.

The "quick" is exposed (red arrow) so the beak is very tender right now. It will sort of harden over a few days and the outer layer that's broken may fall off on it's own. You could lightly trim the outer layer with nail clippers if you wish, but that a lot of times exposes more of the quick and can be painful. Personally something like this I leave alone and let everything harden up and the outer layer fall off by itself.
I've had a few with damaged beaks and found that less is more when dealing with them.
Give it several weeks and you will generally see the outer layer regrowing (or that's my experience). Once it's regrown, if you need to, file and shape sharp edges with a nail file (emery board).

See that she's staying hydrated. Wet feed is always a good idea - give in a bowl where she can scoop it out instead of having to "peck" at it.

Keep us posted.
1592785930751.png
 
Thank you Wyorp Rock! And everyone else that took the time to reply and help my girls out. I did as you said and she is doing really well. I am giving her feed soaked in water and she devours it as she can get her whole beak in there and just kinda scoop it up. The tip did wind up falling off. After cleaning her up, I left it alone but for checking it daily, and it is looking much better. She is actually doing better than her sister. Her sister only had scratches and cuts on her, but she is slower moving. Eating, drinking, eliminating fine, just slower to keep up. They are both recovering and I am so so so grateful !
QUOTE="Wyorp Rock, post: 22811652, member: 380647"]
Hopefully she doesn't have any other injuries. The beak is sensitive so you can do this a couple of ways.

The "quick" is exposed (red arrow) so the beak is very tender right now. It will sort of harden over a few days and the outer layer that's broken may fall off on it's own. You could lightly trim the outer layer with nail clippers if you wish, but that a lot of times exposes more of the quick and can be painful. Personally something like this I leave alone and let everything harden up and the outer layer fall off by itself.
I've had a few with damaged beaks and found that less is more when dealing with them.
Give it several weeks and you will generally see the outer layer regrowing (or that's my experience). Once it's regrown, if you need to, file and shape sharp edges with a nail file (emery board).

See that she's staying hydrated. Wet feed is always a good idea - give in a bowl where she can scoop it out instead of having to "peck" at it.

Keep us posted.
View attachment 2206083
[/QUOTE]
 
Thank you Wyorp Rock! And everyone else that took the time to reply and help my girls out. I did as you said and she is doing really well. I am giving her feed soaked in water and she devours it as she can get her whole beak in there and just kinda scoop it up. The tip did wind up falling off. After cleaning her up, I left it alone but for checking it daily, and it is looking much better. She is actually doing better than her sister. Her sister only had scratches and cuts on her, but she is slower moving. Eating, drinking, eliminating fine, just slower to keep up. They are both recovering and I am so so so grateful !
QUOTE="Wyorp Rock, post: 22811652, member: 380647"]
Hopefully she doesn't have any other injuries. The beak is sensitive so you can do this a couple of ways.

The "quick" is exposed (red arrow) so the beak is very tender right now. It will sort of harden over a few days and the outer layer that's broken may fall off on it's own. You could lightly trim the outer layer with nail clippers if you wish, but that a lot of times exposes more of the quick and can be painful. Personally something like this I leave alone and let everything harden up and the outer layer fall off by itself.
I've had a few with damaged beaks and found that less is more when dealing with them.
Give it several weeks and you will generally see the outer layer regrowing (or that's my experience). Once it's regrown, if you need to, file and shape sharp edges with a nail file (emery board).

See that she's staying hydrated. Wet feed is always a good idea - give in a bowl where she can scoop it out instead of having to "peck" at it.

Keep us posted.
View attachment 2206083
[/QUOTE]
Glad to hear she's doing much better!
I'm sorry her sister is still having trouble. Sometimes even if it looks outwardly to be just cuts/scratches, birds can suffer internal injuries or when under attack, they may actually in a panic run into walls/fencing, etc. and injure/bruise themselves. Hopefully she begins to show more improvement. If you haven't done so, then I would give them both a direct dose of poultry vitamins for a few days - maybe it will give the sister a much needed boost. I prefer to use Poultry Cell, but Poultry Nutri-Drench is a good choice as well. Direct dose for both is 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.

Thank you for the update.
 

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