Urgent help needed - Eagle attack, can this girl be saved?

[Susan49]

Urgent assistance please. We just had another eagle attack, this time we got to the hen in time....maybe. But she's pretty badly injured. As far as we can tell there's just the one wound, but it's large, under her wing. Looks like a big piece of flesh missing so not even sure we can mend her back together.

Despite the photo, she is alert with eyes open and looking around, moving her head, etc. Guess she was just blinking. We have given homeopathic arnica (figured it couldn't hurt and might help the shock), sprayed the wound with blue kote and have started an oral antibiotic, all we have on hand is Oxytetra A. She is being held quietly and wrapped in a blankie.

Questions:
Is there a product that can be sprayed on a wound this large to "seal" it ie like a 2nd skin while it heals?

What else can/should be done for her immediately? I always seem to be full of advice when others' birds are sick, but can't think straight right now with one of my own.

Is it even worth trying to save her or am I best to give her a quick ending? Obviously I want to help her, but if there's no hope I don't want to prolong her suffering either.

 

[Stiggy]

Ouch, that looks nasty. I'd say that with lots of tlc she has a good chance of pulling through. you will need to wash the wound gently and remove and trim excess feathers so that they don't get stuck in it, dilute salty water/saline should do the trick. I would also put some antibacterial/antiseptic cream on it.
She will need to keep calm and rest as she will likely go into shock once the adrenaline of the situation stops, a dark warm space is best, I personally wouldn't wrap the wound unless she is picking at it/ you have lots of flys inside as it takes longer to heal and can get infected from bandaging and could abcess if it cant drain.

 

[nab58]

Another eagle attack? Where do you live?
I agree with the first post. Cleanse the wound and apply antibiotic ointment. Isolate the bird and keep her warm.

 

[pfields]

I so hope she makes it.

I've had two hens attack by hawks. She had wounds on both sides on her body. I put antibiotic cream on the wounds and then covered them with gauze and wrapped tender tape around her body to keep the gauze on and kept her in the house in the bath tub for a few days. Did the same thing with both and they lived.

 

[THeelChickinKY]

I don't have anything new to add that hasn't been said but I did want to give a little moral support! So sorry this happened. I agree, though, no need for a swift ending yet. Treat her and keep her inside with you. In a few days you'll be able to better judge if it will heal or not, but for now, good luck. I think she might be just fine since she's still alert, and if she does pull through, she'll love you forever!

 

[Susan49]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. I've been on a poultry group on FB as well and have gotten some more suggestions there. She is cleaned and disinfected and wrapped up cozy. She's had a drink with oral antibiotic and nutridrench, and a wee bit to eat. All tucked in for the night now and we'll just see how she does over the next few days.

I appreciate the moral support, and have heard many tales of amazing chickens who pulled through after some very traumatic injuries, so I'm cautiously optimistic. Will check back when I have an update on her condition.

 

[42Dreads]

I had one of my ladies get attacked back in November and she is doing fine now. I followed the instructions I found on a thread here but I'll repeat them for you.

Days 1-3
Rinse affected area with saline and iodine solution twice a day.
Apply an antibiotic ointment such as neosporn of bacitracin.
Let air dry.
Days 4-6
Same as before but only once a day.
Days 7-10
I stopped the iodine but continued the rinse and ointment.
Days 11-?
I stopped the ointment and continued the rinse. By this point the wound was mostly dried(scabbed) up and I just continued to rinse with saline until it looked completely dry.

Saline Solution
I mixed one teaspoon iodine, one tablespoon seasalt and one cup of really warm water.


I read that you should make sure the ointment is not the pain relief type, though I didn't read why.

Also, make sure she is eating and drinking. Without this she doesn't have a chance. Some people said offer yorgut if she stops, but too much dairy can cause other issues. So just give her whatever her favorite treats are. Live meal worms work at my house.

Good luck, I feel for you.

 

[Honey B]

Just to reiterate...make sure to thoroughly rinse the wound. Bird talons harbor all kinds of nasty things. Infection is a real possibility especially with the combination of dirty talons and puncture wounds. On a positive note birds of all types are tough creatures and with the proper care can pull through an amazing array of maladies. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Susan49]

Sadly, I had to send her over the rainbow bridge yesterday.

The wound was really bad, there was a large gaping hole and a lot of flesh missing, no skin that I could see to even pull over it.

By the 2nd day her leg on the affected side was cold and she had no use of it, I suspect the nerve had been severed and perhaps the tendon and blood supply as well. She was obviously in a lot of pain when we tried to clean the wound, and though she tried bravely to drink and eat a little the first evening, the next day we had to dropper liquids into her and by the next morning she was growing less and less interested in even taking that.

I worried that she was worsening instead of improving, and that she would suffer in pain and die slowly because she lacked the strength or the will to eat and drink.

I only hope it was the right thing to do, I really don't think she was going to pull through.

 

[pfields]

I think you did the right thing and she's not suffering anymore. So sorry for your loss.