Was my chicken bitten by a rattlesnake? HELP?

[cellima]

Hello, I am new to this forum, but I always seem to be having animal problems, and especially chicken problems.

Most recently, we believe my chicken, Sunflower, was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Yesterday I noticed she had concealed herself within our rosemary bush and wasn't moving. I wasn't too concerned, as she is about the age where she starts laying, and I thought maybe she was trying to lay an egg. But when she stayed there the rest of the day and didn't return to her roost at night I got worried and brought her inside.

I gave her a quick examination and couldn't determine what was wrong with her. She was eating and drinking so I wasn't too concerned, and I decided to keep her inside and keep an eye on her.

This morning I gave her a more thorough examination, and I realized that her foot was swollen and turning a blueish color. She wasn't using that foot and I fount a small puncture wound on one of the swollen areas.

That's when we became concerned about a rattlesnake bite. Rattlers a plentiful in our area, and it is very likely she could have encountered one.

Our vet is gone for the weekend, and the vet clinic refuses to sell us any fluids because the only vet there doesn't know anything about chickens.

We called another vet who said it was too late for anti-venom, and all we could do was supportive therapy, fluids and antibiotics.

We've spent around $2000 on our animals in the past month, and we don't really have much of a budget left. I really think she needs fluids, but no one will sell us any.

We also have some Baytril (22.7 mg it says, odd number) left over from one of our previous chickens, we were thinking of halving the dose (as Sunflower is much smaller) and starting her on that, but I"m not sure how helpful that would be. I really think she need subcutaneous fluids, but we ran out of our supply a few weeks ago when my bunny was sick. And vets have gotten very strict about selling you the stuff.

Is there anything else we should be doing? She seems to be doing okay, and is drinking and taking food. Our vet will be back Monday, but I'm not sure how long she can last.

 

[robin416]

Pick up some children's liquid Benadryl. Give her several drops of that. It will make her sleepy but it might help reduce the swelling.

If you have a syringe you can purchase sterile saline at the feed store. Or you can also get a larger bore needles there too. Give her about 20'cc sub Q. This isn't as good as an IV but will help hydrate her and maybe prevent the formation of blood clots.

I would not start antibiotics just yet.

 

[cellima]

Thank you!

I wasn't aware you could get Saline at a feed store, it isn't a prescription drug?

I'm still not even sure it was a rattlesnake bite, I haven't been able to find any information about how chickens react to that and what prognosis is.

If she's doing alright at this point, what are the chances he'll make a recovery on her own?

 

[hikerchick]

Saline is sterile salt water, isn't it?
Why would it be prescription?

 

[littlehenny]

I can't imagine her being bitten by a rattlesnake! The venom from a rattlesnake bite is toxic enough to kill a child. And a child is a lot larger then a chicken. Whatever the problem is I sure hope she gets ok!. Good Luck.