Sussex mauled by a cat, not eating

[BrittanyM1]

hey there! So this is my first flock of chickens. I had 4, one turned out to be a roo, so a friend took him in for us. I had three girls left.
Date of injury: 7/12
My girls were attacked by what we believe to be a feral cat, it got one chicken completely-body no where to be found. My Wyandotte is completely fine, but my light Sussex is just not right. She has an injury to her left eye, initially it was swollen shut and she had assumed that sick chicken pose, neck tucked in and squatted on the ground. She initially would not lift her head up unless I did so for her. I started her on terramycin eye ointment, I flushed her Left eye out with saline, and I started syringe feeding her water. She initially would not open the appeared uninsured right eye until yesterday. She's now opening the right eye as well as attempting to open the injured left eye.
Her lethargy has improved, but I think I might be dealing with a head injury here and blindness?
Her right pupil is blown, I have not seen the nictating membrane move across her eye at all. So most of the time she just keeps that right eye closed. She opens it if she needs to.
The left eye has improved significantly, I am just beginning to see what I think is another blown pupil, all I can see is black.
She is talkative like she always is, her poops are clear/yellow. She has not eaten anything since the injury. I'm using water with an electrolyte supplement to try and keep her hydrated.
She will walk around the coop but she's running into things, then she'll just stand there. I'll leave the coop and come back and she's still in the same exact spot. She isn't pecking at anything at all, won't even look at the ground. I've put her beak into the waterer and she just leaves it there, doesn't drink on her own
Any help will be appreciated, again I'm new to chickens!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @BrittanyM1 Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry your girl is not doing well
How old is she?
Did she lay eggs before the attack?
Do any of her wounds have a foul odor?

It does sound like she may have suffered a head/brain injury.

You may want to consider tube feeding her - you can use a slurry of wet chicken feed or something like Kaytee Baby bird formula. Getting her hydrated and some nutrition into her is very important.

You mention the poop is clear/yellow, but in the photo the poop has a mucousy green tint to it as well. Green can be an indication of not eating (obviously) or sometimes infection. Having it tested for bacterial infection would be a good idea.

I don't normally recommend antibiotics with injury, but if she doesn't improve after getting food into her, you may want to try, just to see if it makes any difference.

Keep us posted.

Here's some info on tube feeding - if you run into trouble, @casportpony is our resident tube feeding guru - I'm sure she will be happy to give you some tip.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
http://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

 

[BrittanyM1]

She is about 5-6months, not laying
No foul odors, no scratches or wounds really just that swollen eye. She lost a ton of feathers but no other wounds thankfully!

I will try some feed!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do the best you can - if you have a Tractor Supply (TSC), they usually carry poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench - this is quick uptake - dosage is 1cc per 3lbs of weight - direct dose can be given 1x a day, or you can mix it with her water. I have also found mine will take the vitamins if I drop it on scrambled/hard boiled egg - she may like some yogurt - whatever to get her eating something - just a thought.

While you are at TSC, look in their refrigerated section - usually they have antibiotics - you can use something like injectable PenG (Penicillin) she may benefit from the antibiotics after I think about it more. It will have to be injected, they carry syringes and needles as well. I have linked you to the most updated information I have in my notes on administering Penicillin - since she is young - you may want to start with the lowest dosage of 1/4cc for 5-7days - it's important to give for at least 5days. There are quite a few videos on youtube about how to give a chicken injections.

injectable PenG https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart
1/4 to 1/2 cc daily for 5-7 days subcutaneous or in breast muscle. *See special notes on "Treating with Penicillin" https://sites.google.com/a/poultryp...oultry-podiatry#chickens_penicillin_injection

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry your girl injured. She may still be in a little shock. Some take longer to recover than others. Also sorry for your loss.

When she opens her eye, does it look like she sees you at all?

When did this happen? What makes you believe it was a feral cat? Reason I ask is in my experience, cats feral or not, have never been a threat to my flock EXCEPT small chicks. Basically, I highly doubt that it was a cat.

If it was a cat... the sheath that covers their nail can come off and be left behind in the wound. But I wouldn't expect it t be getting a little better if that was the case.

Did this happen in your coop or yard? Daylight or night? What are you surroundings.. woods, city, country? Do you know your actual local predator load?

I haven't seen light Sussex with feathered legs before!

Getting an injured bird to eat can be difficult. It may not help, but you can try meal worms or scrambled eggs/tuna. Basically high protein stuff because of the amino acids. I bet it will help her recover if she does get some food down her. I MIGHT try something easy to digest like a little boiled chicken mixed with some rice. Rice is poor in nutrients, but chickens seem to go crazy for it. So I would only be using it as a test to see if I could get her back eating.

Aside from physically, it can take time for hens to recover emotionally after an attack. Sounds like you are trying hard to take of her and provide for her. I hope she feels better and recovers to her old self soon!

 

[BrittanyM1]

Do the best you can - if you have a Tractor Supply (TSC), they usually carry poultry vitamins like Poultry Nutri-Drench - this is quick uptake - dosage is 1cc per 3lbs of weight - direct dose can be given 1x a day, or you can mix it with her water. I have also found mine will take the vitamins if I drop it on scrambled/hard boiled egg - she may like some yogurt - whatever to get her eating something - just a thought.

While you are at TSC, look in their refrigerated section - usually they have antibiotics - you can use something like injectable PenG (Penicillin) she may benefit from the antibiotics after I think about it more. It will have to be injected, they carry syringes and needles as well. I have linked you to the most updated information I have in my notes on administering Penicillin - since she is young - you may want to start with the lowest dosage of 1/4cc for 5-7days - it's important to give for at least 5days. There are quite a few videos on youtube about how to give a chicken injections.

injectable PenG https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart
1/4 to 1/2 cc daily for 5-7 days subcutaneous or in breast muscle. *See special notes on "Treating with Penicillin" https://sites.google.com/a/poultryp...oultry-podiatry#chickens_penicillin_injection

Ok great. Thanks! Thankfully I'm an RN so my skills will come in handy

 

[chitownhens]

I had a hen that was ill recently and by the 3rd day she was completely blind. As an option other then tube feeding I force fed her by prying open her beak, wedging my index finger inside and placing very small bite size pieces of pastured beef liver into it and she would swallow on her own after each piece. The process just needs to be repeated each time for each very small piece of beef liver. It kept her highly nourished and aided a bit with hydration. I have found that if they are not eating by the 3rd day you almost have to take some type of action to get food into their system just my opinion though.

Once her sight had recovered she started to eat out of a planter bottom that was big enough for her to stand in and not miss any food which also helped.

The hen that went blind recovered by some miracle about 1 week later. Hope you hen recovers.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok great. Thanks! Thankfully I'm an RN so my skills will come in handy

That's wonderful!
Please keep us posted on her progress.

 

[BrittanyM1]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Sorry your girl injured. She may still be in a little shock. Some take longer to recover than others. Also sorry for your loss.

When she opens her eye, does it look like she sees you at all?

When did this happen? What makes you believe it was a feral cat? Reason I ask is in my experience, cats feral or not, have never been a threat to my flock EXCEPT small chicks. Basically, I highly doubt that it was a cat.

If it was a cat... the sheath that covers their nail can come off and be left behind in the wound. But I wouldn't expect it t be getting a little better if that was the case.

Did this happen in your coop or yard? Daylight or night? What are you surroundings.. woods, city, country? Do you know your actual local predator load?

I haven't seen light Sussex with feathered legs before!

Getting an injured bird to eat can be difficult. It may not help, but you can try meal worms or scrambled eggs/tuna. Basically high protein stuff because of the amino acids. I bet it will help her recover if she does get some food down her. I MIGHT try something easy to digest like a little boiled chicken mixed with some rice. Rice is poor in nutrients, but chickens seem to go crazy for it. So I would only be using it as a test to see if I could get her back eating.

Aside from physically, it can take time for hens to recover emotionally after an attack. Sounds like you are trying hard to take of her and provide for her. I hope she feels better and recovers to her old self soon!

Honestly I don't think she sees me. Or not enough to recoginze me. So I've watched my other chicken, when she looks at me her pupil dilates in and out and then that nictating membrane slides over her eye to blink for her. My injured bird doesn't do any of that, no movement of the pupil and no "blinking" so I really don't think she is able to focus on an object in front of her to see it clearly.

So I wasn't home when it happened, my husband found the mess inside the coop. We don't free range our girls. But it was daylight when he found them. He hadn't been out in the morning so really it could have happened overnight.

I live in what I guess you could call is the country, about an acre but neighbors on both sides, on a lake, land is mostly cleared down to the lake with the exception of some pine trees. The area in general around the lake is wooded.

I do agree that a cat could be unlikely because it did take a whole chicken away...crazy. But it's the only animal if seen around my coop before. I do have a bald eagle's nest in my area. (This is why I don't free range) Other than that I have not seen any other predators..
I didn't suspect the bald eagle as the culprit because where it got in wasn't large enough for it to fit I don't think. But I guess stranger things have happened

 

[BrittanyM1]

I had a hen that was ill recently and by the 3rd day she was completely blind. As an option other then tube feeding I force fed her by prying open her beak, wedging my index finger inside and placing very small bite size pieces of pastured beef liver into it and she would swallow on her own after each piece. The process just needs to be repeated each time for each very small piece of beef liver. It kept her highly nourished and aided a bit with hydration. I have found that if they are not eating by the 3rd day you almost have to take some type of action to get food into their system just my opinion though.

Once her sight had recovered she started to eat out of a planter bottom that was big enough for her to stand in and not miss any food which also helped.

The hen that went blind recovered by some miracle about 1 week later. Hope you hen recovers.

View attachment 1078438

I did just get some water and hard boiled egg slurry down her this way! thank you