Hello, have been debating whether to post this here (bc it's so gory!) but figured it could be very helpful for someone who was in a similar situation. Our hen, Bok Bok, was attacked and pinned underneath a basement window well by our own dog. It was a freak occurrence, normally the dogs are not out when the chickens are, and vice versa. When I found her, there was quite a bit of damage, it looked like he'd gotten a serious bite of flesh from her back. We couldn't tell if the dog damaged underlying bones or organs. She also had a huge swath of missing feathers down her neck and back.
I feared the worst, and called around town to see if there was a vet who could see her immediately. Only a specialty avian vet was willing to look at her... meanwhile, I envisioned the hundreds, if not thousands, we would probably spend saving her via the vet. This was not feasible for us, so I raced to the internet and began researching chicken injuries (which led me here).
I have a background in small animals so am comfortable giving injections. If you aren't, there are so many good YouTube videos on how to do them! I promise it's really a lot easier than you'd think!
We took her inside wrapped in a towel, and cleaned her wounds with hydrogen peroxide and coated with regular antibiotic ointment. She looked in rough shape and we weren't sure she would survive. There was one major bite wound ripped open, and 2 other puncture holes.
After that, I flew down the highway to Tractor Supply and picked up Duramycin 72-200 (oxytetracycline). Multiple sources online gave dosages for a chicken. I honestly don't remember which calculator I used, but I estimated her weight at 5 lbs, and gave her 0.4 ml subcutaneous injection, on her back skin. We repeated that about three days later.
We kept her isolated in a dog kennel bedded with straw. She never stopped eating and drinking, so that was a good sign and gave us hope. Everyday, I would use a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water to clean the wounds. We would then coat liberally with antibiotic ointment. The first week, there were parts of the wound that turned black, then green, and it was pretty scary looking. But her spirits seemed up, we let her out and she'd stroll around the garage as if nothing was wrong.
Flash-forward to today, about 4 weeks later, she's back with the other hens in her coop. She still has about a quarter-sized scab but it's healed very well with clean borders. We apply Rooster Booster every few days. Will upload pics below.
Anyway, just wanted to share our chicken recovery! It may have been a long shot but we're SO happy she survived and is back in our little flock of 3 hens!! And the dog isn't even sorry one bit.
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