Raccoon attack

[Alyssamary3]

We have a backyard flock of 15 chickens and just received a rescue Buff Orptington hen. The previous owner no longer wanted her because she was attacked by a raccoon. She is still walking around, eating, and seems to be ok, other than one side of her face being quite torn up. Her eye is swollen shut and I’m not even sure if there is still an eye under the swelling. I’m afraid that infection is going to set in. What should be done to help her? She’s scared, but a very sweet little lady. She’s in a big bin in our house so she can heal in peace. Any tips for cleaning her up? Also any advice about introducing her to the current flock when she’s better would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh Sweet Girl!

Do you have saline? If not, make your own - the recipe is 2tsp salt (table salt is fine) to 1quart water, bring to boil. Let cool.

Use this to gently wipe her face and to flush out her eye. Work on getting the eye open. You may find that you need to hold warm compresses on there (use warm saline). If it's really sealed with blood/crusties, then apply triple antibiotic ointment or terramycin eye ointment to the tissue and eye lids. Let that help soften things up. Then work on the eye some more.
She may have lost it or it may just be swollen badly. Once you get the eye open, flush with saline, remove any pus or debris, then put your ointment in the eye.
Take photos if possible.

For the nostrils, she's got a bit of caked on blood. Put one drop Peroxide on a qtip and swab to help loosen that gunk up or you can use saline, but Peroxide helps dissolve blood a little better.

Do you have any antibiotics on hand? If you do, what do you have. I agree, since you don't know a lot about her and she's in a bad way, antibiotics would be a good idea.

Oh and work on hydration. Get her drinking, then give some food wet or dry, bits of egg or ....you know what hens like I'm sure.

 

[Alyssamary3]

Oh Sweet Girl!

Do you have saline? If not, make your own - the recipe is 2tsp salt (table salt is fine) to 1quart water, bring to boil. Let cool.

Use this to gently wipe her face and to flush out her eye. Work on getting the eye open. You may find that you need to hold warm compresses on there (use warm saline). If it's really sealed with blood/crusties, then apply triple antibiotic ointment or terramycin eye ointment to the tissue and eye lids. Let that help soften things up. Then work on the eye some more.
She may have lost it or it may just be swollen badly. Once you get the eye open, flush with saline, remove any pus or debris, then put your ointment in the eye.
Take photos if possible.

For the nostrils, she's got a bit of caked on blood. Put one drop Peroxide on a qtip and swab to help loosen that gunk up or you can use saline, but Peroxide helps dissolve blood a little better.

Do you have any antibiotics on hand? If you do, what do you have. I agree, since you don't know a lot about her and she's in a bad way, antibiotics would be a good idea.

Oh and work on hydration. Get her drinking, then give some food wet or dry, bits of egg or ....you know what hens like I'm sure.

Thank you! This is all great advice. We will get working on her right away. I feel so bad for her

 

[Alyssamary3]

So my daughter and I got Betty cleaned up a bit- nose hole cleared out and her eye socket is currently open. We were able to flush saline solution into the hole. I don’t think there is an eye in there. She was a perfect angel and didn’t even fight us one bit. She ate rice this morning and some hot dog pieces. We love her so much!

 

[Lor]

Poor girl. I hope she heals well. It's nice of you to look after her.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So my daughter and I got Betty cleaned up a bit- nose hole cleared out and her eye socket is currently open. We were able to flush saline solution into the hole. I don’t think there is an eye in there. She was a perfect angel and didn’t even fight us one bit. She ate rice this morning and some hot dog pieces. We love her so much!

The eye may still be in there, hard to know until the swelling goes down. Sometimes there may be a layer of pus over the eye. Time will tell.

I'd keep it flushed out and put ointment in the eye at least once daily.

For antibiotics, you can use Amoxicillin or Baytril. Links below if you are interested.

I'd work on her drinking and keep her eating. You have hens right? Give her some poultry feed too. Rice and hot dog pieces, bits of scrambled egg on top to entice her - she's going to be spoiled!

https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
https://fishmoxfishflex.com/collect...-equivalent-aqua-amoxicillin-250-mg-100-count

 

[Alyssamary3]

The eye may still be in there, hard to know until the swelling goes down. Sometimes there may be a layer of pus over the eye. Time will tell.

I'd keep it flushed out and put ointment in the eye at least once daily.

For antibiotics, you can use Amoxicillin or Baytril. Links below if you are interested.

I'd work on her drinking and keep her eating. You have hens right? Give her some poultry feed too. Rice and hot dog pieces, bits of scrambled egg on top to entice her - she's going to be spoiled!

https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10
https://fishmoxfishflex.com/collect...-equivalent-aqua-amoxicillin-250-mg-100-count

Thank you so much! We were planning on flushing the eye again this evening so it doesn’t seal shut again.

It’s funny that you should mention the food that you did- her favorite choices so far have been hotdogs and rice! She’s been offered a whole buffet of choices. My daughter has been hand feeding her, and she’s readily eating. She’s been chowing down on the layer feed we have. Drinking well also!

We let her free in the yard today under close supervision, away from our current flock, and she seemed to enjoy herself. She didn’t walk around much, but she was pecking around in the grass.

Thank you for the antibiotic links! We didn’t have any on hand. You are awesome!

I’m totally fine with being spoiled! Any hen that can battle a raccoon and live to tell the tale deserves some serious spoiling.

Look how pretty she is! My daughter just wanted me to get pictures of Betty’s good side

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's in good hands

 

[Alyssamary3]

Is terramycin eye ointment ok to use for her?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, that is fine to use, as well as plain Neosporin if Terramycin is not available. She looks like she has a good home.