Unwell Chicken- Help!

[AnnieRCol]

Hi everyone -
We have a 2 yr old Isa Brown who is not well and has survived a fox attack. All of the other chickens were taken by a fox/es unfortunately.
There are no obvious injuries to her, she was found hiding, and has not moved much since the attack about 4 days ago. She will not eat, she refuses absolutely everything i've tried to give her and i've tried a lot of things this forum has suggested. She is drinkng after much encouragement but she mostly just sits and close her eyes. Her comb is still nice and red but fading the last day. She seems to be very unstable on her feet and falls over when trying to walk, she uses her wing to stablse herself so maybe she does have an injury but she doesn't make a fuss if you touch her or anything. She is not laying, and her poop has changed a lot it was dark greena nd smelly, and now is very yellow at times and is becomng watery as she is not eating only drinking ( i have put electrolytes in her water). Her crop seems to be so enlarged but she also doesn't let us touch her really so haven't been able to do much for that.. i don't know what to do. Neighbours and housemates are thinking of putting her down and i don't want to because i feel that she has improved over the last couple of days. It would be very strange if she had another problem such as with her crop that appeared at the same time as the fox attack? I took her outsde today and she tried walking around which she seemed to like but she was just stumbling around a lot. Any advice would be great. We are keeping her inside in a warm open box with some mushed up food and water..

 

[HeatherKellyB]

If she hasn't ate in 4 days, I wonder if she's weak? Have you tried offering her scrambled eggs?

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Poor baby! I don’t have much experience in this type of situation, but it sounds like she’s in shock . I think most of what you are doing is good - keep her warm, in a dark quiet place. If you have Nutridrench, try giving her some of that (I had a sick two-week old chick this spring and was withholding food for a few days because every time she ate, her crop would swell up with gas like she had sour crop, so I was giving her Nutridrench to help her through).

Hopefully someone with more experience will see this post and have better advice. Good luck and hope your girl recovers!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

2 yr old Isa Brown who is not well and has survived a fox attack.

There are no obvious injuries to her, she was found hiding, and has not moved much since the attack about 4 days ago. She will not eat, she refuses absolutely everything i've tried to give her and i've tried a lot of things

She is drinkng after much encouragement but she mostly just sits and close her eyes.

he seems to be very unstable on her feet and falls over when trying to walk, she uses her wing to stablse herself so maybe she does have an injury but she doesn't make a fuss if you touch her or anything. She is not laying, and her poop has changed a lot it was dark greena nd smelly, and now is very yellow at times and is becomng watery as she is not eating only drinking

Her crop seems to be so enlarged but she also doesn't let us touch her really so haven't been able to do much for that

It would be very strange if she had another problem such as with her crop that appeared at the same time as the fox attack? I took her outsde today and she tried walking around which she seemed to like but she was just stumbling around a lot

This is what i mean about her crop.. really protruding..

Hard to say. but she looks so unscathed,

Sorry about your hen. Have you physically moved the feathers around and looked for injuries?
Her crop does look full - the feathers on her front are messed up - is that due to water or could she have injury there?

I understand that she may not want to be handled, but if you have help have someone hold her while another really looks her over.

Not eating in several days is a bit concerning, but fluids need to be pushed before giving food. I would get her drinking, then offer wet soupy food.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Please take a picture of her poop and her as she looks currently. It's 1am here on the east coast of the USA, so many of our amazing experts won't be on for a couple of hours. Have you checked her over really well, under her feathers, to check for injuries or possible bruising?

 

[AnnieRCol]

Thank you so much! I would hate for her to be put down if there's something we can do.
Appreciate that so much, thank you.

 

[BDutch]

Sorry for you’re losses.

I think she is stressed and mourning because if the fox attack. It is quit normal that chickens really get upset of something like that.

Maybe she’s hurt physically too. If you pick her up after sunset she is easy to get hold of. Do check on her skin for any injuries.

She might feel better if she has company or any other kind of distraction. Can you buy one ore two new chickens? But on the other hand if she is injured it’s not the right thing to do.

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds to me that she may have injured herself getting away from the fox, and could have some internal injuries. That might be why her crop is slow. How old is she? Sometimes an event like this can bring on stress that may bring to light something that has been brewing before the attack. Was she actively laying eggs recently? Could she have had a crop problem before? Time will tell, but getting her hydrated first, then getting her eating some watery chick feed and egg, alternating with some canned cat food, tuna, or liver would be good. But monitoring her crop function will determine whether or not to give different foods.

 

[Chookchicken]

To me it sounds like she is stressed, though maybe check the bottom of her feet and her legs, Unless you already have and in that case did it look normal?

 

[AnnieRCol]

Thanks for your reply.
Her feet and legs looks perfectly normal just when she goes to rest on her left one when shes walking she tips over a bit. But it looks okay.. so strange,