Severe Injury after Falcon Attack

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BigBlueHen53 said:
:caf Hope this chicken is making good progress. @alinas2010 is giving you wonderful advice. Chickens can survive some horrendous wounds and with the care you are giving her, I'm sure she'll pull through. Welcome to BYC by the way, sorry it was under these circumstances!
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Aw thanks @BigBlueHen53, I’m always learning from the best here on the site, including you!
 
alinas2010 said:
Aw thanks @BigBlueHen53, I’m always learning from the best here on the site, including you!
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Thanks for saying so, but I'm far from the best! Often just a first responder. I know whom to call, though, when the problems are over my head, we have some amazing Educators. I'm still learning and happy to help to the best of my limited experience.
 
Hello! She is doing so well. She is definitely going to make it! I’m so happy and I really do owe you a huge thank you for walking me through her care.

I stopped giving her antibiotics on Wednesday, mostly because I ran out. Her wound looks good and I continue to rinse it with vetrycin and apply antibiotic ointment daily. Her wound has scabbed over and the scab is starting to fall off revealing new fresh yellow skin underneath!

She is voraciously eating although her tongue does still seem injured, sticking to one side of her mouth. It doesn’t seem to affect her ability to get food, she just is a very messy eater! I need to clean her beak everyday because it’s caked with food! She reminds me of a toddler. She’s been getting lots of treats, plums, melon, apples and she gobbles them down.

During the day I’ve started to let her go outside. I have a small portable coop that I put her in by herself that allows her to peck in the grass and see her friends through the fencing. I have to be really careful though because she is so eager to get out and free range. Every time I open the gate she tries to push by me.

It’s still so unbelievable to me that she was able to survive through this awful attack and injury. Chickens are quite miraculous. I’m looking forward to letting her back out with the rest of the flock, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
 
Lrobertson88 said:
Hello! She is doing so well. She is definitely going to make it! I’m so happy and I really do owe you a huge thank you for walking me through her care.

I stopped giving her antibiotics on Wednesday, mostly because I ran out. Her wound looks good and I continue to rinse it with vetrycin and apply antibiotic ointment daily. Her wound has scabbed over and the scab is starting to fall off revealing new fresh yellow skin underneath!

She is voraciously eating although her tongue does still seem injured, sticking to one side of her mouth. It doesn’t seem to affect her ability to get food, she just is a very messy eater! I need to clean her beak everyday because it’s caked with food! She reminds me of a toddler. She’s been getting lots of treats, plums, melon, apples and she gobbles them down.

During the day I’ve started to let her go outside. I have a small portable coop that I put her in by herself that allows her to peck in the grass and see her friends through the fencing. I have to be really careful though because she is so eager to get out and free range. Every time I open the gate she tries to push by me.

It’s still so unbelievable to me that she was able to survive through this awful attack and injury. Chickens are quite miraculous. I’m looking forward to letting her back out with the rest of the flock, hopefully in a couple of weeks.
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I should also mention I never did have to tube feed. Thankfully.

Any advice for this stage of the healing? When I do integrate her back with the flock, I’m worried about bullying. I have one particularly mean Wyandotte that does not like the newer ladies.
 
That's wonderful to hear! Go easy on the treats though. What she really needs is the balanced nutrition of her commercial feed. Think of the other stuff, the fruits and things, as the "cake and ice cream" that toddlers love to fill up on that keep them from getting enough of the "meat and potatoes" they really need to stay strong and healthy. Just keep the goodies down to less than 10% of her overall diet, so maybe a couple of tablespoons, no more.
 
As for integrating ... can you bring another chicken in to be with her, so you can put them both back in with the flock at the same time? It's usually easier to integrate two than just one. And also, if you can put her (them) in a dog crate in the chicken run where they can be seen, heard and smelled but not physically bullied, for a week or more before opening it up, that would really help. It's called the "see-no-touch" method. Then when you do open the crate there should be no issues, or hardly any.
 
She sounds like she’s coming along so well! Great job!! 👏 Their ability to survive and thrive amazes me all the time, and not to mention the rate of healing, too. Interesting about her tongue, there must’ve been a bit of damage like you had thought initially. Time will tell what happens as more healing occurs, but as long as she is able to get enough to eat I think it’s just something to watch and keep in the back of your mind.

So great to hear she is eager to rejoin the flock and be outside. You’ve got a great set up and plan for her temporarily. I agree with the method BigBlueHen talks about to reintegrate, it works well. Always easier with a friend, of course, too. I’ve had to integrate a lone adult hen before and it was very difficult and time consuming, I definitely recommend a pal if possible.

Thank you for the update! I truly enjoyed hearing how much she is thriving.
 
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