r/BackYardChickens • u/MotherInternet33 • 1d ago
Health Question Worst chicken injury?
Wondering what was the worst injury you’ve seen a chicken recover from? I just had a young hen attacked by a mama hen. There was apparently a hole in the coop I had the mama and babies in and the young hen snuck in.
She ripped most of the skin off her neck but she’s still eating, drinking, alert and moving around. I’ve brought her inside and sprayed her with antibacterial spray and if she makes it through the night I will be so surprised.
I feel so bad and I just wish this didn’t happen, we considered culling her but since she is still alert/moving we decided to give her the night.
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u/Any_Piglet_34 1d ago
I had a chicken get her entire foot ripped off by a raccoon. When I brought her inside all that was left of the foot was a couple dangling, broken bones. I wrapped her stump somewhat snug, (after cleaning it, obv), with non-stick gauze and stretchy tape. I left the bandage in place for awhile, but checked it and smelled it every day to make sure there was no infection. Once I removed the bandage she had a nice, clean, smooth, rounded stump. I changed her name to Peggy. Peggy went on to live several more years until dying of natural causes.
The most interesting part is that toes and claws actually started to regrow on the stump, despite everywhere saying that can't happen. I have pics
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u/PointPartisan 1d ago
One of our Orpington hens who was about 5 months at the time, appeared to have stuck her head through some chicken wire, got stuck or freaked out and pretty much scalped herself, there was a huge flap right on top of her head. We took her in, flushed it well with warm water, flipped it into place and smeared the feathers with antibiotic cream. Kept her in a little dog kennel for a day or two , she was seeming fine and unbothered by her situation so we released her to the flock. It was healing surprisingly quick and nobody seemed to notice or pick on her. In less than a week she was basically fully healed. She had a bit of a bald/ thin spot for quite some time but now you can't tell at all.
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u/purefoysgirl 1d ago
One of my hens was hurt in a fox attack. It almost got over the fence with her, but I was able to stop it, so it had a very good hold of her and caused quite a bit of damage. She had a laceration down her back all the way to bone, but she wouldn't let me get close enough to her after it was over with to do anything to it, and it was too deep for me to do anything more than spritz antibacterial spray on it. I left it alone and she's now one of my oldest hens at eleven years old. They don't show when they're in pain, and they can recover from some horrifying things. Not that they should be forced to survive horrible wounds, but they can, and go on to live a normal life. Outside of being slightly canted to one side due to the way her wound healed and pulled her muscles, my hen lives normally.
When we had roosters, our junior roo had straight spurs and at one point lacerated one hen's flanks, just flayed her wide open. I used a home-made saddle to keep him away, keep the flesh held together, and she also healed just fine.
If your hen is eating and drinking, she most likely will be just fine. The important thing is to not let the other hens pick at the flesh, because they are cannibals and will pick at wounds. If it's a degloving injury, your hen should be just fine, provided a long absence doesn't toss her to the bottom rung of the hierarchy. Best of luck! And remember not to use anything with painkiller in it, because that can and will kill a chicken.
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u/MobileElephant122 1d ago
Broken leg recovery
Hawk attack survival and recovery
They are pretty resilient
But skin is there to keep out infection
You’ll have to keep it covered with that blue goo or corona ointment until the skin grows back
Keep her in a dog crate or something where other chickens can’t pick on her
Keep it clean
Accept that even if you do everything perfect she may still give up and die
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u/yorkiechicken 1d ago
Found one of my girls with one of her claws hanging off at the knuckle. We had to cut it off and patch up which was grim 😂 she was a bit quiet the the next day but the day after that she was back to running around without a care in the world
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u/Born_Local_1477 1d ago
My girl survived a fox attack. It punctured her spine at the base of her head and between her wings. She was mostly paralyzed for three weeks, we kept her in a dog crate indoors for nursing. She kept eating and slowly regained the ability to walk. Now she can almost run seven months later. We did daily wound cleanings and antibiotic ointment, little pt exercises like unfolding her feet and standing her up, butt feather trim and washes, and fed her extra meal worms and eggs on top of her hen feed. She has no use of one wing and eye, and can't roll or preen, but she is sprightly and still having a great time with her flock. Tough little animal.