On Valentine's Day, my favorite chicken got carried away by a hawk, or so I thought. Our BOs free range pretty much all day long, all year long. We lock them up when we're out of town, but that happens rarely. In the almost two years we've had chickens we've lost one to a predator. Actually, the hawks we sometimes see are small, and the one chicken we did lose, over a year ago, we think was picked up by a hawk and dropped just over the fence where a neighbor dog got her.
Anyway, "Cowgirl" disappeared. We searched the yard and out buildings for days. We searched the juniper hedge, we searched the wood piles. We double checked the cars. We ran around giving the food call, and no sign of her. We figured she had been gotten by a predator, but I hoped she had managed to find a spot and had gone broody.
Yesterday, I went back to searching. This time the food call was answered by a pitiful squawk. Cowgirl had gotten herself trapped under a tarp used to cover a huge pile of planting mix! (I know! In hindsight we realize we should have looked there, but we didn't consider she could possibly have gotten under there. We feel terrible.) I pulled off the rocks around the tarp edges and out she scrambled. She was dirty and skinny, but still ran faster than I could. I caught her, brought her inside and mixed up some dehydration fluid. Her ears, wattles, and comb were shrunken and tiny. She drank and drank, and drank some more. We soaked some pellets in fluid and she ate a little. Since we have been having cold nights (upper 20s) she slept inside.
I am incredulous she survived. Six and a half days under a tarp, on damp planting mix, with no food. No water, except what dripped through a small hole (silver dollar sized) in the tarp. Daytime air temps in the 50s (but who knows what it was under the tarp!) and nighttime temps in the 20s. NO WATER. She even laid three eggs under there during this ordeal. Today, her wattles and ears look almost back to normal, her comb is still small, and the wild look in her eyes is half way gone. She has been eating brown rice soaked in yogurt water and scrambled egg (not too much). She is jumping up on the roost in the hospital cage and pecking at grass. She still has dehydration fluid in her waterer.
She is acting very chickenish, and her poos are back to normal (although the first couple smelled like broody poo). Like I said, we are incredulous she survived, and wonder how she did it without drinking water for almost a full week. (Suspended animation? Trance state?) She has made it through her first 24 hours, and we have our fingers crossed for a full recovery.
I just can't imagine. She must have suffered terribly, in the cold and dark, with nothing to eat or drink. I don't think I could have survived it.
If she continues to improve I think I'll wait till she looks back to normal and has laid an egg or two before she goes back to the flock, They see each other through the chain link of the hospital coop, so she has plenty of visits during the day, but is safe from being bullied because of being weaker than usual.
Anyway, as bad as this story makes me look (I should have found her sooner!) it might serve as a cautionary tale and a little bit of inspiration with what a chicken can survive. Chickens can be stronger than we are.
Anyway, "Cowgirl" disappeared. We searched the yard and out buildings for days. We searched the juniper hedge, we searched the wood piles. We double checked the cars. We ran around giving the food call, and no sign of her. We figured she had been gotten by a predator, but I hoped she had managed to find a spot and had gone broody.
Yesterday, I went back to searching. This time the food call was answered by a pitiful squawk. Cowgirl had gotten herself trapped under a tarp used to cover a huge pile of planting mix! (I know! In hindsight we realize we should have looked there, but we didn't consider she could possibly have gotten under there. We feel terrible.) I pulled off the rocks around the tarp edges and out she scrambled. She was dirty and skinny, but still ran faster than I could. I caught her, brought her inside and mixed up some dehydration fluid. Her ears, wattles, and comb were shrunken and tiny. She drank and drank, and drank some more. We soaked some pellets in fluid and she ate a little. Since we have been having cold nights (upper 20s) she slept inside.
I am incredulous she survived. Six and a half days under a tarp, on damp planting mix, with no food. No water, except what dripped through a small hole (silver dollar sized) in the tarp. Daytime air temps in the 50s (but who knows what it was under the tarp!) and nighttime temps in the 20s. NO WATER. She even laid three eggs under there during this ordeal. Today, her wattles and ears look almost back to normal, her comb is still small, and the wild look in her eyes is half way gone. She has been eating brown rice soaked in yogurt water and scrambled egg (not too much). She is jumping up on the roost in the hospital cage and pecking at grass. She still has dehydration fluid in her waterer.
She is acting very chickenish, and her poos are back to normal (although the first couple smelled like broody poo). Like I said, we are incredulous she survived, and wonder how she did it without drinking water for almost a full week. (Suspended animation? Trance state?) She has made it through her first 24 hours, and we have our fingers crossed for a full recovery.
I just can't imagine. She must have suffered terribly, in the cold and dark, with nothing to eat or drink. I don't think I could have survived it.
If she continues to improve I think I'll wait till she looks back to normal and has laid an egg or two before she goes back to the flock, They see each other through the chain link of the hospital coop, so she has plenty of visits during the day, but is safe from being bullied because of being weaker than usual.
Anyway, as bad as this story makes me look (I should have found her sooner!) it might serve as a cautionary tale and a little bit of inspiration with what a chicken can survive. Chickens can be stronger than we are.
