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Injured Chicken

Two weeks ago racoons got into my coop. One of my birds was attacked and severely injured with a deep cut on her side and lots of bruising and swelling in her head and face. She is living in my bathtub with a thick mat of cedar shavings. I didn't think that she would make it through the night but here we are, two weeks later and until last night, she was getting much better.

Her eyes were both swollen shut so I am having to hand feed her with a syringe. She is drinking water and at first enjoyed the baby food but wasn't keen on it after a few days. I kept up with the water a few times a day.

One of her eyes has partially opened but it is cloudy. The cut on her side seems to be healing well, no signs on infection and a good looking scab has formed.

She seemed to be limping on the injured side and now does not want to step on that foot at all. Her droppings are loose and green which I've read is a sign of not enough food. I started giving her some high fat coconut milk this morning and am feeding her every 1.5 hours. I'm not sure how much is getting into her though.

There are no additional signs of injury/infection ad I am suspecting that she is weak with hunger/dehydration. She won't eat/drink on her own because she can't see. I've waved meat in front of her beak to no avail. She does seem better than she did this morning. Any suggestions on how I can help her out?

meags

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by meagan on November 3, 2012 at 2:09pm

UPDATE

I've opted to force feed her by opening her beak slightly and injecting a small amount of coconut milk/egg yolk mixture. After 2 rounds of this (2-3tsps at 1.5 hour intervals) she is now standing up but still limping. It seems that she is doing better but I can't say for sure.

Permalink Reply by Alyssa K on November 4, 2012 at 6:51am

You can pop solids in prettty easily. I've done it with peas and small pieces of bread. I found it almost easier than the syringe.

Some arnica (topical) might help with the swelling. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by stephanie st loe on November 4, 2012 at 12:07pm

Oh the poor thing. Well, my DIY vet experience is extensive in horses, not so much in chickens. But-2 weeks after the initial injury I would suppose if anything is swelling up more, rather than going down you are likely looking at some sort of infection. The outside of the wound might look good, but there can be an infection deeper in, or a systemic infection like septiciema (blood poisoning), gangrene etc. If its been 2 weeks and she's getting worse not better I would take her to the vet. I think I would ask myself which was worse-$60 plus meds $ or having to euthanzie her (also $60) and watch her suffer even more. With horses you can usually get your vet to sell you some broad spectrum antibiotic to keep on hand so you can be proactive if the animal gets a messy looking injury. I wonder if you can get a vet to give you just-in-case chicken antibiotics? I bet big chicken operations have 'em. Hope she's on the mend.

Permalink Reply by stephanie st loe on November 4, 2012 at 12:09pm

Oh-would you mind sharing how the racoons got in? I'm hoping half inch heavy guage chicken wire is enough to keep them out of mine.

Permalink Reply by Alyssa K on November 5, 2012 at 8:56am

Chicken wire is not strong enough to keep raccoons out. You need welded wire.

Permalink Reply by meagan on November 5, 2012 at 12:40pm

After 2 days of force feeding both liquid and solids we have got pretty good at getting some food in her. She does seem to be improving from early Saturday but is still limping and has swollen cloudy eyes. I'm going to try some antibiotic eye drops this evening. There is no other sign of infection anywhere on her (no heat, swelling, redness or soreness). I think that if she could see she would be eating on her own.

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