Unsecure chicken perches

[gitwit]

Hi,

 

Just this morning my wife had collected the eggs when our Copper Maran, Sparkles was attacked by a fox at the bottom of the garden. She noticed a commotion caused by Sparkles screaming and our other two, Ginger and Pepper stepping in and pecking at the fox (remarkable solidarity from chickens). The fox (from her estimation of the size I'd say it was juvenile) had her by the head and dragged her about 2 metres behind some bushes. My wife ran out and shouted and this seemed to be enough to convince the fox the whole thing wasn't worth it and he jumped over the fence.

 

By this time I had come downstairs in my dressing gown and she just said "A fox has got Sparkles!". It didn't occur to me that she might be OK, so I started thinking about how I was going to finish her off. But on closer inspection all she has is a nasty cut on her comb, and some grazing and missing feathers on her back.

 

She can stand and walk (although she's *very* doddery) so I don't think she has any broken legs. She can flap her wings (her right seems sore but that may be from her own flapping during the attack). I've Septicleansed her comb and the grazed areas on her back and she's in a large cardboard box in a dark, quiet room with straw, water and apple.

 

Does anyone have any advice on when we should re-introduce her to the others? Would she find it a comfort to be with them, or might they turn on her as she is wounded? Also, as her injuries don't seem too bad the biggest risk as far as I can see is shock. Anything we can do to make it less likely?

 

Thanks,

Iain

[Tweety]

Hi Iain, Gosh it sounds as if Sparkles has had a very lucky escape! You have done all the right things and I agree that shock is probably the biggest worry. Do you have any Rescue Remedy? I haven't used it myself, but others on here have recommended it so it might be worth a try. Other than that, I would keep her in her box and separate from the others until you are sure that her wounds are ok and she is over the shock. if in any doubt, take her to the vet. I do hope she will be ok.

[Redwing]

you'll need to make sure she is over the shock and also cover that cut before she can go in with the others

 

If the cut is bad then I would keep her separate until its nearly healed as the other chooks will peck at the wound and could gang up on her (once they see blood they can get quite nasty)

 

If the wound is not too bad then wash any blood away and cover the wound with some blue food colouring or even better some Gentian violet spray (often called purple spray) which can be purchased from horsey shops - the spray hides the redness and should stop the others pecking at the wound

 

I would certainly bring her in and put her in a box for the day in a warm room to get over the shock

[Mollie333]

Cannot add to this, but so sorry you had to witness that. Had the fox already been there when you was out? They have amazing senses, and probably knew you was there. They're getting more used to humans, with people feeding them ect..

 

Hope Sparkles is ok.

[chestnutmare]

Wow, you were very lucky as foxes here are much cheekier and would have just made a run for it even with people around and terriers. Hope your girl is all better soon.

[gitwit]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The stuff I put on her wounds is a purple spray, but I don't think we'll return her just yet. She seems happy enough in her box and has done a normal poo. There's no more bleeding from her comb.

 

As luck would have it we have some rescue remedy in the car from when we had a very nervous groom with us on his wedding day! We'll give that a try. Just a drop in the beak? Or in the water?

 

If she makes it through the night then surely she must be the member of a very exclusive club. There can't be many chickens walking around with fox bites. It must be akin to have a shark bite as a human.

[Tweety]

How is she this morning?

[gitwit]

She's doing very well. We let her out for some supervised ranging this morning. She was clearly very stiff from spending 24hrs in a box. After walking round and pecking at mealworms she was moving much easier, so we put her back in the run with the others. Ginger did a couple of test-pecks at her comb but nothing vicious. Her right wing is held low still though. It doesn't seem broken as such but I'm not sure she can control it. Don't know what can be done about that really. If it seems to be bothering her in a couple if days we'll take her to the vet. She's laid an egg now as well!

[Sageandonion]

Aww what a little trooper, glad she's doing so well after her terrible ordeal - hope she continues to improve.

[scarlettohara]

Glad Sparkles survived She is a member of a special club - my first hen Scarlettohara was bitten on the back by a fox last Easter Sunday (2 other hens were killed). After some very expensive bank holiday vet treatment she lived in our kitchen for a week and totally recovered and is now top chook She had anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and lots of tlc

[Old Speckled Hen]

Glad she has perked up. Keep an eye on that wing and check her again for bite wounds. Foxes mouths, like cats, are quite dirty and bite wounds often get infected. In which case she will need antibiotics from the vet.