- Oct 10, 2009
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I am sitting here with a nice little Red Star sexlink (I think?) who I saw standing utterly bewildered in the middle of a 2-lane freeway. She got hit at least once, or at very least rolled, by a vehicle before I could get to her and get her off the road. She was just turning in circles with every car that went by until I chased her off the road proper.
(A VERY VERY STUPID THING TO DO!!!! DO NOT DO THIS, YOU CAN DIE!!! I ALMOST GOT CLOBBERED!!)
Anyway, I took her to the only vet I know who has ANY bird experience at all, to make sure I wasn't missing anything drastic in my evaluation.
She obviously had road rash of the tail and is missing most of her tailfeathers; she has a bald, scraped area for about 3-4 inches forward of that and a cut at the base of the tail. She has apparent head trauma (swellings around both eyes, primarily the right, abrasions on comb and skull). Eyes are half (left) or completely closed (right) and very deep purple-red facial skin. The beak is undamaged. Her right wing and leg are markedly sore; she holds them out to one side slightly, with the leg more forward than sideways.
Per the vet, she's one exceedingly tough/lucky chicken! No palpable breaks, and we couldn't tell on internal injuries. The head trauma is the most concerning, so the vet prescribed some predisone for inflammation and some pain medication as well. Antibiotics are also being given. She's currently resting next to me on be bed to keep stress minimal and so that I can nurse her better. She seems as comfortable as might be expected; there's no question that even with the pain meds, she's sore.
She will drink if water is dripped slowly from a syringe onto the tip of her beak; I'm actually giving her diluted Snapple lemon tea sweetened with lemonade for now.
I cannot believe that she survived being hit on a freeway that averages about 70 mph; perhaps she was just extraordinarily fortunate and the injuries are from falling out of a vehicle in the first place.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
(A VERY VERY STUPID THING TO DO!!!! DO NOT DO THIS, YOU CAN DIE!!! I ALMOST GOT CLOBBERED!!)
Anyway, I took her to the only vet I know who has ANY bird experience at all, to make sure I wasn't missing anything drastic in my evaluation.
She obviously had road rash of the tail and is missing most of her tailfeathers; she has a bald, scraped area for about 3-4 inches forward of that and a cut at the base of the tail. She has apparent head trauma (swellings around both eyes, primarily the right, abrasions on comb and skull). Eyes are half (left) or completely closed (right) and very deep purple-red facial skin. The beak is undamaged. Her right wing and leg are markedly sore; she holds them out to one side slightly, with the leg more forward than sideways.
Per the vet, she's one exceedingly tough/lucky chicken! No palpable breaks, and we couldn't tell on internal injuries. The head trauma is the most concerning, so the vet prescribed some predisone for inflammation and some pain medication as well. Antibiotics are also being given. She's currently resting next to me on be bed to keep stress minimal and so that I can nurse her better. She seems as comfortable as might be expected; there's no question that even with the pain meds, she's sore.
She will drink if water is dripped slowly from a syringe onto the tip of her beak; I'm actually giving her diluted Snapple lemon tea sweetened with lemonade for now.
I cannot believe that she survived being hit on a freeway that averages about 70 mph; perhaps she was just extraordinarily fortunate and the injuries are from falling out of a vehicle in the first place.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
