UPDATE with pics--Need more help. What attacked the chickens and what can I do?

[Naunnie]

Yes. keeping them together for tonight may help with the stress, but when they recover from the shock, keep a close eye on them. The stronger of the 2 may....make matters worse. I would separate them in the morning. As far as tonight's temps...birds that are injured, in shock, need a little extra heat than the outside temperature, especially night time temps. I would advise providing a lamp of some sort for them. Being able to see in the dark will also help calm them down.

 

[Odonada]

I had something get in to my coop and kill chickens recently, too.

May I suggest you call your county's Agriculture Commissioner and ask for the county trapper. They can come out and assess what it most likely was that did this and suggest steps you can take to prevent a recurrent situation. in some cases they can actually trap for you.

I am so sorry this happened.

in my case i went to a moving sale and found a dog that was living with chickens. Actually let the chickens in his dog house at night with him. He was known to kill raccoons and keep bears at bay. I adopted him (he's a Chowbrador) and he now lives in my chicken coop with the chickens. Whatever that predator was hasn't come back. For the extra cost of the dog food, it's well worth it.

Good luck.

 

[14513buff]

I've moved the three chickens that are injured to my house and they are each in their own cage in my garage. I've added electrolyte tablets to their water. I sprayed Shreiners Herbal Solution onto their wounds and later gobbed on Neosporin. They don't appear to be eating or drinking so I'm trying to give them some of the water/electrolyte solution with a bulb syringe with a limited amount of success. I am trying to just leave them alone since the vet told me that is best and to handle them as little as possible so as not to add stress.

The one Rhode Island Red doesn't seem to have any visible injuries. I'm not sure what is wrong with her. She walked out of a barn (she likes to hang out with my son's pig in there) and I though she was uninjured. But as she walked into the coop, she just kind of collapsed and couldn't walk. The other chickens immediately came over and started pecking at her head. She also seems to have very runny poop. I have been able to kind of push her head into the waterer and she will drink. She laid an egg in the cage today.

The third injured chicken has what I can only describe as a chewed-up rear end. I really soaked it with the Shreiners and her rear was kind of pulsating for awhile—ouch, I'm sure it was stinging

Thanks for all your input. These are my son's chickens and they live at his dad's house. So, other than feeding them treats, I know next to nothing about chickens much less how to nurse such severe injuries. They will be happy to see my son come home tomorrow although he will not know how to deal with this either.

 

[14513buff]

It has been 5 days now since my son's chickens were attacked. Sadly, one of them has since died. It was the one I described as having a chewed up rear end. I have two others I'm keeping in my garage and we are trying to nurse back to health. I'm starting to wonder if this is just cruel and whether they're suffering. The Buff Orphington chicken is on her feet. She eats and drinks a good bit. She is kind of puffed up as a usual stance. We are trying to get her out in the grass in my backyard for a few minutes at a time because she is walking around. She is eating yogurt, scrambled egg, and a little bit of layer crumbles. Drinking water with electrolytes. She seems to be kind of pooping normally. She isn't laying any eggs but did one day after the attack.

The second chicken, one of my son's favorites is a Rhode Island Red. She is still not on her feet. Originally I thought she wasn't injured but she does have a deep slice under her wing as well. My son super glued it. She is pooping very watery greenish/blackish stuff while she lays down. She is not eating or drinking as much as the BO but she is feisty and tries to stand up at times.

We are keeping both clean and neosporin on both's wounds. But I am starting to wonder if they are just suffering. Not that we are equipped mentally or in any other way to deal with euthanizing. And although we are near a rural area there are no vets that will deal with chickens. (to help them anyway)

I am posting a couple pictures. I don't have a very useful one of the Rhode Island Red because she seems so fragile and honestly, it's not easy to find the wound.

So, I guess I'm asking: do you think these wounds are survivable? They are underneath the wings on both. They are kind of "slice" wounds. Any idea on what might have caused it? The most likely for our area is either feral cat or they hurt each other. We've never seen a dog loose anywhere near and this happened in the middle of the day. We do see a feral barn cat around.

Thanks for any input!

 

[mg15]

Hi, please go to this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...es-i-have-baytril-but-not-sure-what-to-use/60

but read all postings. Your birds can make it. Flush the wounds very thourghly. Apply the neosporin. Make sure they are getting electrolytes. And enough food. I had to tube feed Whispers because she was losing weight. she couldn't move for quite some time because she had two slices under both her wings. I did not know about one of the slices and never treated it and that one healed first. She was on baytril twice a day to keep her from going septic.
If you have to get a syringe and hand feed them. the Exact bird formula I got at PetSmart was excellent. Keep them hydrated as well.
My Australorpe took a beating. she is outside now and she is almost fully healed I am going to post her pictures when all of her feathers come back in.
Thanks.
mg