Hen survived a hawk attack and I think she's traumatized. Pleasd help!

donteatbees

Songster
May 20, 2024
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I have a white leghorn and she has gotten attacked by a hawk twice. The first time I stopped the hawk before it could hurt her by chasing it away while screaming. I'm not sure what saved her the second time, either the roosters, the livestock guardian dog, pure luck or a combination of those things.
But she is now very stressed and doesn't leave the coop (which only happens with someone standing with them now) and her feathers got damaged and plucked pretty short in some spots.
All her bigger tail feathers got cut up and then they fell out after a few days. She let's me touch her a little bit, where she never used to be okay with it at all, though she still runs away after a second.
I'm not sure if her egg laying is slowing down from both the trauma and it getting colder and being locked up (the lighting in the coop isn't the best so I'm not sure if it is enough light to help them) or if the trauma has nothing to do with it. I have two leghorns so I'm unsure who lays what eggs unless I get two.
Her wattles are also looking a bit shriveled so I'm worried she's not been leaving her roost to drink water, which would also most likely mean she's not eating.
How do I get her to eat and drink? And is there anything I can give her to relieve the stress? She has no noticeable injuries and I did take a good look at her since she was kind enough to let me look at and move her wings to look for injuries and also let me look at her tail and damaged feathers.
It's been a week since the first attack, and two or three days since the second which is when she started acting odd. It's probably just stress (it's happened before), but I've lost too many chickens this year to risk it. And I don't want to take her to a vet because it'll cause more stress since she's already not a people chicken... or an any other animal chicken. Also vets are expensive and I need to be able to afford college next semester 🙃
Thank you in advance for any help/suggestions!
 
Only suggestion i can think of to help hen relieve from stress,,,,,, Hold her multiple times per day, and caress her. Then after a while, set her near feed, and water.
It may not be a miracle solution,,, but it will not do any harm.
Not a Vet visit solution in my opinion. :idunno

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:hugs
 
Only suggestion i can think of to help hen relieve from stress,,,,,, Hold her multiple times per day, and caress her. Then after a while, set her near feed, and water.
It may not be a miracle solution,,, but it will not do any harm.
Not a Vet visit solution in my opinion. :idunno

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:hugs
I'll try that. She's not usually a fan of me holding her (despite my efforts and holding her as a chick lots) but she's been more accepting of it lately, so maybe it'll help. Unfortunately most days I'm gone most of the day due to work or college, but I can hold her in the mornings when I turn on the lights and give them treats then again when I close the lights and collect eggs (and count them if someone let them out before I got home, but that's not often and I think will no longer happen until we install our netting).
If she doesn't want to eat the treats/drink I can try hand feeding her treats. I'll even get watermelon so she can stay at least a bit hydrated. I'm worried her lack of tail feathers is making her scared to go on the coop floor because she can't fly back up (there's a ramp too) which can be an issue because that's how she escapes the roosters (they are harmless, she's just not into them) but the roos only go for hens that aren't perched or at the nesting boxes

Thank you:)
 

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