Treating a Traumatized Hen

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DuckMama9 said:
Update: Sweetpea has made some improvements. On Wednesday she was clearly bothered by the sticky buildup of the liquid nutrients that I’ve been feeding her, on her neck/breast feathers and she tried to groom herself. I helped her out a bit and gave her a sponge bath with a little baby shampoo and warm water, followed by a blow-dry with my hair dryer. On Thursday Sweetpea made a soft whining noise and when I went to check on her she repeated in reply to my saying her name and taking to her. Trying to figure out what she wanted to communicate, I offered her a bowl of pelleted feed and a bowl of electrolyte water. I put the water under her beak but she did nothing. I placed the bowl of food in front of her and she attempted to peck at it. Her aim was off and she seemed to have too much difficulty with the dry pelleted feed so I moistened it with water and positioned the bowl to match where she was pecking, and viola! She fed herself to a full tummy of moistened feed! She still isn’t taking water on her own so I’m still dropper watering her and administering her pain medication and antibiotics dissolved in water twice a day. A few times today I offered her moistened feed upon her request. The weather has been warm and sunny so we are also enjoying frequent breaks outdoors to enjoy som sun. With a bit of encouragement by rubbing the legs abs the hindquarters, Sweetpea will take a few steps forward. It almost seems as though she’s having to re-learn how to eat and walk, but I am encouraged by her daily improvements and I hope for a full recovery. Right now as I write this, she has been napping on my chest, wrapped up in my baby blanket and making the occasional gentle “purring” noise, especially in response to hearing my voice or hearing me say her name. She is absolutely precious!
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This is wonderful news! Keep up the good work! I know you need to be very careful not to stress her out, but have you been able to give her a light exam? Just see how much breast muscle she has, take a peak at her vent, etc?
 
micstrachan said:
This is wonderful news! Keep up the good work! I know you need to be very careful not to stress her out, but have you been able to give her a light exam? Just see how much breast muscle she has, take a peak at her vent, etc?
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She had an official exam at the vet on Tuesday. He said she seemed well hydrated and to keep up what I’ve been doing. At home though, I gently massage her head to toe daily, as not only a way of comforting her, but to check her over for anything abnormal. She feels very “skinny” to me all over—not much muscle on her anywhere, but I think this is mostly a breed thing as she is meant as an exceptional egg-laying breed and not intended as a meat bird or even a dual purpose breed. I massage the lower abdomen area just behind the vent daily as well, just to check that she hasn’t become egg-bound. Last egg was last Friday when I found her this way. I suspect it’s normal to quit egg production when injured like this, but I’m watching out just to be sure things don’t get backed up if she were to start producing eggs again. I also cleaned her vent and her fluffy little butt feathers when I gave her a sponge bath on Wednesday, just to keep everything clean and prevent any pasting up since she’s sitting around a lot. She doesn’t seem to mind the daily massages and examinations too much...actually I think she has come to enjoy the gentle touch and being held a lot by me. Though I’m not the only member of the household who has been interested in examining her...my two border-collie mutts have been very interested in checking out the new-comer. They are well familiar with our six ducks which we’ve raised from ducklings but chicken is a whole new animal to them! They are very interested in sniffing her head and her butt area, though Sweetpea is not very keen on this and rightly so! How rude of them to go sticking their noses all up in her business like that!! Of course, neither the dogs nor the ducks are allowed unsupervised access to the new chicken, and we are making slow and gradual supervised introductions. I have no doubt everyone will eventually get along famously after proper habituation.
 
I'd say she is in very good hands.
What breed is she exactly. I'd like to know what breed they use for egg production.
My birds seemed so skinny when they were molting but now they are really heavy.

Anyway glad to know she's holding on. Hoping for big progress in the future. :hugs
 
hayley3 said:
I'd say she is in very good hands.
What breed is she exactly. I'd like to know what breed they use for egg production.
My birds seemed so skinny when they were molting but now they are really heavy.

Anyway glad to know she's holding on. Hoping for big progress in the future. :hugs
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She is a Hy-line brown. Hy-line browns are a hybrid which lay around 320 very large brown eggs per year, come into laying earlier than most other breeds and peak in their production at close to two years. They have a calm, and passive temperament making them well suited for a backyard flock as well as farm layers. The hybrid hy-line browns are an auto-sexing breed that you can tell the male and female hatchlings apart by color. The females hatch a Buffy-red and the males hatch white. Fully grown the hens are red with white flecking and the roosters are white with red flecking. I believe they are a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and a white leghorn hen...but I’m not sure exactly.
 
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Update: Sweetpea has continued to make slow and steady progress. During free-range time outdoors she has moved around a bit. She’s getting acquainted with the ducks—mostly the ducks are afraid of her and don’t want to have anything to do with her. They are far from letting her share their house at night, but they are beginning to get used to sharing the back yard with her. Sweetpea has been eating and drinking independently, although she still seems to have some difficulty with dry pellets; she does very well with moistened pelleted feed. It’s raining outside today so I brought Sweetpea in and wrapped her in a towel to dry off and warm up with me while watching a movie. About an hour into the movie she stood up and started making a loud fuss. I put her in her brooder box with her food and water in case that’s what she was after. Her fussing got louder and sounded like the typical sounds that hens make when laying. After a while she quieted down and when I went to go check on her, I found that she had laid an egg!! Hooray for Sweetpea, I take this as a sign that she’s made a full and pretty complete recovery! She still remains more calm and docile with the sweetest temperament. She makes a wonderful lap-pet chicken! I still enjoy cuddling her after dark to watch Star Trek or other shows together. All wrapped up in my baby blanket and held close, Sweetpea gently purrs and coos in contentment. She’s happy, healthy and sweet as can be!
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