CHICKEN POSSIBLY ATTACKED

My chicken's left eye is shut and I think it's maybe that another chicken attacked her. Above all, her beak on upper part is a bit short for some reason. When I bought her she was healthy, active and she was just a lively chicken. I was wondering how long it might take her to recover from it (her eye on left side is still shut and I really hope that her beak won't be the reason for her to stop eating). Also she doesn't seem to eat and she only drinks. Should I try to feed her? She doesn't seem to be as active as she was. I am afraid that she will be too weak to live on.

Please help

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HELPING A SICK CHICKEN
by: Sharon

Your concerns are all valid. What happened to her isn't as important as supporting her with TLC.

Her worst symptom, in my opinion, is that she isn't eating. As you mentioned, this can make a chicken too weak to survive. It's good she is drinking, but not enough to help her heal and recover.

I would suggest a private cage or pen where she has access to a heat lamp. Let her choose how warm sh is - making sure she can get close or away from the heat, as needed. The physical shock of an injury or whatever is happening can lower body temperature.

If she can't stay warm enough her immune system will be weakened and her healing slowed or stopped. Being warm enough will also possibly help her appetite and digestion.

I would offer her very wet foods, like soaked scratch grains and chicken feed. Make it watery so when she goes to drink she will get some food too. Make her enough for a day, don't let it get sour. Adding electrolytes & vitamins can help perk her up.

You didn't say how long she has been like this. Hopefully not too long.

Not sure what to tell you about the beak. The top part of the beak isn't as important as the bottom for eating. I would gently check to see if she can move the bottom part.

The closed eye should be opened and cleaned possibly, as well as examined for injury. Eye drops are good for cleaning, antibiotic eye ointment if there is any swelling or damage to the eye, eye lid or tissue around the eye ball.

As far as feeding her goes, if she hasn't eaten in a day, then you should try to get something into her. Very soft foods can be fed through a big syringe. You could soak a bit of chicken feed until dissolved, maybe mix in a bit of yogurt, applesauce, even egg yolk.

You don't want to force feed her. You want to put a bit of mushy food in between her beaks and let her swallow herself. Getting 10 ccs or more into her would be very good, a few times a day until she is eating on her own.

Hope that helps. Not knowing what happened to her, if she has any internal injuries, it's hard to say how well she might do. I would also check over her body for any signs of external parasites, like lice or mites or other injuries.

You could also mix 1/2 baby aspirin per day in water and hopefully get her to swallow that from a syringe. It might help her feel better.

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