RIP Chickpea

[Cindymac]

Awesome!!! So happy for you

She will prob. Not lay eggs for a bit because of the trauma.

 

[Cali Chickens]

Rip Chickpea. We too had a fox attack this past weekend. At first I could only find 6 ( out of 25) of our girls, and one that was left for dead by my garden. As we walked around our house I had 6 different clumps of feathers. Needless to say I thought things were pretty grim. I have not clipped their wings just for this reason. We let them out when we are home, so we can be here to help in this situation but had to run to town quick. Anyhow, as the afternoon progressed and they heard us and our dogs in the yard(I kept walking.in circles around the house and in the woods, car port etc. anywhere I thought they'd hide, little by.little they came out. By sundown I counted 21in the run and 2 that were not wanting to go back in yet. One was pretty badly injured where the fix tried to grab her by the tail. She is healing nicely in a dog crate. We went out and bought some electrified fencing as this seems to happen at least once a season when the baby foxes are learning to hunt...

I'm so sorry about the ones you lost! I hope the one who was injured heals quickly. Hopefully the foxes will stay away from your girls!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Her stance is very similar to the second picture. I've looked over her and I can't find anything, just a patch of missing feathers. She's eaten some more food, had some water, and is moving around more. I think she may have also preened, or at least done something to the feathers on her back(around the missing patch) as it looks different than before. She seems much better, but still very reserved and lethargic.

She's likely still in mild shock, as was my hen the next day. If Chickpea doesnt continue to show daily improvement, you might consider posting her case/symptoms in the emergencies forum. If shock is her only issue, she should be mostly back to normal by tomorrow. (Severe shock can take 48 hours to overcome). It is also possible she is physically sore from her frantic escape. If a hawk did manage to lift and drop her, you should find deep talon wounds. (Fact is the actual predator remains unknown.). If you can't find any visible injuries, hopefully that means she escaped with no internal ones either.

Unfortunately my hen ultimately didnt survive. But unlike yours, mine could never eat solid foods again. She could barely ever move her head/neck again at all. Couldn't ever raise her head upright to properly drink; definitely couldnt preen. She had superficial talon wounds on her neck, chest and thigh. Those healed quickly. Unfortunately the hawk pinned her down by standing on her neck while it plucked her , which crushed her trachea beyond repair She lived for 5 more weeks drinking water and raw egg for nourishment. I never tried to tube-feed her due to obvious injury, simply gave her time to hopefully heal. I finally put her down when it was obvious healing was not to be, & she had become not much more than skin & feathers.

On day 2, Chickpea is in much better shape. Please keep this thread updated re any questions or change. Wishing you the best.

 

[Cali Chickens]

She's likely still in mild shock, as was my hen the next day. If Chickpea doesnt continue to show daily improvement, you might consider posting her case/symptoms in the emergencies forum. If shock is her only issue, she should be mostly back to normal by tomorrow. (Severe shock can take 48 hours to overcome). It is also possible she is physically sore from her frantic escape. If a hawk did manage to lift and drop her, you should find deep talon wounds. (Fact is the actual predator remains unknown.). If you can't find any visible injuries, hopefully that means she escaped with no internal ones either.

Unfortunately my hen ultimately didnt survive. But unlike yours, mine could never eat solid foods again. She could barely ever move her head/neck again at all. Couldn't ever raise her head upright to properly drink; definitely couldnt preen. She had superficial talon wounds on her neck, chest and thigh. Those healed quickly. Unfortunately the hawk pinned her down by standing on her neck while it plucked her , which crushed her trachea beyond repair She lived for 5 more weeks drinking water and raw egg for nourishment. I never tried to tube-feed her due to obvious injury, simply gave her time to hopefully heal. I finally put her down when it was obvious healing was not to be, & she had become not much more than skin & feathers.

On day 2, Chickpea is in much better shape. Please keep this thread updated re any questions or change. Wishing you the best.

She has improved a lot, and we took her outside to meet with her flock and give her some fresh air, although our most dominant girl was tough on her. She also stumbled a few times while walking and was moving pretty slow. I'm assuming she's sore, so is there any way to make her more comfortable? Thank you

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

She has improved a lot, and we took her outside to meet with her flock and give her some fresh air, although our most dominant girl was tough on her. She also stumbled a few times while walking and was moving pretty slow. I'm assuming she's sore, so is there any way to make her more comfortable? Thank you

Keep her comfy and let her rest and recover. As a poster suggested above, maybe offer her a tasty nutricious meal such as scrambled eggs. Since u havent found any injuries, all you can do is wait for now (unless u want to take her to a vet, rack up hundreds$, & they still might not find anything). I will be offline next few days, but if u have more questions there is always someone available to help. Keep us posted.

 

[Cali Chickens]

Keep her comfy and let her rest and recover. As a poster suggested above, maybe offer her a tasty nutricious meal such as scrambled eggs. Since u havent found any injuries, all you can do is wait for now (unless u want to take her to a vet, rack up hundreds$, & they still might not find anything). I will be offline next few days, but if u have more questions there is always someone available to help. Keep us posted.

Thank you for all the advice! She's doing much better

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I was so sad when I saw the title of this thread, and I clicked to read details. Then I scrolled down to read the comments and I found your post that said you found her alive! So happy! She's probably just in shock from her experience.
- Jessa
p.s. you might want to change your title to: " RIP Chickpea ***UPDATE: she's found!*** "

 

[drumstick diva]

Poor girl, hope she has the best possible outcome - she deserves it.

 

[Cali Chickens]

I was so sad when I saw the title of this thread, and I clicked to read details. Then I scrolled down to read the comments and I found your post that said you found her alive! So happy! She's probably just in shock from her experience.
- Jessa
p.s. you might want to change your title to: " RIP Chickpea ***UPDATE: she's found!*** "

Thank you so much, that's a great idea! How do I change the name of a post? (I'm not on here much)

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Umm there should be an option at the top of the thread I think.