Very hurt hen

[Chickenma2021]

Before anyone freaks out, she is safe and OK. We had a weasel get to out animals and lost our ducks, and Thelma got attacked. She got taken indoors and has been living there for 2 nights now. My concern that I wanted to discuss is her eating and drinking. She seems fine before but when she eats or drinks its almost like she chokes. She has to pause and swallow multiple times and takes a few minutes before eating again. It seems to make some gurgling noises too, almost like a stomach when your hungry, then she has trouble breathing or breathes very loudly. Shes fine after some time but her eating and drinking is my main worry. I thought maybe she was having a hard time because she got attacked on her neck and maybe it hurt to swallow but I wanted some other opinions on this specific issue. Thanks for all the feedback in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

Weasels do attack the neck and frequently behead the birds. Apparently they can fit through a one inch space to get into a chicken coop. You could try making a small bowl of watery chicken feed the consistency of thick soup. Does she have any area that seems like air under the skin around her neck or chest, or any puncture wounds under her feathers in her upper back?

 

[ChicNmom]

Very soft slippery foods could also help. Chicken feed is ideal but anything she can eat at this point will help her. I have given small chunks of canned peaches for energy or grape bits without the skin and barely scrambled egg. Also soggy bits of bread.

 

[Chickenma2021]

Weasels do attack the neck and frequently behead the birds. Apparently they can fit through a one inch space to get into a chicken coop. You could try making a small bowl of watery chicken feed the consistency of thick soup. Does she have any area that seems like air under the skin around her neck or chest, or any puncture wounds under her feathers in her upper back?

I have tried the watery food but it has the same effect. I don't see any puncture wounds, but I'll have to check for the air pockets.

 

[Chickenma2021]

Hey everyone!
Thelma is doing alot better in the sense that she's drinking water and eating a little. I really need help and feedback. She gurgles and chokes whenever she drinks or eats like she's aspirating. I'm quite worried about it because I had a chicken die from choking and aspirating. I checked for the punctures, nothing, no weird air bubbles. Everything is normal but that. She even has to stop in between sips and she even took a minute to swallow (yes a full minute) please anything helps I just want her to be able to return to the flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to try tube feeding her for a few days, if you cannot see a vet. Amazon sells 16 French baby lamb feeding tubes with catheter tipped syringes for feeding chickens. KayTee Exact baby birds feed can be used for feeding. There also is something called torpedo feeding, where you take chicken feed crumbles, a bit of water, and mix with whole raw egg making small torpedo shaped pieces of food to fit into the beak. I’m glad that is doing better and drinking.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a video of tube feeding:

https://www.youtube.com/

One link and video for torpedo feeding:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...eeding-what-is-it-and-when-to-use-it.1532744/