Hen can’t lift neck after attacked by fox

[orelsi]

I had a rooster that was unable to lift his head for a very long time, months, after a fox attack. The fox had bitten the back of his neck with chunks missing and exposed flesh, etc. I am not sure what exactly was severed by the bite. Everyone said he was gone and I should just cull him. He eventually got better and lived 4 more years without issues.

Keep giving her feed and water, hens are both very fragile and very resilient depending on the issue. They can regenerate after such attacks. Good luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is hard to know if she has a neck or head injury from the unwitnessed fox attack. When someone suggests Mareks might be considered, we have no way of knowing if it is Mareks or not. A lady in the UK who dealt with Mareks in her flock, said that she had seen where stress or an injury had set off symptoms in her birds. I think that you are doing all you can with supportive care, vitamins, and tube feeding. Hopefully, she will recover. If you lose her, it would be good to find out how you could get her tested to see if she had Mareks. That is what I would do.

 

[Chichisx5]

Hi my hen was attacked by a fox on Sunday night and now her neck has a few wounds and is bruised. She is struggling to have any control over her neck and is very weak. I have her at home with me propped up with some pillows. She is happy to drink but I can’t get her to take hardly any food from me. She ate a tiny bit off my hand earlier but apart from that she has been showing no interest in eating. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hello
I literally watch my Orpington get attacked by Red tail hawk in front of me a few years back. I scooped her up and sat in a dark closet with her wrapped in a towel for about an hour after that I put her in a dog covered. Her head was out stretched ahead of her body. She would not pick it up. I thought her neck was injured (a lot of blood on her head and ear)
I really thought she would die overnight but she did not. I just kept her calm and quiet (sure a lot was shock it does typically take the them out unfortunately)

Thank you. I will go and pick up those vitamins today. What else would you recommend I do to help strengthen her neck and get food into her? I don’t get how she is pooopinh so much when she’s hardly ate a thing for the past 5 days. Her face is still quite bright and has a reddish comb. I had to cut some feathers from her bum as the poop was sticking to it. Got her to eat some ham again last night by placing it in her beak. She was a bit more reluctant to do it this morning, struggling to get her to swallow it. I’m not sure what else would be something easy to just pop into her beak for her to swallow. Thanks so much for the all advice.

Hello
My hen was attacked by a a hawk it was bad. She did not eat for a week…refused. I used a “small” syringe mixed with whole milk and egg yolk…I know it sounds odd but I fed her a little bit 5-6 times a day and she slowly improved. I had no information to go by only hope I doing that thing. I kept introducing fresh clover alfalfa etc and I did spoil her fresh berries scratch anything to get her to eat. She lives in a dog crate in my laundry room for 3 months.
She recovered but not without issues….her balance is messed up and staggers but she still lays eggs and always 1st in line for everything lol. I exhausted every options before considering “anything else”. It can be a helpless feeling.
PS the only problem I had after her recovery was convincing her she didn’t live in the human house anymore lol.

Hi, I’m so sorry to hear that! She’s doing okay, its been a week since the attack and I’m honestly so surprised she’s still alive. She definitely seems to have more control of her neck, it doesn’t just flop to the floor straight away. She is very weak though, can’t stand at all, however she’s still got a nice red comb. I’ve been having to syringe water into her to keep her hydrated as she’s struggling to drink on her own. I’ve also been having to force feed her foods like tuna, scrambled egg, porridge etc, (anything that’s soft and easy to slide down her throat) it’s very messy haha. Just keep her comfortable, I’ve got Stacey in a black box with straw higher on one side to rest her neck on and support it, and a towel on top of her back. You might need to buy Vitamin E and Vitamin B however I’ve only been using it a couple of times now so can’t really say whether it’s helped or not. Might also be worth buying a feeding tube early on, as I only just ordered one yesterday as I’m really worried that there is not enough food getting into her. How is your girl? What’s her symptoms like?

I wasn’t there when it happened but it was roughly mid afternoon

Just found this thread….
My Orpington was attacked by a large hawk. Literally on my sidewalk in front of me. She could not lift her head at all. Would not eat for 5-7 days straight. I placed her in a large dog crate with straw and covered to give her some healing quiet time to recover. I had no resources and was told by multiple people to put her down. I was not going to give up until I exhausted all my options. I fed Evie whole milk and egg yolk gently with a syringe. I read they can choke from it going down wrong. It took time…she lived in my laundry room from February to end of April in her crate. She recovered but lives with equilibrium issues (she staggers). She is my best layer and always 1st in line for everything. Hang in there.
PS the only problem I had was convincing her when everyone was headed to the hen house she kept running to the human house below photos with injuries and now recovered