Not eating after dog attack

[peggymou]

Two weeks ago one of my hens got caught by the neighbor's dog. (In the dogs defense she went into HIS electronically fenced yard!) Anyway we have nursed her back to health with betadine washes and antibiotics in her water and all of her torn skins seems to be on the mend. She is even starting to get some feathers back. The problem now is she has no appetite. She does eat a little and does drink some water and she is pooing several times a day, but she is not eating like she should. We have slowly acclimated her back with the other hens (I have 3 hens and one pullet) and she has lost her place in the pecking order (although she is still above the pullet) but she is listless and not eating enough. I can coax her eat some oatmeal, or a few raisins or other snacks and she is eating grass...just not enough. Any suggestions on getting her appetite back would be appreciated. I should mention she got caught by the dog (all 4 of my chickens went into the yard) because she developed a limp just before the attack. At that time I checked her feet and she did not have bumblefoot, so I was monitoring the problem and hoping she just pulled a muscle. But after 2 weeks of limited activity while we treated her wounds (she was separated from the flock, but socialized with them daily) the limp is no better, in fact in might be worse. She doesn't limp when she walks only when she runs.

Sorry for the long post any suggestions would be appreciated...I can her my "brave little chicken" because she managed to get loose from the dog and make it back to pen, so I would really like her story to have a happy ending....

 

[enola]

What do her poops look like?

 

[peggymou]

Normal. Green/white - not overly runny. No funny smells, so I didn't think it is sour crop. And nothing that looks wormy.

 

[enola]

Are her feathers fluffed out like she looks cold? Does she stand around with her eyes closed? And her neck all drawn in?

 

[peggymou]

No to all of the above. From the front she looks beautiful her feathers are even glossy. As strange as it sounds I think she's bummed because she lost her number 2 spot in the pecking order. But if there could be a biological reason for her behavior I don't want to overlook that either. I must admit number one and number two hen are being mean...which I guess is also normal? Pecking order can be brutal!

She is outside in my flower bed right now and is eating weeds and lying in the dirt, but she's not the continuos "mulching machine" that she used to be....and like the others still are. I'm I expecting too much too soon? It is 2 weeks today since the attack.

 

[enola]

Do you have a scale you can weigh her on? She may be eating more than you think. If she is actually loosing weight, she still has a problem that needs to be resolved.

Are her wounds healed? Could she have an infection in one of her wounds?

 

[AV8RChick]

I don't know if it will help but I had a similar situation with an Orpington being attacked by a fox. It took her almost two months to get back to what I would consider a normal appetite for her and longer to get back into her top spot in the pecking order. I gave mine scrambled eggs to keep her strength up but she was eating very little for a long time. I also put rooster booster in her water during that time. She is thriving now but it was a long slow road to recovery. I kept her away from the general population for a month while her wounds healed and when I put her back in I put a saddle on her to protect her back which was where most of her injuries were.

 

[peggymou]

I don't think she has an infection, but I do have a scale and will weigh her today and then again in a few days. I'm not seeing any signs of infection and nothing seems particularly tender or swollen or enlarged in any way. She usually has at least a small amount in her crop when she goes to roost. We had her on an antibiotic for 11 days and I've started her (and the whole flock) on a chicken vitamin/mineral/probiotic supplement. But if she does continue to loose weight I either start her on the antibiotic again or find a vet that would look at her. (No avian vets in area and no farm vets do chickens except for vaccines or diagnosis of contagious disease.) Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[peggymou]

Thanks - I hope our brave little chicken does as well. We have reintroduced her to the flock, but only for limited amounts of time (when we can monitor for overly aggressive behavior toward her.) Her wounds are healed nicely and some large scabs have already dropped off and she is actually showing some feather regrowth, so we are hopeful. But I will monitor her weight as suggested above - finally a use for that Weight Watchers scale that is gathering dust!

 

[enola]

Tube feeding may become a necessity if you find out she is loosing weight.