racoon victim...

[torrelee]

I came home from duty Friday to find 2 of my flock of 5 had been pretty brutally eaten... I thought that my neighbors spaniels got them as I am in the middle of town and hadn't had any issues in 2 years with my flock. I patched up my fence, locked up my girls, and assumed the problem was solved.
I woke up early Sunday to a ruckus and ran outside barefoot on my night gown. I scared off whatever it was, I am thinking raccoon now. Must have taken the other two off the roost like it did this girl. Luckily, my remaining d'uccle/silkie cross was still alive. She has several puncture wounds on her head and a cut on her back. I cleaned them up with betadine and covered in neosporin. They don't appear to be infected as of yet...
I'm worked though, as her eyes are swollen shut, and she makes an odd noise when she breaths. She's pretty lethargic as well. I've got her in a crate and has been drinking sugar water when I dip her beak. she's not eating, but has pooped a couple times, and layed an egg.
I tried to get an antibiotic at the feed store, but they don't have anything but herbal cold remedies... Is there anything someone cam recommend for the swelling? And something to keep.her going food wise? I tried oatmeal, strawberry, and eggs but I think she won't eat since she can't see.

I'll post pictures when I get off duty on Wednesday. I have her with me on duty in a crate so I can water her, but don't have computer access.
Thanks for any help!

 

[chickenzoo]

Poultry nutri drench vitamins are good. I also like to use baby parrot hand feeding formula... You can wet it and syringe it into the beak. You can apply neosporine to her eyes. Penicillin would be a good antibiotic to use. Bites on birds can be deadly due to infection from salvia of animals. Get her on an antibiotic quickly...do you have people ones?

 

[RTEmmer]

Two weeks ago I had a couple of raccoons in with my flock of twelve. These were young peri-urban raccoons without the experience or skill to quickly take down a chicken. Two of my girls were injured. One recovered quickly from a puncture bite on the neck. The other, however, is still in living-room rehab. She's recovered well with the exception of having her beak shredded by the raccoon. I've been hand feeding her with a small syringe a mixture of cooked oats & quinoa, powdered green smoothie mix and goat milk. I'm interested in hearing from anyone nurturing a chicken through beak rehab. How long might it take to grow back or might she eventually learn to eat with her short multipronged mouth apparatus?

 

[silkiechicken]

Depends on how bad the injury was. If the bone and underlying beak structure was chewed off, it may never grow back. If the bone is still there, there's a chance it can come back much like a fingernail on a finger where the tip was cut off. It just requires the nail bed. Of cousre, if the beak bone/beak bed isn't quite right or damaged, her beak can grow out funny.

 

[torrelee]

Thank you for the advice. I got some parrot food and erythromyacin in her along with her sugar water. One of her eyes cleaned up pretty well, the other is goopy inside, but I don't won't to mess with it. She is more alert today, turning her head at noises and even squawked at me once when I was cleaning her up. Thinking that's a good sign.

 

[RTEmmer]

The beak's bone base is still intact - shredding starting just after the nostril holes. Should I consider trimming the beak strips with a fingernail clipper so that it might be easier for her to learn to feed herself? Curious about the rate of growth with the new beak - might it be comparable to the rate of our fingernails?

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, you say shredding.. do you have a pic?

Chicken skull for reference:

That area by the nare holes to the tip is what the nail like covering grows out from. Had a rooster crack the side of his beak about half way between the nares and the tip, took near a year to completely grow out. I'd say it grows slower than finger nails, but can't say for sure.