A young coyote, decided to visit my porch last night & wreck havoic on my sleep. He didn't really seem to want to eat anything.. more he wanted to play with things. He pulled pillows off the love seat, he moved the cat carrier around.. he tormented my cats by even being there. We chased him off, moved the chickens into the living room much to my mothers disgust & went back to bed. The cage did not look disturbed at all last night & to be honest I doubt i could have helped her bc my only point of info is here & you guys aren't up that early.. or the neighbor & its not neighborly to go wake people at 5 am to ask a question. It appears the pup grabbed one of nutmegs chicks thru the mesh cage, puncturing her head in 2 places. Once in the side of the neck & once right above the waddle. She was ice cold & refused to open her eyes when i found her at 9 am. (feeding time) She's now in a box in the family room in front of the fireplace. Won't move much but her legs appear fine. I cleaned the cuts with cool water, put neosporn on them & gave her half a capsule of Clindamycin bc its all i had & the neighbor guy said it was better than nothing. She's not eatting, she's not drinking, she appears to be in shock. but she does look more awake? lively? strong? than she did nearly 2 hrs ago. She's wanting to snuggle a lot. Is there anything else I can do for her? What should i try & feed her? I have little syringes for the cats so I can force feed her if neccessary but i don't know what to feed her. please help?
Coyote visit
Rough week!
was she bleeding.. or just some blood?
if the cage got knocked around, I would be most concerned about the shock.. If the cuts are not too deep, you may be able to give her a bath.. either way Wash with saline solution a few times a day if you have it..I've heard of using diluted peroxide on chickens, but never had chickens get cut yet so never tried it..only rescuing the occasional wild birds the cat plays with.
if they got banged around - this I have worked through - they really are pretty sensitive..She sounds like you pet and will need to be held, or touched often. I am not sure how young she is, but based on how my bird reacted after a hawk attack and a cood beating an old coop.. Your little girl may not want to go back into the cage at night..
our last attack was a week ago and one of the girls refuses to come out from under whatever she can find.
some lovins' might do it.
yes its been a rough week. I'll be glad to see the weekend. She was bleeding but not a whole lot. It looks to be two shallow puncture wounds. i cleaned them with a damp cool cloth real good then put the ointment on them bc i didn't know what to do first thing this morning. since peroxide can inhibit the healing process I'd be afraid to use it i think... at least very often on her. I didn't think of the saline solution tho.. I looked for beta dine but we are currently out of it. I normally had a couple bottle from the hospital but i guess its gotten used. the cage is one of those mesh collapsible dog carriers. It was squashed in a bit but not too bad. They are still currently housed on teh porch not in the coop bc I've not finished the bigger coop so i can move the girls around btwn the two. She's standing up taller when i looked. She was huddling down close to the floor of the box about an hour ago. I have not yet seen her drink or eat but the food appeared to be moved a bit. She's 3 months old... roughly.
poor girl, glad she's moving and it sounds like she's just a little spooked..
I'm surprised the coyote didn't get into the cage or collapse it.. she probably will catch up on some sleep and then be looking for the rest of the kids in no time....
good luck
-joe-
It was just a pup looking for mischief from what I saw. otherwise I'd have a whole bunch of dead chickens.
Thanks.
i just checked on her bc my dog was whining & it laying next to the box. Her eye area is swollen greatly with clear fluid in it. The eye was stuck shut. i pulled it apart & forced some of the fluid out. its just above the puncture wound on that side. She's really warmed up now but she's in front of the fire place. I'm going to go clean it again & put more ointment on it. I guess now all i can do is wait. my best guess is she loses sight in that eye tho if she lives at all.
sorry to hear the news.. is your dog sitting with the injured bird?
wow. you have a wonderful family.
I hope she recovers - other than a poultry vet to get anti biotics or something, I have no ideas.. I hope she stabilizes soon, but is sounds like it will be a few days.
I posted it on another site to see if there are any quick responses ..
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3033652#p3033652
I would like to know what to do as well in case something happens here. How did you drain the eye?
pulled the eye lid apart gently like i would on a cat or dog. The pressed gently beneeth the eye where it was swollen to see whether it was hard or softly swollen & the fluid sudden started seeping out of the eye so i just kept gently working my way around the area pushing & letting it drain. I'll try to take a pic of her head in a little while so you can see the area I'm talking about. idk that we have a decent vet for chickens... if we have one at all. There is a livestock vet in a town not far from here, he might at least give me meds.
Ya the dog lays near whatever animal is confined in the house. if they move or breathe wrong she whines. Its very helpful. :)
I had a chicken that was attacked by a coyote. I flushed her wounds with a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. Then I put Neosporin on the wounds every day, for about a week. I kept her inside the house during this time. She made a full recovery. But she was eating and drinking just fine.
This was a post on backyard chickens.. whether or not get something on daves' i will post for you there..
i can understand what you are going through and other than a vet, the best I can do is help you get as much info as possible.
vets can be expensive - your best bet though... if you have pics, we can get you some experience asap..
a lot of people want to help..
-joe-
I can now see several puncture wounds around teh eye area. I'm just trying to stop the infection. I've already given up on saving the eye. The other eye is good. I figure she can eat, walk, fly & live with one eye. This is the first pic... there will be one more.
Here's the other pic.. slightly different angle. She wasn't much for being photographed tonight. I feel awful for her. She isn't really eating.. i tried to force feed her some apple sauce but i know how bad my broken nose hurt I can only imagine how uncomfortable she is. I doubt she feels like eating even if she is hungry. i'm not able to keep an eye on her constantly. She is lively when you pick her up.. then settles right now. But considering she's currently blind in one eye.. i can't much blame her for expressing concern over who is touching her. She may be drinking & eatting when i don't see. She is leaving poo presents... that's for sure.
THANK YOU jjconcepts!
I only was taking her to the vet if they'd only give me more antibotics if they saw her. She needs the meds i know & Idk how else to get them. Otherwise i'll probably avoid it at all costs. My normal vet being as nice as he is might possible give me meds if I bring her down without charging me a whole lot. but he doesn't treat livestock.. but he trusts my judgment with the animals. If i can prove its for her idk that he'd have a problem.. ooo speaking of which.. i have liquid Amoxicilin in teh cabinet that i bought (not mixed yet in dry form) for a cat that didn't use it. wonder if that would work after the clindamycin?
I was all over this town after reading on BYC that neosporin with pain reliever is dangerous to chickens. has anyone heard this? It was recommended by a vet & the feed store to use. I can't find it anywhere without pain reliever. Do they not sell it anymore? I'd been putting it on her every time i cleaned the area today before I found this info tonight. Now i'm afraid I only made things worse. Has anyone heard this before? Pain relievers are dangerous to cats also but the vet has me use this type of neosporin on cuts they have. Never advised me not too use the one with pain reliever.
i wouldn't sweat it...
every forum has different opinions, ideas.. etc... go with a vet.
not alot of people are educated, many are experienced. I did never mean to make you upset, but the point is many chicken owners, like you have them as pets. Poultry vets are expensive. If you want to care for her at home, just understand that it is a learning experience..
drain, clean, repeat........ often.
please post a new thread on BYC .. I love this forum, but as far as emergencies go - the byc is a little less (actually a lot of crabbies) fun, but many know their stuff. If you are a member try getting hold of silkiechick here on daves. There are some great people here... she looks like she is on the edge om making it or not and REally feel for you, but you have to get out and try to PM... or hit some threads.
Check back, but I can't do much. If it was me, honestly I would screw the vet and his house in the hamptons and go online and find an animal rescue place and drive my ass over .. ( we have one in CT and they are volunteers who work miracles at the audobon and 4H).. They fix alot of the birds and animals the cats in the 'hood maime.
I've got nothing for you and i feel for you as much as for my birds when or if this happens.. PLEASE, PLEASE let me know what happens, or if there in anything I can do other than what I am.
-joe-
Instead of "neosporin" just look for generic triple antibiotic ointment. I'd flush the whole mess with saline, use a warm compress for 15 or so minutes, and when dry, slather on the Triple antibiotitc onitment all over everything that's injured. The clindamycin is an excellent antibiotic for systemic infection and abcesses, so is a probably a good choice. I don't know what strength you have, but my Vet drug book (Plumbs') lists the avian dose as 25 mgs/kg (about 12 mgs per pound) every 8 hours.
Amoxi is better than nothing, and dose on that would be 150-175mgs/kg (75-84 mgs per pound) once to twice daily, using the 50 mg/ml solution (probably what you have).
I would expect a Vet to prescribe either Baytril or Clavamox (Augmentin), but the Clindamycin might be an even better choice.
Above all, try to keep her warm and hydrated.
And good luck :)
Margo
Drop water and/or watered down food on the side of her beak nd let her pull it into her mouth if she will. Flush the eye with saline. Some antibiotic ophthalmic ointment and injectable penicillin from the feed store would be good. Look her over very carefully for any other wounds. There are other things you can do to boost nutrition, but they will do no good if you can't get her eating and drinking, starting with drinking.
She may have internal injuries, or she may just be in shock.
Good luck.
from another forum...
how is she?
Its so hard when an animal is injusred,they can`t tell you where they hurt and you want to do everything possible to make them comfortable and pain free,just do what you can and hopefully everything will turn out good.Please keep us posted on how she is doing.
I've been gone all day. Had to be 3 hrs north of here & couldnt' cancel. I was afraid I'd come home to a dead chicken but she's still alive. She's moving more but idk if she's drinking. She's very alert. food really isn't gone but she' can't see the food with both eyes swollen shut. We gave her water this morning by semi force.. didn't go well. I tried to wipe apple sauce & oatmeal on her beak but she really didn't care to eat it. she just wanted to snuggle.
the clindyamicin was 150 mg twice. once yesterday morning & once this morning. I had one capsule left & the neighbor has had chickens all his life, he told me to just divide it in half & give it two her yesterday right after i found her & today before I left then start calling vets & see if I can get one to give me meds. We don't have a rescue like that around here except for cats & dogs. IF you want to save the chicken you do what you can otherwise there is no help really. A livestock vet might give me meds if mine won't but that's the only options. People dont' treat chickens like pets here, if its injured you put it down & get a new chicken. If she'd been badly hurt i probably would have but she appeared saveable so I'm going to try my best as long as she doesn't appear to be suffering horribly. i suspect the swelling is due to trama to the eye area. I cleaned the outside but i'm hesitent to flush saline down into the eye bc idk what it would do to her. She doesn't appear "sick" as in infection sick. She is slightly talketive (probably cussing my lack of ability) & moves about the box she's in slowly. I figure if she's still looking decent tomorrow she's got a good chance. Considering its been nearly 36 hrs & she seems to be better shock wise.
jjconcepts - you didn't upset me. I found stuff by googling & was afraid I'd hurt her worse. You've been very helpful & i'm thankful for that. Any suggestion at this point is better than nothing considering I know nothing. I need a good book.. or better yet.. my niece suggested I go to vet school for chickens. :)
I just went & checked her a bit closer again now that I've settled down after getting home. Her eye is better. The swelling is down by half. The area isn't so much puffy anymore. both eyes are open but the one is def 'gone'. eyeball is still there but it has that glazed over look of a glass eye. Her box is by mom's chair. She scooted over in the box till she's where she can see mom & she's talking to her from the box. water is significantly lower in the bowl.. now whether she drank or it evaporated idk. but its a start. *does happy dance* i guess if i didn't kill her with over dose of meds that I killed something bc she looks better.
I hope she is doing well.
is the swelling going down?
-joe-
swelling was down last night.. looks to be nearly gone at this point. Later in the day who knows.. if she's like my cats.. she's better by day & worse at night when the vet is closed. I called my vet.. he's on vacation.. called his friend who is a vet he recommends.. he's on vacation.. called the local livestock vet.. waiting on them to call me back. I'm thinking as much Clindamycin as I gave her she'd be good till my vet gets home but idk that i want to risk it.
sounds like she may be headed over the hump.. how is her diet?
if she is eating and drinking than she is feeling better.
i can't tell that she's ate anything.. but the water is lower in the bowl. Granted it could be evaporation not her drinking i just don't honestly know. (We had a dehumidifier so that's why i say the water could be evaporating pretty fast.) She appears better. Much better. still not moving a whole lot but she's alert & moving around the box. I'm going to go get her some yogurt this morning.
The vet gave me amoxicylin for her... not my vet tho. I am not sure i like this one. She told me to give the poor 1.5 lb chicken the same dosage I give my 12 lb cat! That seems a little wrong so I'm going to do some checking. I think someone posted back a ways on here what dosage to give too. She also told me that really its not feasible to take poultry to a vet, if they've been injured you should just dispose of them. poultry are too hard to treat. I was not impressed with her.
Clearly not a chicken person!
I should be happy they gave me something.. bc its better than nothing.. but she clearly thought it was a waste of time & wouldn't even discuss giving me Clindamycin or anything else. Its just irritating. At least I overdosed her on what i had.. maybe that will help. I know my doc has to overdose me on antibotics bc after the 4th day of normal doses I have an allergic reaction. If he gives me a 2 day high dose i'm ok. Odd i know.. but maybe the same idea works with animals. She's quite active this evening for a bird with one eye & the shock she had. I think i'll take her to a confined area tomorrow & let her stand in the grass. maybe that will make her happier. Swelling is almost totally gone.. just a hard spot or bump under & over the eye area. but its nearly back to the correct shape of her head. I'm going to move her into the cat carrier tomorrow. Then i can put her in my bedroom where its warm for the next week or so. Mom's not liking her in the living room. Too bad you can't litter box train a chicken.
Amoxi cat dose is 5-10/mgs per lb, so 50-100 mgs for a ten pound cat. The avian dose works out to 112-126 mgs for a 1.5 lb chicken, so the Vets not a complete idiot, (maybe a tad low, but within reason), assuming the cat was getting the correct dose {G}. Most small animal Vets don't have the know how nor the desire to treat birds of any kind. Avian Vets can treat chickens, but they're very expensive. I went to a good one, who told me "a pet's a pet, cockatoo or chicken" and that he treats chickens and re-habs wild birds, so they're out there. Many people in the Chicken Underground use fish antibiotics to treat, but you need good reference info, because you'll be on your own. Dosing is not comparable that for mammals, their metabolism is completely different.
Best to your FeatherKid, and you:)
we fed her yogurt and she went nuts! Then she tried to drown herself in the water bowl. She's drinking. idk that she was eating tho bc she has trouble hitting the spot in the food bowl to eat bc she can't see but with one eye. Her aim is horrid. They told me .75 CC's for the chicken. Same for the cats. Its like the same dose fro anything under 25lbs is what she said. It just seemed like a lot. I pried the eye open again & drained it. Cleaned it & fed her by hand. She's doing pretty good it seems like. cooing again.. so she's happy.
So glad to hear that
sounds like you are doing very well.. congratulations-joe-
it was .75 ml of amoxiclin when i looked at the dropper.. thought i'd correct that. I posted it without looking at teh dropper.. just at what she said.. but then later 3/4 of a CC sounded wrong bc that's not very much.
She's outside today. Its 70 here so i put her in a cage in the yard to soak up the sun. I'm afraid she's not going to understand that she's not living permently in the house being carried around in a blanket like a baby.. its cute tho.. when she gets scared she hides her head in the blanket. She's definitely spoiled.
Thank you everyone. She seems to be mending. Her eye is obviously injured to the point she can't see any longer. i hope it will rebuild itself but i don't hold out much hope.
This is Sweet Pea a few days ago. Hesheit started crowing after the attack. Still blind in one eye but she can get around.
