A cat got into my coop and attacked 2 of my hens. One was injured pretty bad and had to be put down. The other one is finally recovering (?), after time and a lot of TLC.
My questions are, what can I do to further her recovery? Can chickens have a tiny bit of aspirin for pain relievers? (I know it's safe for dogs to have aspirins.) And what could I do in the future if God forbid, this happens again? And last, what can I do to keep cats away from my coop?
Let me tell you about her injury and my treatment. She had a bite wound on the back of the head and the side of her face. The bite wound on her face bled quite a bit, and turned green; a sure sign of infection. Also, her one eye was kind of swollen and glazed over. I was away for the weekend when it happened, and wished I was there to treat the wound right away.
I tried to clean the wound as best as I could. (Hard to clean a live chicken, let me tell you.) I cleaned the wound with peroxide and then put some Bag Balm (antiseptic) on it. Amazingly, I actually had some antibiotics for birds on hand in my house. I had some Ornacyn-Plus which I put in the injured hen's water, which she drank.
She's been drinking, but only started eating today (a week after the mauling). And she's only eating a TINY bit. Her wound is much better (the green is almost gone, too), but she has no energy.
I hate seeing a living thing suffer.
Anyway, if anyone has any answers to my questions above, please answer as soon as possible. Thanks.

Nonprofessional answer-symptomatically, as you describe, the wounds are healing AND not developing infection or getting worse. Otherwise, after a week I'm sure your chicken would be uncoordinated (on it's side) getting worse, and DEFINATELY not eating! Why not try some earthworms for a treat (while bait is still available before winter) and try hand feeding maybe 1/4 worm at a time till the chicken perks up appetite. I tossed a small frog in the pen today, and a rooster got it-for the next fifteen minutes, this hen chased him and wouldn't give him time to eat it. I never heard the sound she made before!! LOL! Anyway, the antibiotics I have for poultry water say to only use for 10-14 days at a time, so obviously you want to pack in some protein. Do a daily weigh in on a decent baby scale, and make sure weight stays stable or increases for the next 3-4 weeks. I've had some heartbreaking sudden losses with my ferrets, but also some miraculous recoveries after MUCH time, attention, and hand nursing. As for the cats-aside from full enclosures and electric wire-I use a Havahart trap. Good success with a tablespoon or so of Tuna in oil. How far can you go on a half tank of gas? ;)

Paul and the spoiled chickens and ducks.

Sunni, I would give her some vitamins and electrolites in her water. I would also give her some higher protein feed like turkey start untill she is ready for egg layer again. I have found it to be good for birds coming out of molt so I think it would help your bird also. Chris

Just a note to say that the hen has recovered. It took a few weeks, but she's finally back to normal, although I can't tell if she's laying yet.
It took about a week for her to eat anything. And even then, it was small amounts. This was before Ferret's message above about tempting her with worms (and frogs!?), so I tempted her with peas, ham, and cooked spaghetti, which she loves.
Thanks for all the great advice! I really appreciate it.
One more thing, while her wounds were healing, I kept them covered in Bag Balm (vaseline-like stuff with antiseptic in it). Well, now dirt is stuck to her head like glue. She's a sorry sight. What's a good way to bathe a chicken?? They hate water and I've had a hard time attempting this in the past.

Good deal!! Yeah, when they are not eating, that can generally cause more of a problem than the injury. I'm sure just the trauma of the attack brought that on. That's why I suggested 'treats' of some kind. Actually, it was probably a combination of that AND your love and attention that brought her around. Let's face it, animals respond to kindness.

Paul and the jubilant fuzzies and joyful feathered ones on your news.

Oh, Sunni-on the bag balm-I suspect it will just kind of wear off. It won't hold so much dirt when it thins out some. I can't think of much more than wipe the excess dirt and the dirt will absorb the grease. Hmmm...brings a new saying-"like water off a chicken's face" ;) BTW-my wife's an RN and uses bag balm for her patients VS. other 'over the counter' ointments! Maybe 'back wipe' against the lay of the feathers so it doesn't push further down the body. What does anyone else think about something like Vaseline Intensive Care or other hand lotion to sooth the skin and break down the grease?

Paul

I am new to farming and my chicks are eating one another how can I stop this and prevent it from happening again?

new to raising chickens and I just purchased 22 chics
one of my chics got pecked by the others and one of his legs is paralized it was bleeding and one of his toes dried up and fell off I have him seperated from the others now and I am giving him some terramycin powder in his water he seems pretty active and is eating and drinking well chirps and hobbles around on one leg is there anything else I can do for him he's only 3weeks old any help would be appricated.
machelle

I have had 50 chickens, all but 12 have been butchered. One of the hens has been crippled on one side, underdeveloped on that side but is healthy and eats well. I pamper her a little. In the last 4 days, one of the others developed a neck thing, her neck twists dramatically to the left and around so that at first she was looking at the sky and ground at the same time. 2 days later she is twisted all the way around so that her head is totally upside down. What has caused this. She tends to find boxes or places with very little light to hide in. I have not seen her eat in the last 4 days but I did see her preen herself in both directions all the way back to her tail. HELP!!!

I now have 35 chickens and I love them all.. The problem? I have been finding every now and then a dead chicken/chick with it's head ripped off.. it always leaves the body but takes the head. What kind of animal does this so that I can take preventive measures?

Anthony, The ID of your varmit may depend on where you live. Owls are a prime suspect with the head taken and not other birds killed and torn apart at the same time. Owls, of course, take their prey at night, so birds closed in at night are usually consideredy safe from owls (Great Horned are the usual ones). CJR

Anthony - I would suspect rats if it's only little ones, but if it's larger chickens, I would say sounds like a weasel. They're persistant varmints, very difficult to catch, and will take the heads off your chickens one by one until you have none left. They bite off the head, suck the blood, and leave the body. We have at times had this problem. They are not particular - huge birds, small birds, none are safe. The best you can do is try to secure them at night if possible in a place where there are absolutely no holes larger than 1 inch. This is tough, I know, especially when you have more than a few chickens, but we have been so desperate that we built some boxes out of hardware cloth and lumber that we put everyone in at night. Eventually the weasel and his/her family looks elsewhere. Hope this helps, good luck.

Thanks for the heads up.. he weasel idea sounds to me more of a possibility.. Also, does anyone think that skunks or raccoons would be clever enough to get into a henhouse?

P.S. all my chickens have been killed at night inside their henhouse and not during the day..

Anthony, I vote for weasel since your birds are locked up at night. They can get in a very small hole--search for it. Skunks come in holes at ground level and usually carry off the bird, and racoons kill everything that moves and leave an open door or window--are very clever at opening them! Good luck in getting the varmit!!!CJR

if you ever have a chicken get sick on you and nothing else seems to help try herbal medicine. Purple cone flower or golden seal extract. Just a drop or two in a quart
of water (the golden seal tastes terrible) If your chicks or chickens are weak try using bee pollen

Hi,

Chicken was injuried so I had to nurse her in the
house for a week. Now when I return her to the coop the other chickens jump on her back and peck her.
How do I re-introduce her to the coop?

Also, got a chicken that is balded under the tail
area. Large area on both sides of vent. Why is
this happening? Is there anything I can do about it?

Alice
How was the chicken injured? Is she on the bottom of the pecking order or was it some other accident? If she had a good place in the social order then she likely was still a little weak and couldn't fend for herself. Keeping her away from the others until she is in full health again would help but depends on numbers and her position.
If she was injured by the others because of her position, her reintroduction will be very traumatic and could lead to new injuries but if she is strong she will be able to survive.

The missing feathers under the tail area sounds like a parasite infestation. There can be one of two things happening. Some parasites will drive a chicken crazy and lead to her pulling her own feathers out. There is a feather mite that eats the feather web, leaving only the quill. Either way you should dust everyone with a good powder. I suggest a powder containing "Sevin" (the active ingredients is carbaryl). Very good for mites. Repeat in 10 days. The hen with missing feathers could stay that way until she moults in the fall but by watching you can determine if she is constantly digging at the back end. After the dustings, just watch. If she is not constantly trying to "get at" her back end then things are back to normal and she will be OK.

Please give me advice on how to discourage my hens from pecking each other. Two out of five have turned up with pretty bad injuries in the past two weeks. Could they be lacking some kind of vitamins or protein? Is this seasonal? What sould I treat the wounds with? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Winter is a tough time for my usually free-ranging flock of pet chickens. Last year a BIG hawk moved in and decided it's free lunch. This year I have a big closed run to keep them in til he moves on. BUT, he got one today in announcing his return. All spring and summer it's fine, but winter brings bobcat and big hawks.

Laceration is big, but superficial...just through the skin on her back. My very nice vet who has a country practice that doesn't usually include poultry suggested stitches to close the laceration. To my knowledge, chicken skin is too thin and fragile to really hold up to stitches... they tend to tear out. (Explaining why people eat poultry skin but not cow hide...) Anyone have any info about how to deal with a big laceration?

Thanks.
Linda

If there are feathers on each side, after using an antibiotic ointment to the edges, just use freezer or masking tape to hold it closed by the feathers or even by a loop all around the body of the bird. The bird must be separated from the rest of your flock, or they will eat it alive! Well, at least they will pull the tape off. Don't try to cover the whole wound, just hold the edges closed as well as possible. It will heal faster, if not covered solid by a bandage. I hope your vet gave the bird an antibiotic injection. Such puncture and/or tear wounds by another bird, will carry infection. The injection works fastest, and the ointment will keep edges soft for healing and help avoid additional infection. Unless something vital down deep is damaged, the bird should heal just fine. CJR

Your advice would be greatly appreciated...

Last week, I found one of my 4 week old chicks with her neck all bloody and missing feathers. The other chicks were picking at her. I immediately separated her and cleaned the wound with warm water. Everything was great and the wound was healing very nicely. I noticed on occasion that she would scratch at the wound with her toes as if it was itching her a little.

Today, I found the wound had been reopened on the side of the neck, just below the ear. She is constantly scratching the wound with her toe as she can easily reach it. I cleaned it with warm water again but she just won't stop scratching and reopening the clot.

She is in isolation to keep her safe from cannibalism but now she is basically self-mutilating. I tried fastening a little paper collar around her neck but she was not happy at all. As luck would have it, this is my favorite bird of my first backyard flock.

What can I do for her?

Try a little antibiotic ointment on the wound. It must be "stinging" and the ointment may stop that. You could also place some tape over the toes (each toe separately) she is scratching with. It will give her something else to divert her attention from the wound. CJR

UPDATE:
I've been trying both the antibiotic ointment and the tape on the toes. The hen seems very tolerant of the tape. The antibiotic ointment doesn't seem to have much affect with the itching.

Since Monday, December 11th my 6-week-old chick has been scratching at both sides of the neck. The tape really helps to minimize the damage caused by the toenails.

I was thinking about why she would have been recovering so well from the initial injury over a week ago and then suddenly experience these itching attacks. I decided to put her on some teramycin treatment (in drinking water) in case she has some sort of skin infection. I hope teramycin is the right drug for this.

I've been trying not to stimulate her very much because it seems to trigger the itching. Fortunately, she is eating and drinking very well and her spirits are good. I need to be patient and let her recover at her own pace but I have yet to see any real improvement. She is simply stabilized for now.

It sure is a lot of extra work to take care of the injured birds versus the healthy ones. I can understand why preventive measures are stressed in all of the literature.

first time for me posting anything, we recently aquired a, what seems to be an american brown leghorn rooster about a year old. he just showed up around our warehouse from out of the surrounding woods. and we started feeding him and making friends. then a big rotweiler got a hold of him and we took him to a vet. now hes in good shape about 6 lbs. he lives in the warehouse and is free to roam, he follows us around like a dog and we are quite fond of him. i recently saw a rat at night. can a single rat injure or kill our rooster? or will the rooster run off the rat? thanks,
big bird.

Sometimes rats will gnaw on feathers or feet if given the opportunity, I'm told. You could bait the rat by putting some of those rat bait chunks in a box or cage with a hole big enough for the rat to get into, but not large enough for the rooster to enter. If you get the bait in the big chunks that are hard and have to be gnawed, your rooster probably won't be able to eat much of it. But take care to see to it that he can't. Hope this helps.

Hope someone can help me. I am new to chickens, and we have 8 (4Buff Orpingtons, 2Araucanas and 2 Barred Rock). We live in Northern Vermont, and they were 6 months on Thanksgiving, they have bee laying since the week before and we have bee getting between 2 and 4 eggs a day! My problems is that last Monday one had a bloody comb, we seperated her and thought that she was getting pecked at, she now seems fine, but another has the same thing! The blood is on the tips of her comb, there isn't much, but enough that I noticed it on the waterer where she had rubbed the comb. The cannot go outside here now - the temp is teens in the day and we have a foot of snow on the ground, plus a stong wind. They eat layer pellets and veggie scraps every day. Are the combs being pecked or are they freezing? The coop was a very small 4x8 area, but when the weather really got bad we gave them the whole shed (8x12) and they only started this after we gave them more room! When the weather was OK they have a fenced run and generally spent the day all over our yard. Any help would be appreciated! We have 4 daughters who think they are pets!

If the bleeding is caused by picking, a little pine tar on the comb tips will stop it. This bleeding may also be caused by the comb tips sticking to a frozen fountain or other metal object. Is there any kind of an opening they would be tempted to stick their heads into and then pull out quickly? Is there anything rough over head when they roost? Nail points coming through the roof? Hope this helps.

I have a chicken who has a hurt foot. I can't see any cuts, nothing is stuck in her foot and it is not swollen. She just will not put all of her weight on it. I searched the pen and chicken house and didn't find anywhere she could have gotten it caught. I immediately separated her from the others and have been letting her nest in a private box with fresh water and food. She now is putting a little weight on it and it has been 1 1/2 weeks. Has anyone had this happen? A foot sprain? Do they ever recover?

I realy am not sure, but if you live in a rural area you could probly find a vet that knows enough about chickens to check her out. EVen if you don't live in a rural area you still might be able to find a bird vet to take care of her.

YoYo

You might very carefully go over all her joints to see if something seems to cause pain. Work each one in turn, watching for a reaction. Chickens sometimes hook a foot and catch their weight on one of the joints, like a hip joint. This can be sore for quite a while. A v-shaped space on nest boards, a loose roost bar, or even a nail driven into a board to hold up a wire can catch a foot. Even the handle on top of a fountain can do it. Sometimes it's hard to spot these after the fact. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your response. I will try checking her joints. We put her outside this last weekend and gave her some grass along with food and water - she loved being out of the chicken coop and it lifted her spirits So maybe with a lot of TLC she will make it.

Have six 9 month old pet chickens, all hens - new parents. One has been attacked by the others, under her vent area. Feathers have been picked out in a fairly large area and they pecked her skin raw in an area about the size of a half dollar, bloody mess. Seems deep, but the skin is also thick there. She has been separated since this happended a week ago. Cleaned w/ hydrogen peroxide initially, and now are treating with triple antibiotic cream, and "Rooster Booster" (calendula, tee tree oil,etc.), the feed store said it would deter the others - not working. Also are treating her w/ oral antibiotics. A small area around the wound is swollen and looks infected, still after a week. A small piece of hay may have gotten stuck under the skin flap and caused the infection, how to keep it clean while in the coop?? She seems in good spirits, is eating and drinking but doesn't seem to be healing very quickly. Not sure why this happened - they have lots of room and are given fresh water daily, corn. Are now putting in fresh green scraps which seems to keep the others occupied. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD BE DOING FOR HER TREATMENT OR TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO ANOTHER? I don't know if she'll ever be able to be introduced w/ the others. I love them all dearly and treat them like the wonderful pets they are and being new to chickens am distraught by this occurence, but realize, this stuff happens sometimes. thanks for any advice - louellyn white louellynwhite@hotmail.com

The best thing you can do is get her to a vet. Nothing is more helpful than the advice of a doctor who knows about birds. You can find out exactly what to do by taking her to a bird vet.

YoYo

Once she is capable of defending herself, you can work on reintroducing her. To begin this process, you might try penning her inside the coop for a few days, then gradually let her out toward roost time. Until then, here are some things to try. Keep her separated. For the wing injury, examine this very carefully and open it if necessary. Sanitize area with peroxide once you are sure there is nothing still lodged in there and pack it with antibiotic ointment. Check and reapply every day or every other day until this begins to heal up. As to her vent area, determine whether this is skin or cut through. If not cut through, apply peroxide, dry, then antibiotic ointment. Keep her on clean bedding. Once this is actually healing and is at least scabbed over, make sure she can defend herself, then to reintroduce her, coat this area and the wing area if need be with pine tar. The other hens will not pick pine tar more than once. It is possible that she cut herself or split herself a little when laying. If this bleeds, chickens are drawn to it irresistably. Once picked and bleeding, they will continue to pick until it is removed, hidden, or it gets too dark to see.

Most vets know nothing about chickens, but if there is one in your area, it's well worth a try. Good luck.

THANK YOU very much for your suggestions, I sincerely appreciate the advice. Will try your ideas - So nice to know there are like minded chicken caring people out there who see them as more than just the next meal!!

I have 10 chickens they are about 4 weeks old. One of the hens has been crippled on one side. her neck twists dramatically to the left and around so that at first she was looking at the sky and ground at the same time. she is twisted all the way around so that her head is totally upside down. What has caused this? She is trying to eat but with great difficulty. I did see her preen herself in both directions all the way back to her tail. What can I do for her? I am not familiar with chicken anatomy. HELP!!! Thanks in advance!

Keli

I have been caring for an injured chicken for the past 2 weeks. A coyote grabbed her in our yard -- got a mouthfull of rump feathers for his trouble. Unfortunately, a round piece of skin about 1/2-dollar sized was torn off with the feathers. I smeared bag balm on the featherless area, but can't close the skin over the wound so it's just muscle(?) and fat exposed. She's eating and drinking fine, and during the day I let her out in the yard (away from the other chickens who'll attack her). I've put a little cider vinegar in her water, but no antibiotics. Anything else I should do to help the area heal or just let nature take its course. BTW, the feathers are starting to grow in around the wound.

Pamela, If there is no infection, it should heal just fine, Feathers may or may not grow on the area, likely not, if the skin was gone. No matter, just watch it for infection, once it is dry, there will be a "seal" and should keep out any infection. But she should be kept from the other chickens until it is ENTIRELY healed or they will immediately open it up again. Good luck. CJR

Big surprise today: "Fatty", my coyote-bitten hen, laid an egg in one of the nesting boxes of the hen house! She still spends the night in a large cardboard box in our family room as the other 3 hens aren't ready to accept her back yet, but she hangs around on the fringes. She's become very fond of me, and even jumped on my leg and settled into my lap while my husband and I were sitting on the porch bench reading the paper!

I'm pretty sure she was blinded in one eye when the coyote bit her. It was closed for awhile and even though it's open now, she has trouble finding scratch/pellets that I sprinkle in the grass. She does fine with pellets in the feeder so she won't starve, but she should be called "scrawny" now. Do you think the other hens will ever accept her? Will they just peck at her a bit to re-establish the pecking order or would they kill her if I left her in the hen house overnight?

"Fatty" update: She's been spending the night in the hen house with the others, but she still stays on the roost by the nesting boxes while the other 3 are on the big roost. I try to get up and let them out of the coop before they start after her -- sometimes I find her cowering in the corner. She keeps her distance when they are all out in the garden, but trails along behind them. Fatty is still blind in one eye -- she misses when pecking at scratch that I throw in the grass. To help build her up, I mix peanut butter with scratch and layer pellets which she happily gobbles up. Feathers are all growing back and she lays an egg every other day or so.

Hello!
One of my English White Leghorn hens was attacked by a dog yesterday. She has a small puncture wound in her side and a tear in her skin on her thigh. Alot of her feathers are also torn out on her sides. Last night she ate a Stress Formula mash but today she was force fed because she refused to eat on her own. I have been flushing out her wounds with a mixture of aged garlic extract and purified water, and one of them has already closed up and is not discolored. See still is very weak and dazed, though. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do to pull her through this? Thank you for any help!

Julia, Several of my birds over the years have had puncture wounds. I take such a bird, immediately to a vet who has cage birds as clients. Antibiotic shot for infection, which usually follows a bite by any animal, give oral antibiotic for some days after. Puncture wounds should not be allowed to close up until healing takes place from the inside out, as the worst infections are from wounds that cannot drain until the last layers are healed, bacteria grows without air. Force feeding is also dangerous, as the food may just remain in the crop, if the body is not functioning normally, and can sour and spoil. Water with electrolytes might be good, if she will drink, but again, force water or feed is not a good thing. Good luck, CJR

Julia, Several of my birds over the years have had puncture wounds. I take such a bird, immediately to a vet who has cage birds as clients. Antibiotic shot for infection, which usually follows a bite by any animal, give oral antibiotic for some days after. Puncture wounds should not be allowed to close up until healing takes place from the inside out, as the worst infections are from wounds that cannot drain until the last layers are healed, bacteria grows without air. Force feeding is also dangerous, as the food may just remain in the crop, if the body is not functioning normally, and can sour and spoil. Water with electrolytes might be good, if she will drink, but again, force water or feed is not a good thing. Good luck, CJR

Thanks for the advice!
We took our Hen to the vet where she received an antibiotic injection. She is also receiving Amoxycillin twice a day. Her body is covered in bruises and her wing is badly sprained. But hopefully she'll make a full recovery.
Thanks again!
Julia

Julia, That is exactly what my vet did when a racoon bit a hen, she healed well, but had one wing that drooped a little afterward. Another hen was hidden in the shrubs and my cat pounced on her--never bothered chickens before (or since), and he was really embarassed when he learned it was not a big mouse! Put the amoxycillin under the upper bill with the eyedropper. It will stick there and you won't worry about her choking. Poor dear, I am sure she will be fine, in a little time. CJR