Silkie Attack

[chickslovinmama]

Our silkies were in the yard today and we went into the house for just a few moments to do something and a fox made it's way into the yard and grabbed one of our silkies. Her name is Tina. Thankfully my husband was out the door and scared it away. We took Tina to the vet to get checked out and nothing is broken or torn or anything like that. We got to bring her home, but she is now panting and we're a little concerned. Vet said to just keep an eye on her and if it doesn't get better to bring her back in. Wondering if she is panting because she's still stressed and scared. We put her in the house away from the others so that she can be in a calm and not have to be scared that something will get her and so we could keep an eye on her. Hoping she'll calm down and her breathing will go back to normal soon. Here is a cool xray of her though. Shows she has an egg to lay (doc says she will probably lay it tomorrow). Just wanted to share the photo and get advice on the breathing. Thanks in advance.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear she didn't suffer severe injury.

She may be panting because she's struggling to lay her egg.
If she were mine, I'd get Calcium into her. 1 Calcium Citrate with D3 tablet now, then once daily for a few days. Just pop the tablet into her beak and let her swallow.

See that she's staying hydrated.

Hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[chickslovinmama]

Glad to hear she didn't suffer severe injury.

She may be panting because she's struggling to lay her egg.
If she were mine, I'd get Calcium into her. 1 Calcium Citrate with D3 tablet now, then once daily for a few days. Just pop the tablet into her beak and let her swallow.

See that she's staying hydrated.

Hope she makes a full recovery.

Thank you, we are too. Thanks for the advice as well We will do that and keep an eye on her. She seems to have calmed down some and isn't panting as much.

 

[chickslovinmama]

Update: She laid her egg this morning. She's ate and drank a little here and there, but she isn't really moving around or being her normal self. I'm sure she's still traumatized from the ordeal, but I'm still worried. She's gonna go see her regular vet tomorrow because she has a little popping (only way to describe it) in her chest when she breathes. It doesn't seem like it's bothering her and she's not struggling to take breaths, but I'm sure that's not normal. Might just be me being a worry wort.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update!

I'm glad Tina was able to lay her egg and is eating/drinking a little.

It's good that you are following up with the vet to have the pooping sound checked out.

Keep us posted.

 

[chickslovinmama]

Update: Took her to her regular vet on Tuesday. She is severely bruised from her chest to her hip on the right side and may have some internal bleeding. She's having a hard time breathing as well. They put her on pain meds and antibiotics. She's been eating and drinking some more, getting her to take her pills is another story. So far she seems to be in a little better spirits so that makes me a little relieved, but she may need to stay inside with is for a few weeks. Should see improvement within about a week hopefully.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor thing!
I had wondered if she may be bruised. Hopefully she will improve with the meds and time.

For pills, I pull down on the wattles to open the beak, pop in the pill and let them swallow.
But sometimes you can have a hen that's a pill shooter, they can sling it right back out too.

Have you seen this article below? It may be helpful.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[chickslovinmama]

Poor thing!
I had wondered if she may be bruised. Hopefully she will improve with the meds and time.

For pills, I pull down on the wattles to open the beak, pop in the pill and let them swallow.
But sometimes you can have a hen that's a pill shooter, they can sling it right back out too.

Have you seen this article below? It may be helpful.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Update: She is doing better, she's eating and drinking and we took her outside (with supervision) and she was walking around slowly and happy to be with her sisters. She's been in the house with us for a little over a week, just waiting for the doc to give the okay for her to go back to the coop and usual schedule. I appreciate the article, it was very informative and helpful.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear she is slowly improving, hopefully she'll be back with her sisters full time soon

 

[chickslovinmama]

Glad to hear she is slowly improving, hopefully she'll be back with her sisters full time soon

She has healed well and she goes to visit the doc tomorrow just to make sure all is in order. However, I put her with her sisters for a little while today and they were pecking at her non stop.....sigh......so now I have to figure out what's going on there and how to get them to stop.