PhantomSlayer
Songster
We had a hawk attack today after a few months free of the last one. Our roo seems to be a scaredy chicken and just ran while our geese were sounding the alarm. But my mom says the hawk wasn't bigger than the chickens. The two that seemed to suffer the brunt of the attack is our two buff orpingtons. Lemonpepper was wedged up into the dead wood pile with the signs of the hawk trying to get to her and Rosemary has blood on her face.
I gave Rosemary about a half hour to rest inside the coop with the others and then brought her in to check her over. The blood had dried. I didn't see any other fresh blood. However her right eye lid seemed a bit droopy compared to the left and and she would keep doing a swallowing motion.
She took a few pieces of scratch. She wouldn't outright drink from the bowl but putting a few drops of water on her beak she would swallow it like that. I put her back outside in the coop in the less crowded side where the nesting boxes are.
I'm not knowledgeable about chicken injuries and I know shes probably still stressed from the attack.
I tried wiping what blood I could off her face but she was scared of a paper towel so I only tried a few times.
There did not seem to be damage by her eye so I wonder if maybe its just stress or pain. My biggest worry is the swallowing motion. I want to assume its just stress but what should I watch for incase its something more? I'm aware a yawning motion would be more of adjusting her crop but it seems more like swallowing to me than a yawn.
Should I try feeding her soft foods incase its an injury in her beak?
I gave Rosemary about a half hour to rest inside the coop with the others and then brought her in to check her over. The blood had dried. I didn't see any other fresh blood. However her right eye lid seemed a bit droopy compared to the left and and she would keep doing a swallowing motion.
She took a few pieces of scratch. She wouldn't outright drink from the bowl but putting a few drops of water on her beak she would swallow it like that. I put her back outside in the coop in the less crowded side where the nesting boxes are.
I'm not knowledgeable about chicken injuries and I know shes probably still stressed from the attack.
I tried wiping what blood I could off her face but she was scared of a paper towel so I only tried a few times.
There did not seem to be damage by her eye so I wonder if maybe its just stress or pain. My biggest worry is the swallowing motion. I want to assume its just stress but what should I watch for incase its something more? I'm aware a yawning motion would be more of adjusting her crop but it seems more like swallowing to me than a yawn.
Should I try feeding her soft foods incase its an injury in her beak?