# Chicken walking like a penguin, after being attacked



## ChickenOegg (Mar 25, 2017)

Some days ago my chicken was attacked by a cat, at first she only seemed to be injured, walking slowly and her poop was coming out really liquid. The next day when we checked her she was walking like a penguin, and needed to be taken out of her pot in order to poo. She is now improving from her wounds, but the poop remains the same and she is still walking like a penguin. She also has a huge bump between her legs, that appeared after the atack, and we don't know what it is?


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Is the lump soft and feel like it's full of water?It's a condition hens get and there is not much you can do.Some people try to remove some fluid with a syringe but it's a temporary solution.I watch mine and when it looks like it's causing a lot of stress,I cull the hen.I'm not sure what causes it but I know when I have young roosters at least 1 hen gets hurt and winds up like yours.I keep my young roosters confined until their libido goes down.A cat hurt your hen?That's odd,is the cat still around?BTW-welcome to the forum!!!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

It could be what CQ said, but I would also give her an internal exam using a glove and some Vaseline. There might be an egg stuck.


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## ChickenOegg (Mar 25, 2017)

First telling you the whole story, i had two hens and they were both in a area about the size of a medium size bedroom, and it was surronded by one of those green metal nets as tall as an adult human, in our garden their are also cat roaming around sometimes which we dont own. What happened is that about a week ago we arrived home and near our gate was a hen laying dead that had escaped, the other one was still inside her space laying inside her nest, and wasnt moving but seemed not to have any wounds. The next day we were told that someone saw our neighbors dog killing the hen, he is able to enter our garden but he would only be able to kill it if it was already out, and then we checked the other one and noticed that she feathers had been pulled out and she had scratch and bite marks, also the most concerning wound is one on her back where a chunck of feathers was pulled and took a piece of flesh with it near her kidney area, we suspect that a cat attacked them inside and then the other one escaped due to that eventually being killed, and leaving the other one wounded. So we don't exaclty know which cat attacked them but the ones that are near are both big cats.

In concerns to her current health:
- Her lump just feels like it is filled with liquid or some sort of fluid.
- She wasnt laying eggs for some months now so it shouldnt be because of that
- Her poop is coming green and white with a mousse consistency


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You didnt see or hear about a cat attack on your hen but a neighbors dog killed the other hen. Either way, there are possible internal injuries to the surviving hen and if that's the case, there's nothing you can do. Also, you didnt mention the age of your injured hen. If she is over 20-24 weeks old and hasnt laid an egg; I agree with CQ and I'd suspect ascites aka waterbelly for which there is no cure. If she is egg impacted, there is nothing you can do. 
For the above reasons, I recommend that you cull her.
If your injured hen is eggbound, you can do as Seminolewind recommended and/or you can soak the hen in warm water for about 30 minutes. It will relax her innards, you can massage her underside front to rear while soaking to help move the egg along. Repeat as necessary until she lays the egg.
For the external wounds; flush with betadine and apply neosporin to scratches, pack punctures with neosporin.


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## ChickenOegg (Mar 25, 2017)

She is about 6 years old.
These are some photos of her.


































Her wounds are covered by her feathers.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

It may be internal injuries. If so, she may have to be euthanized. Poor thing.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

She looks pretty bad.I don't think she's egg bound but suffered grave injuries.I don't like the way her tail is hanging.If it were me,I'd cull her.The waterbelly will eventually kill her anyway and there is nothing you can do.I'm sorry you're going through this.We've all been there,done that.It never gets easier.


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## ChickenOegg (Mar 25, 2017)

I went to check on her just now and noticed that the lump got smaller but she isn't able to move her left leg at all, keeping it stretched, but she still feels pain when i touch it. Also her wounds are healing and are almost completely cured, i'm just worried about her leg.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

You can give her a baby aspirin twice a day and that may help with the pain and any swelling.You can crush it and put it in something soft like applesauce or mashed potatoes.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I had a raccoon get in my chicken pen last year and rip up 3 chickens, but one was hiding and didn't look injured except for her tail feathers ripped out and she died in my arms. Sometimes it's hard to know if something is damaged inside and can't be fixed.


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