Chicken strokes...

[RedThorn]

As most of you know we lost 5 girls on Monday night/ tuesday morning to foxes. There was a 6th victim who although the foxes did not get her, she had a stroke. We've been lifting her to the water bowl and food bowls since then. She is completely lame on 1 leg. she can get about in the coop but uses the wall to keep herself upright. Hayley, you in particular, I know has had experience rehablilitating girls with this affiction.

Can I still hold out and hope she will recover? It's only been 5 days so ... aww heck you all know what I'm thinking and hoping....

Any advice will be greatly appreciated....

[Nicos]

There is swelling in the brain after a stroke which takes a few weeks to go down.
Weight bearing ( walking) is the best way to stimulate recovery in the leg.

I'm talking about humans here though..but a brain is a brain, so I'd have thought it'd be similar.

I'd keep her fed and warm and encourage her to walk about a bit for a few more days to see if she starts to improve.
Poor thing- she's clearly a fighter if she's wandering around - yup- I'd give her a few weeks chance too

...An after thought- if you're getting more chooks, they may pick on her if they see how vulnerable she is ( just thinking of Lily)

[RichmondHens]

Sorry to hear all the bad news RT. However, this hen is clearly suffering. If she is having to prop herself against the wall and be helped to feed and drink then I would advise putting her out of her misery. Sorry.

[HayleyB]

Crikey Steve, you are going through it.

Each time the girls were on their deathbed, we moved them to Henby where we arranged hay bales to make an enclosure. The floor is naturally covered in hay and straw which I think helps as it is warm. CB is particularly good at making them drink which we provide in a bowl to make it easier.

Bibs took longer than Mini but then I think she was closer to death. After a week she was seemingly better so put her back with the flocck and then a couple of hours later I decided she wasn't ready so was back in Henby for a few more days. Bibs now lives life up or bewildered (on her bewildered days she tends to stare at a wall or hide in an open barn).

Neither time did we have one lame.

It is my belief that she will not be in pain but just needs time to recover, warmth is priority along with water and food. The use of the leg will come back with recovery and it sounds to me that she is on a par if not worse than Bibs was so will take a couple of weeks.

She will never be right 100% and Mini never came back into lay and I don't expect Bibs to either.

Good luck Sweetie, love to Mrs RT and DD too xxxx

[Dashy]

Oh, poor little girl. I agree time can definately help and attempting to walk is what a physio would make her do... Is she ok swallowing?

[moola]

I would be tempted to cull. If you are assisting her this much and she is in pain and unable to stand then I think it would be best. Sorry. If you decide to keep her I would look into seeing if you could dose her with a painkiller. Aspirin can be given 100mg crushed per litre of water.

[Suechooks]

Go for it RT.
Only you will know if she's suffering too much so in the meantime give her lots of TLC, warmth, cuddles and encouragement to move about. Check that the affected leg isn't injured - hot, swollen etc
Company from all of you will help but let her go with dignity if need be. x

[HayleyB]

Yep, you'll know if she is gone too far....

[RedThorn]

She's eating and drinking fine... cannot see any physical wounds and the leg does not feel hot to the touch. Both wings work though which is strange...

[Eco-Chic]

I hope she rallies with the TLC♥

[HayleyB]

Could be bruised from the attack, ex-batts sometimes 'come out' with bruised legs, hoppy took weeks to walk normally hence the name.

[moola]

Red Thorn - if she is eating and drinking fine, really and her wings are good then it is a different matter. Not meaning to be rude, but are you sure she had a stroke? Normally with fox attacks the chook goes into shock (they go very VERY still and quiet) and it can be several days until they come out of this. Warmth, tlc, food and drink (which you have given) can really help them come out of this. Is there a chance that she has sprained her leg in the upset?

[RedThorn]

Moola... I really not sure that's why I'm posting All thoughts and opinions very gratefully accepted. I am glad I posted already I have more hope! So thanks all. For the first three days, she could not walk at all. She barely moved yesterday but she moved!

[HayleyB]

With Mini and Bibs we thought they were dead until we picked them up in both cases their heads flopped and they were literally gone. It could well be shock rather than stroke like Moola said. It really does sound like the leg needs a little time if it is bruised or sprained then restricting her movement is better for her to rest it.

[moola]

.... shock can be gotten over, as can a sprain. A sprain can take a couple of weeks (I have had large fowl cockerels treading bantam hens that have caused some real problems).
Maybe this is what she is dealing with? She has quite literally taken a step fwd then...

With my chickens I tend to draw the line when they start to nestle in upon themselves and take no notice of what's going on. It's terrible and I really agonise over culling hoping that I have given them every chance.

Obviously after a fox attack you're going to expect this sort of behaviour and it is normal. But, if she is showing signs of progress and seems content then maybe things are going 'the other way'.