Hen with punctured lung -- attacked by dog

DiamondSwan

Free Ranging
6 Years
Sep 18, 2015
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One of our dogs broke loose and attacked Heather just a few minutes ago. :( She was sitting on a clutch of guinea eggs in the bushes in front of the house. She has a puncture wound near her lung and she's wheezing and struggling to breath. I'm not sure what I can do for her for tonight until I can get veterinary care. Any suggestions on how to seal or bandage the wound? Poor girl is in a lot of pain. :,(


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Aww poor baby!

I would keep the wound clean, and keep her warm and dry.And then get to toa Vet if possible.
If she decreases?Yournbest bet is to let her over to the other world.The Rainbow Bridge.

I'm so sorry :hugs
 
Just found a second puncture close to the other. :( I'm going to try cleaning them with diluted betadine and putting her under a heat lamp. Do you thing a small piece of gorilla tape will work or just a normal bandage with antibiotic ointment?

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One of our dogs broke loose and attacked Heather just a few minutes ago. :( She was sitting on a clutch of guinea eggs in the bushes in front of the house. She has a puncture wound near her lung and she's wheezing and struggling to breath. I'm not sure what I can do for her for tonight until I can get veterinary care. Any suggestions on how to seal or bandage the wound? Poor girl is in a lot of pain. :,(


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I know with people with a similar injury you would do an occlusive dressing, but not sure about chickens. I tried to find some info and came up with a few threads about it here on BYC:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-with-puncture-wound-air-escaping.431314/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/muskovi-duck-has-punctured-lung-from-dog-attack.429578/

Good luck! Let us know how she does!
 
Just found a second puncture close to the other. :( I'm going to try cleaning them with diluted betadine and putting her under a heat lamp. Do you thing a small piece of gorilla tape will work or just a normal bandage with antibiotic ointment?

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Here is a good article on what you do for people. I wonder if you could modify for a chicken? I hope someone else with more experience can chime in here since I have quite a bit of experience with humans but limited medical experience with poultry. (Hopefully, I’m not giving you bad advice!) I would get her to a vet ASAP, if possible!

http://insidefirstaid.com/personal/...nd-how-to-use-a-chest-seal-in-a-first-aid-kit

Sending prayers your way!
 
Thank you all for your prayers and input. :) I'm going to try cleaning the wounds and putting a little antibiotic ointment with bandages on them, and keep her warm for tonight. Hopefully I can get her to the vet tomorrow (if I can convince my mom). She seems to be doing better now that she's had some time to settle down. She's resting now, and breathing a little more normally. I'll keep you posted! And thanks again! I know she'll make it -- chickens are tough!!
 
In the meantime, here's a little bit about her. Her name is Heather, and she is one of the first 5 chicks that I owned about 2 years ago. She has 2 sister's and a brother, and their names are Henna, Raven and Rudy (her sister, Sparrow was recently snatched by a fox). She is Rudy's most favorite girl and he is very protective over her. She is very sweet and gentle (when she's not broody ;)) and loves to free range with the rest of the chickens, ducks and guineas. She trys very hard to hatch babies and be a mama (and puts her life in danger trying). She egg-sat a clutch of 5 duck eggs and 2 guinea eggs for me in the garage for a couple days during hurricane Irma (since mama duck wouldn't sit on the nest if I moved her). Mama duck took her nest back afterwards, but the babies wouldn't have survived without Heather. All 7 babies are now 2 weeks old and perfectly healthy. She is a very special hen to me, and I would do anything to help her get better. :)

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