# Need Urgent Help! My hen was attacked by an opossum.



## wolfsnarls (Mar 2, 2017)

Hi everyone.
Last night after I got out of the shower, my mom said that she heard noises outside. I listened for a few minutes and at first it sounded like the cry of a wounded rabbit, but after a minute, I realized it was one of my beloved birds.
Immediately we went outside to check on the coop. I thought my dad had closed them up last night because the door had closed, but the wind had closed it. I feel awful for having not checked to make_ for sure_ that they were taken care of.
What my mom and I found in their fenced in pen on the outside of the coop was one of our roosters in the far corner, laying on our hen who was born with a leg problem. These two both ended up fine and unscathed.
However, the cries were coming from one of my hens in the other corner of the pen, where an opossum was eating her alive. We yelled at it and got it to climb the fence and go away, but my poor hen has part of her back eaten away. It's mostly the top layer of her skin, but the wound is very deep and painful looking. We didn't know what to do other than get her to safety inside the coop, but I checked her again this morning after class. She made it through the night, and I looked up how to help her as quickly as possible online. 
I made her a place in our coop where we usually keep chicks when they're being relocated into the coop, and placed leaves on the ground as bedding. She has fresh food and water available and shelter away from the other birds and predators. My main concern is healing her. This afternoon after lookign through some articles, I cleaned her wound with a sterile solution (I had a few syringes left from a doctor's visit a while back) and patted it dry. After that, I patted a pretty thick coating of neosporin over the wound. (I checked an article on a chicken website and it said that neosporin was safe to use), but I'm thinking of doing a colloidal silver spray on her wound daily as well. 
I'm extremely worried for her. Are there any other ways I can help her wound heal, and are there any ways to avoid infection? It looks like the wound may take a few weeks to heal. I'm not sure if I can post pictures because they're very graphic. 
What else can I do to help her out, especially emotionally? I know chickens are good creatures and care for one another, as I feel the Rooster was laying on our other hen out last night to protect her. (She's his favorite)
I want to help her in the best way I can. I love my birds, and I couldn't stand it if I lost her.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

You're doing everything right at this point. She will be very sore for several days. Just keep her wound clean, cover it if you can, but if not just keep the ointment on it. I think some here recommend Blu Kote for healing too.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

If you want to clean eye wash like for contacts, or a bottle of sterile saline. It must be awful. I would not use any thing like peroxide. I would just like to keep it clean and keep her well fed with all she loves to eat.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Truthfully, the emotional part is about you, not your chicken. I've been there as well.
It's possible there might be internal injuries, so be prepared if she dies but take in consideration you did everything possible to save her.
Continue packing the wounds with neosporin, the wounds will heal in time. Dont use colloidal silver spray, there may be contraindications if mixed with neosporin. Let the neosporin do its job. If there's infection, you can give her one 250mg amoxicillin once a day for 7-10 days. Crush the tablet into powder or open the capsule and dump the contents into a cup containing no more than 2cc's of water and mix thoroughly. Then use a syringe without needle and draw up the mixture. Give it to her orally, 1/2cc at a time until it's gone.
Wounded birds may or may not eat or drink on their own. It's possible you'll have to feed and water her via syringe. I recommend making a watery slurry with her feed, add one drop of Poultry Nutri Drench to the mixture and syringe feed her as best as you can IF she's not eating on her own. You'll have to feed her often, as chickens normally eat many times during the day. I'd feed her at a minimum 5-6 times a day and have patience.
Another option is to tube feed her. Seminolewind (Karen) can help you with that. I dont tube feed birds.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I have a hen that is recuperating from a dog attack in which a big part of her back was torn off.!st I used cornstarch to stop the bleeding.Then I cleaned the area w/ 1/2 strength hydrogen peroxide,dried the area and packed it w/ triple antibiotic ointment.I also gave her a baby aspirin 2x a day for pain.I monitored her comb's color for a sign of internal bleeding(it will get pale).Then, she wouldn't eat or drink so I had to force feed her water and generic Ensure.This happened in December.I could see bone and tendons/ligaments,it was really bad and I didn't really expect her to survive but she did.The area got a thick,dried scab and I've been finding pieces of it in her cage after it falls off.Most of her feathers have grown in.A big part of her back is completely healed but there is still a 50 cent piece size of scab left.It was a big job and a hard fight but she made it.Your hen may be in shock and pain.Give her a baby aspirin twice a day and make sure she eats and drinks,force her if you have to.I'd give her a day or two before forcing her.If her comb is red,do it.If her comb is pale,handling her may not be a good idea as there may be internal injuries.Keep her away from the other chickens because they will literally eat her alive.Good luck!!!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I like what Dawg says. At least the damage will have a coating on it even if dirt sticks. Poor baby!


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## wolfsnarls (Mar 2, 2017)

I tried everything I could. I was going to call a veterinarian for extra help today, but she passed away last night.
Thank you all for the help and feedback.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Sorry you lost her.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Sorry she died . It was probably best for her.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Sorry you lost your hen.I lost 2 in Dec when my hen was attacked.It was 2 dogs someone dumped off.That is why I keep a baby monitor in the coop.I will hear if something is wrong out back.Did you get the possum?If not,you may want to consider getting a trap.Chances are it will be back to do more damage.


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## Elamras9 (Jun 16, 2017)

Don't worry about that. She will make it.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

My dog has turned out to be killer.He got a possum a couple of nights ago.I've been making him stay out at night to protect the geese while they are locked in the pen.I quit hearing the ***** at the chicken feeder at night and things have been calm and quiet.I've turned him into a working dog and every time I call him a working dog he growls under his breath.He's having to protect the very geese that harass him during the day.Sometimes life ain't fair


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## Hencackle (Apr 30, 2014)

I'm very sorry about your hen. I agree, he will be back. Predators love chicken dinners.

Use the cheapest, stinkiest can of cat food for your trap. Works for possums and raccoons.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

So I guess seeing a baby possum is not a good thing?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

No possum is good big or little.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I saw a little one squeeze into a pen a few weeks ago but I doubt anything bigger could. It was actually the size of a small rat. Aside from that I haven't seen any evidence of any vermin around.


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