I have been reading the forums here on BYC since I started my flock of 6 hens this spring. I love all of the information and help from everyone here. We raised chickens when I was growing up, so I do have experience, but I have come across something new to me and I'm not sure if I'm handling it correctly.
One of my hens (Black Sex Link named Midge) was attacked two days ago by an animal. We have a fenced in yard and normally our neighbors animals can't make it into the yard, but we found the neighbors small dog in the yard a time or two and the neighborhood cat was seen outside the fence on that day as well. We found that she has a wound on one wing, but I can't find any other obvious signs of injury. I'm not sure what got her, so I don't know if there is anything else I should be looking for like internal injury.
We treated the wound on the wing with a peroxide cleaning and then put antibiotic ointment on it. Yesterday I wend to Tractor Supply and picked up some wound wash and they gave me Duramycin for antibiotic treatment just in case. I retreated the wound yesterday cleaning with the wound wash and gave her some of the antibiotic in her water.
Since the attack, she had gone down hill. The first day/evening she was mostly normal, eating and drinking, but moving slower, but at least moving. I kept her in the house over night to watched her so that none of the others picked at the wound. Late the first night she started making whining noises like she was in pain and she was very hot compared to normal like she was running a fever. I wrapped a damp towel around her feet for a little while and held her for most of the night, which kept her calmer and she seemed happier to set on my lap and cuddle than she was in her box.
The next day we brought her sister to her to see if she would interact with her and how the sister would act with her, as in not picking at the wounded wing. They were fine together, moving around the living room and both walked out the front door together. I put the two in their coop and Midge, the wounded chicken, went straight to the roost and spent the next few hours there. I left them there, but when I went out to check on Midge, she'd moved down to the run and sat on the ground and wouldn't move anymore. Later in the evening we brought her into the house again because she was just a limp little bird and very lethargic. She wouldn't eat or drink and just sat and slept.
She hadn't pooped since the day of the attack until this morning. The poop was very watery and mostly white and yellow. Not foamy, just very mucus like. She isn't quite egg laying age yet, only 9 1/2 weeks old, so I doubt it is a reproductive problem. I'm not sure if the duramycin was the correct thing to give her, but just incase she was developing an infection, I wanted to have that covered. She had drank this morning quite a bit and seems to like the antibiotic water. She still wont eat. She is currently back in the coop with her sister E.B. who seems to be protecting her from the other four chickens (RIR's).
She is still just setting and sleeping, not moving, very lethargic when she's awake. So not her normal self at all. Her legs are just warm and her comb, eyes and waddles are pale yellow when they are normally red. I wondered if she was in shock at first, but she acts more and more sickly the longer I wait. Does anyone have any advice on this or has anyone had a similar experience? I really don't want to loose her, she is one of my favorite. I will probably call a vet if she doesn't improve, but I'm afraid our local vet would just want to put her down. He's not a nice man!
Thanks for any help! I hope I have covered everything anyone might need to know.
One of my hens (Black Sex Link named Midge) was attacked two days ago by an animal. We have a fenced in yard and normally our neighbors animals can't make it into the yard, but we found the neighbors small dog in the yard a time or two and the neighborhood cat was seen outside the fence on that day as well. We found that she has a wound on one wing, but I can't find any other obvious signs of injury. I'm not sure what got her, so I don't know if there is anything else I should be looking for like internal injury.
We treated the wound on the wing with a peroxide cleaning and then put antibiotic ointment on it. Yesterday I wend to Tractor Supply and picked up some wound wash and they gave me Duramycin for antibiotic treatment just in case. I retreated the wound yesterday cleaning with the wound wash and gave her some of the antibiotic in her water.
Since the attack, she had gone down hill. The first day/evening she was mostly normal, eating and drinking, but moving slower, but at least moving. I kept her in the house over night to watched her so that none of the others picked at the wound. Late the first night she started making whining noises like she was in pain and she was very hot compared to normal like she was running a fever. I wrapped a damp towel around her feet for a little while and held her for most of the night, which kept her calmer and she seemed happier to set on my lap and cuddle than she was in her box.
The next day we brought her sister to her to see if she would interact with her and how the sister would act with her, as in not picking at the wounded wing. They were fine together, moving around the living room and both walked out the front door together. I put the two in their coop and Midge, the wounded chicken, went straight to the roost and spent the next few hours there. I left them there, but when I went out to check on Midge, she'd moved down to the run and sat on the ground and wouldn't move anymore. Later in the evening we brought her into the house again because she was just a limp little bird and very lethargic. She wouldn't eat or drink and just sat and slept.
She hadn't pooped since the day of the attack until this morning. The poop was very watery and mostly white and yellow. Not foamy, just very mucus like. She isn't quite egg laying age yet, only 9 1/2 weeks old, so I doubt it is a reproductive problem. I'm not sure if the duramycin was the correct thing to give her, but just incase she was developing an infection, I wanted to have that covered. She had drank this morning quite a bit and seems to like the antibiotic water. She still wont eat. She is currently back in the coop with her sister E.B. who seems to be protecting her from the other four chickens (RIR's).
She is still just setting and sleeping, not moving, very lethargic when she's awake. So not her normal self at all. Her legs are just warm and her comb, eyes and waddles are pale yellow when they are normally red. I wondered if she was in shock at first, but she acts more and more sickly the longer I wait. Does anyone have any advice on this or has anyone had a similar experience? I really don't want to loose her, she is one of my favorite. I will probably call a vet if she doesn't improve, but I'm afraid our local vet would just want to put her down. He's not a nice man!
Thanks for any help! I hope I have covered everything anyone might need to know.
