Dog attack *pictures*

[Brandi H]

*there is a graphic photo below*

This is my first time having an injured girl! My Pomeranian got my 4 month buff orp. She seems to be in good spirits despite the attack. She ate and drank a little afterwards. I've cut her remaining feathers back, cleaned her with 50/50 peroxide dilution, warm soap water rinse and then a neosporin pack. I have her inside in a dog crate with old towels, food and water and left the wound uncovered. She was limping pretty good earlier but her leg is straight and she's now bearing weight on it better. She's missing a large area as you can see but it didn't bleed much. There are a few punctures that are about 1/4" deep. Do I keep doing what I'm doing by simply keeping it clean and allowing it to heal open or does this look more serious than I can handle? Antibiotics? Special diet?

Any feedback is much appreciated!!

 

[chickenlover09]

A pomerenian did that?!

I hope someone with more experience will answer, but here is what I think (this is what I think, not guaranteeing anything).

Make sure she keeps eating and drinking lots of feed and water. You can also feed her things high in protein such as eggs,black oil sunflower seed, and meat scraps, and maybe yogurt to help her stay a little healthier.

You NEED to make sure that the wound doesn't get infected. I would keep cleaning it daily.

Wait a few days and see if it improves, if not wait for someone on here who can help you more!

 

[StruckBy]

DO NOT USE PEROXIDE. EVER!!! It kills the living tissue and seriously slows healing. If you need to clean a wound, use Betadine or similar. For this one, spray with BluKote then stop messing with it. The more you mess with it, the slower she will heal & the more stressed she will be. Poultry has incredible healing ability...I have seen far worse wounds than this heal with no issues at all IF they are given an initial treatment then let be. Don't let her into direct contact with the other birds, but you may find that she is more stressed locked in a cage away from her buddies than with them. I've often found it is better to just set up a wire dog crate in the coop/run where they don't have the stress of isolation but the wounds can't be pecked by the others. This also makes re-integration with the rest of the flock post-healing considerably smoother.

(you can give oral antibiotics if it makes you feel better, but this isn't anywhere near the worst dog attack I've dealt with & never needed them. If you do use them, make sure to give her a bit of probiotics later.)

 

[Brandi H]

Thanks, I really went back and forth on how to clean it initially...saw a post say 50/50 peroxide was good to use ONCE after a dog bite due to their dirty mouths. Wish I would have posted sooner and waited for a reply but now I know for next time!

Yes, my pom did this (and is also in isolation for the evening). She dug out under the fence into where I free range. I heard the commotion and ran to get in the gate just as she caught my hen by the back. I think the severity is due to her skin tearing more than anything since my dog got a mouth full of feathers and my hen was able to limp away.

I will mover her crate back outside in the morning. She settled down nicely but I don't want any reintegration issues. I plan on getting BluKote tomorrow and let it be as you said. What should I expect for healing? Will the BluKote also deter flies from getting at her wound? Thank you so much for your responses...I feel much better.

 

[iwiw60]

Good advice from @StruckBy .. never use peroxide, clean the wound with Betadine and be sure to spray BLUKOTE on that open wound!

Now for the real problem that you have, and that's your dog. Now that it has a 'taste' for chicken dinner he/she will continue to try to get to your flock....forEVer. You will have to definitely re-think your setup and make some changes or this will inevitably happen again. Here's what to do...you need to apron your coop and run...everywhere:





So very sorry this has happened, I hope your girl makes a full recovery...keep us updated!

 

[StruckBy]

You'll be surprised how fast she heals I don't really want to talk about how many dog attacks I dealt with for the 3.5 yrs we were in NV (it's actually the reason I went to 100% free-ranging...I found my birds could escape when loose by there isn't a coop made that a determined German shepherd or boxer can't get into given enough time. 9 hours while we were at work was enough time.)

I've never had flies bother them with the BluKote but it's something to keep an eye on. You'll probably need to refresh it every couple days. If you hadn't trimmed the feathers, I would have planned on putting her back loose with the others in just a couple days. With trimming the feathers, the wound is going to be much more obvious to the other birds even with BluKote. You're going to have to supervise re-introduction to see how it goes. Provide lots of distractions (watermelon, meal worms, apples, etc) to keep them foraging instead of noticing her until the molt when the feathers grow back. That's the problem with trimming feathers (vs hair on a dog injury)...they don't start growing in right away. She may have a naked spot for months that you'll have to make sure the other birds aren't bothering (and, if it happens in winter, frostbite).

I also agree that you need to do some aversion training with your dog immediately. The longer they go even being able to watch chickens with lust to kill in their hearts, the harder it is to break them of it. Personally, I've found shock collars to be hands-down the most effective tool. I've tried pretty much everything else and it's the only one that worked with adult dogs who have killed. Some dogs have a higher prey drive than others though...the best my rottie will ever be is fine with them when he knows I can see him. If I'm there, the birds can come forage under his feet and he won't even look at them. If I'm not home & a bird makes it into his portion of the yard, I give it about a 30 second life expectancy. Fortunately, he has not interest in breaking fences (you could keep him in with a propped up baby gate that comes to his knees & is just leaning lol) so I don't have to worry about him getting out to go after them. And his presence seems to be a good deterrent to anything that might want to eat the birds, even though he technically can't protect them.

 

[Brandi H]

Thanks for all the advice. She did very well overnight and her limp is very much improved. Her wound looks good too. She is acting as if nothing has happened and could not wait to get some treats this morning. She is not happy about being separated from her friends right now, I have a fence separating them but will do some supervised reintroduction later on. I plan to keep her in the crate at night because I would hate for her to get picked on when I'm not there watching. I think she'll be okay in terms of feathers, when she fluffs herself up and I'm not holding her wings back they actually cover the open wound area quite a bit. She will have a bare rear though where her feathers were pulled so I'll make sure and watch that.

I've heard there are some foods I can feed her to speed up feather growth? Any advice on that? I also ready that liquid infant vitamins are good as well as adding apple cider vinegar to her water?

I think I will try a shock collar for sure. My chickens were free ranging when the attack happened. My chicken coop does have an apron underground so I feel good about my coop. I thought they were okay out as they have a separate yard from my dogs, however, there was just enough of a space for my little dog to dig under....it definitely had to be a tight fit. We are going to secure that area today and I will start working with my dog right away to try and prevent this from ever happening again.

 

[chickenlover09]

Glad to read that she is doing better.
You can feed her foods high in protein to help feather growth such as boiled eggs. I add apple cider vinegar to all of my pets' water, as it does seem to keep them healthy.

If you want to use a shock collar on your dog, please make sure you are using it right as not to hurt the dog. (Went through an abusive case and i've been against the unproper use of shock collars since)