Emergency! Please help! Hawk attack left my girl severely injured

[Eggcessive]

Thank you, thank you!!!

I am not sure if it is something she can pull through, but I certainly want to do whatever I can to help her and ease her pain. Has anyone ever treated a similar injury successfully? Can I get chicken-dose antibiotics at the feedstore? What do you recommend and in what dosage?

The other 2 chickens aren't bothering her at all but I will sequester her if they start to. Luckily the wound was very clean. Very little blood.

If she makes it, is there a chance her feathers will grow back or is that wishful thinking? It will get down to freezing tonight and I want her to be comfortable as possible this winter if she is able to heal.

This happened once before to both of my Polish hens when they were a couple of months old, and then later to one at a year of age. There feathers have always grown back in about 6-8 weeks. I have never treated these bloody head wounds with antibiotics, but you may want to since it was a predator attack. One of my Polish hens was eventually taken by a hawk, so I'm only left with the one scalped today. Chickens don't seem to have the sensitive nerve endings that people do, and I'm not sure they need that much for pain.

 

[aggielady]

There feathers have always grown back in about 6-8 weeks. I have never treated these bloody head wounds with antibiotics, but you may want to since it was a predator attack. Chickens don't seem to have the sensitive nerve endings that people do, and I'm not sure they need that much for pain.

Thank you so much! That is SO comforting. I hate to see any of my critters in pain. Hopefully she will pull through tonight and start her recovery. Her wound is large (1" wide x 2.5" down the neck) and deep (to the tendon in one place). Were your chicken's injuries ever that bad? After the initial cleaning and ointment, I haven't messed with the wound any more so as not to overly stress her. I only go out to check on her and took her out the one other time to give her the aspirin water.
She does this strange thing where her head slowly tracks to one side, goes back and does it over and over again. I'm not sure why-- trauma? eye injury? Either way I just hope she'll be okay. She is breathing heavily but perks up to look at me when I check on her and get up if I linger.

 

[aggielady]

UPDATE: Rosemary made it through the night and looks a little better today. The wound has dried out and she is slightly perkier. We are having a winter advisory so I'm focusing on keeping her warm and comfortable, but I'm hopeful she will make it.

Thanks again for everyones help, suggestions and expertise. You made a very stressful situation much more bearable.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you so much! That is SO comforting. I hate to see any of my critters in pain. Hopefully she will pull through tonight and start her recovery. Her wound is large (1" wide x 2.5" down the neck) and deep (to the tendon in one place). Were your chicken's injuries ever that bad? After the initial cleaning and ointment, I haven't messed with the wound any more so as not to overly stress her. I only go out to check on her and took her out the one other time to give her the aspirin water.
She does this strange thing where her head slowly tracks to one side, goes back and does it over and over again. I'm not sure why-- trauma? eye injury? Either way I just hope she'll be okay. She is breathing heavily but perks up to look at me when I check on her and get up if I linger.

My chickens injuries were just deeply abraded, and the one now is the same. Be sure and apply some Neosprin daily (no need to clean) to keep the tissue moist. I believe your hen now has wry neck. Does the neck twist in kind of a spasm, or stay that way? This is due to the trauma. Wry neck is treated with vitamins, especially E and selenium. Here is some info for you to decide if it is wry or crook neck: http://oureggbasket.blogspot.com/2013/04/wry-neck-or-crook-neck-understanding-it.html

 

[aggielady]

UPDATE:
Her wry neck issues have passed. She is holding her head normally, and although she's a little stiff still she's getting around really well!
Her appetite is back and she is active and even goes out into the new hawk-proof run I attached to their coop to allow then to get out a bit more. I think the neck issues had something to do with her vision. She had blood and fluid around it which caused it to swell and shut, and while she allowed me to doctor her neck she didn't like me messing with her eye too much. Since then it has cleared up and she looks really good actually. I am applying Mupirocin (extra strong Neosporin) to the wound every day or so and it has healed at an incredible rate.
I'm so happy! I only had a flock of 4 before the attack, so I was worried I'd lose half my flock. I think I'm going to get two gold-laced wyandotte chicks today though.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like she'll make a full recovery.

 

[aggielady]

Rosemary is progressing well and seems to feeling back to normal. My flock of 3 was just sad, so I picked up a Gold Laced Wyandotte and a Australorpe today. I'm very excited! They are just a month different in age and seem to be integrating well. Any tips to aid the transition are appreciated though!

 

[aggielady]

NEW ISSUE

Now that Rosemary has started healing, I can see the extent of the damage to her neck. It turns out there was a flap of skin that was sheared from her neck hiding beneath the feathers. It is live skin- about 1/4" wide by 2" long. I was trimming the feathers that were stuck together and discovered it. I cut a small part of it by accident and it bled a bit. She didn't react, but I'm unsure of what to do. I don't want to sever an artery or anything since its on the side of her neck; but the flap is something I would trim if it were on one of my other animals (my horse had a similar injury on his shin)

Thoughts?

Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[aggielady]

In case anyone is wondering, I wanted to report that Rosemary is doing very well after her hawk attack.
Her neck has fully healed and most of the feathers have grown back. She does have feathers coming out of the skin flap that was left after the attack. I worried about her recovery, but she is back to normal, gained the weight back and LAID HER FIRST EGG last week!

If anyone stumbles across this post in a similar situation, I hope you find hope here! Rosemary is a testament to how resilient chickens can be!!