Hi all,
This is my first post. I had a bobcat get into my coop 5 nights ago. He killed 2 of my 4 instantly and injured my other 2. My alpha girl, Athena, got about a dozen stitches in total on 3 areas on her backside. I know she fought the dang thing hard as the protector of the flock. The other survivor appeared to be ok at first but 2 days later we discovered she had ruptured an ear drum from head trauma and though I nursed her and syringed her water for 3 days she ended up passing. I only have my blue Wyandotte hen, Athena left. She is walking slowly and needs a lot of encouragement to drink water so I’ve been giving her water with electrolytes 10ccs at a time a few times a day. She was in the garage in a dog kennel but we have since moved her in the house as it was freezing in the garage. I’ve offered her some of her favorites, like strawberries and corn on the cob. She acts interested but doesn’t eat more than a peck or 2. I crumbled up some layer pellets and mixed them with water to make a mash and gave her about 1/2 a tsp of it with a pastry bag. She’s getting antibiotic cream on her stitches 2 times a day and caproxen (crushed and mixed with water and very painfully given by syringe).
Ive read chickens go through a lot of emotional trauma when they’ve witnessed something like this and that it can take some time to recover from that alone. I did order a lifesize chicken plush to keep her company while she recovers as it’s not an option to adopt and introduce any other chickens right now while she is healing.
Does anyone have any advice on how to get her to eat? Or is it just going to take time?
Also, she was laying eggs. Laid 1 the day after the attack and 1 the following day but none since. Do I need to worry about her retaining or do you think she stopped producing due to stress?
This is my first post. I had a bobcat get into my coop 5 nights ago. He killed 2 of my 4 instantly and injured my other 2. My alpha girl, Athena, got about a dozen stitches in total on 3 areas on her backside. I know she fought the dang thing hard as the protector of the flock. The other survivor appeared to be ok at first but 2 days later we discovered she had ruptured an ear drum from head trauma and though I nursed her and syringed her water for 3 days she ended up passing. I only have my blue Wyandotte hen, Athena left. She is walking slowly and needs a lot of encouragement to drink water so I’ve been giving her water with electrolytes 10ccs at a time a few times a day. She was in the garage in a dog kennel but we have since moved her in the house as it was freezing in the garage. I’ve offered her some of her favorites, like strawberries and corn on the cob. She acts interested but doesn’t eat more than a peck or 2. I crumbled up some layer pellets and mixed them with water to make a mash and gave her about 1/2 a tsp of it with a pastry bag. She’s getting antibiotic cream on her stitches 2 times a day and caproxen (crushed and mixed with water and very painfully given by syringe).
Ive read chickens go through a lot of emotional trauma when they’ve witnessed something like this and that it can take some time to recover from that alone. I did order a lifesize chicken plush to keep her company while she recovers as it’s not an option to adopt and introduce any other chickens right now while she is healing.
Does anyone have any advice on how to get her to eat? Or is it just going to take time?
Also, she was laying eggs. Laid 1 the day after the attack and 1 the following day but none since. Do I need to worry about her retaining or do you think she stopped producing due to stress?
