Silkie hen stopped eating after hawk attack

[Shortsheet]

I have a 2 year old Silkie hen “Estelle” that on 1/15/19 got attacked and plucked (not necked, just a lot of feathers). I heard the other chicken yelling for help and I ran outside and stopped the attack, and the past 3 days I noticed that she isn’t eating her mash I make for her every morning nor is she eating the raw sunflower seeds I give them as a treat. Now she will eat a live mealworm like it’s nobody’s business and she grazes like normal..scratching around, eating grasses..and since the encounter she has laid me 6 eggs, the most recent was this morning 1/22/19. It was of normal size and shape. I have checked her body out several times to see if I keep missing an injury but can’t find an obvious one. The only different thing I did was keep the 2 of them in a secured enclosure (25’ x 13’ fenced in area with a coop and heavy netting covering).

Could she just be depressed and or scared? She is petrified of being in the enclosure, she paces back and forth trying to stick her head through the fence holes. I guess bc she feels like the predator can still get her? I have let them free range when I’m actually sitting outside with my dogs, but I put them back when I go inside.

 

[azygous]

She's likely still suffering trauma from the attack. I had a young pullet a couple years ago survive a hawk attack and lost every single feather on her back, yet not a single scratch. This particular hen is a loaded pistol. She launched herself across the yard and into the coop, not breaking momentum, during and following the attack, and she never suffered from it in the least. She's still a force to be reckoned with. Other more timid chickens can suffer post stress after such an attack for weeks, even though they weren't harmed otherwise.

The only danger I see is that your Silkie is of a timid temperament and prone to remaining in stress for an extended period. In other words, for timid chickens, if a condition lasts too long, it can become habit. You need to interrupt her withdrawal somehow.

You will need to try different things to see how you can change her view of her world as too dangerous to eat. Sometimes, reducing a timid chicken's environment to a small, very secure place can help get the process started.

To feel secure, a chicken needs cover, literally. A crate with a solid top placed in a quiet spot of the coop or run is one idea. Start the Silkie off with some favorite food such as soft boiled egg or yogurt and don't forget to provide grit. Then slowly try other foods until you get her interested in eating again. Try to keep her in the flock so she still has the comfort and security of their company.

Depending on how it goes, she may be ready to go back to her normal way of life again in a few days of TLC.

 

[Shortsheet]

She's likely still suffering trauma from the attack. I had a young pullet a couple years ago survive a hawk attack and lost every single feather on her back, yet not a single scratch. This particular hen is a loaded pistol. She launched herself across the yard and into the coop, not breaking momentum, during and following the attack, and she never suffered from it in the least. She's still a force to be reckoned with. Other more timid chickens can suffer post stress after such an attack for weeks, even though they weren't harmed otherwise.

The only danger I see is that your Silkie is of a timid temperament and prone to remaining in stress for an extended period. In other words, for timid chickens, if a condition lasts too long, it can become habit. You need to interrupt her withdrawal somehow.

You will need to try different things to see how you can change her view of her world as too dangerous to eat. Sometimes, reducing a timid chicken's environment to a small, very secure place can help get the process started.

To feel secure, a chicken needs cover, literally. A crate with a solid top placed in a quiet spot of the coop or run is one idea. Start the Silkie off with some favorite food such as soft boiled egg or yogurt and don't forget to provide grit. Then slowly try other foods until you get her interested in eating again. Try to keep her in the flock so she still has the comfort and security of their company.

Depending on how it goes, she may be ready to go back to her normal way of life again in a few days of TLC.

Great information! Now she’s still aggressive towards my 7 dogs when they get in her way. But since there are only 2 chickens (her and Princess) they are inseparable. I will give her some egg now and see if she eats it and put her in a more enclosed space in the run. But where Princess can still see and talk to her.
Thank you so much!