7 Week old Ameracauna Meets Dogs Mouth! Help!!!!!

[thegreatfandango]

Landlords German Shepard, who is normally penned up when the chickens are out, got a hold of one of my pullets today. Got her out of his mouth and inspected carefully, seems she was just playing, but pullet does have a non-bleeding puncture wound under her left wing close to her left leg and now she is walking funny. Checked her leg for breaks, but could not find any. She seems to be breathing hard and she has also turned extremely aggressive toward the other pullets. Need some advice on action or inaction. Obviously if she passes tonight then this is a moot question, but if she survives the night what should I do?

 

[incubatingisfun]

Im not sure about the injury but you should defnently seprate her and bring her inside,

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The aggression I'd guess is her holding tough in the face of her flock sisters. Obviously she is hurt yet showing them she can still hold her position of pecking order. I'd not worry much unless she is still hard walking today then perhaps take her to holding pen until she is fully healed.

Last year a pullet of ours head was in a small dogs mouth. Lucky it was a small dog and only punctured both sides of her head. Blood was flying everywhere when she ruffled feathers yet she strutted about like nothing happened. Her wound stopped bleeding by nightfall so we kept her with flock. All was well with that story and hope the same goes with yours.

 

[littlenell1]

Our week old gosling has something similar from our dogs mothering attempts. Puncture would just behind wing above thigh. She limped a day or two and sort of was not keen on being touched in that area, but now she is fine. I just used some aloe gel on it and it is scabbed over nicely along with her chest wounds.

 

[tellynpeep]

Wow. Firstly, I'm impressed that a Shepherd didn't kill the bird right away!
You may be extremely lucky in that there are no serious injuries. Definitely bring her inside and keep her warm. Make sure she is eating.
Even though there are no obvious wounds, there could be internal injuries (crush-type injuries) so keep a close eye on her. These can be serious. If she makes it through the first 24 hours, I'd say her she'll probably be fine.
Good luck.

 

[thegreatfandango]

You'll all be happy to know that Cleo the Ameracauna made it through the night and is doing fine. She is no longer limping, the puncture has scabbed over nicely, and she seems to be back to her old self. She is eating and drinking normally, so it appears crisis averted! Anything I should watch for?

 

[Pele]

It sounds like she's going to be just fine. She probably was sore from being squished in a full-body clamp by the dog. I'd be moving stiffly and be VERY grouchy until the pain lessened some.

If she hadn't stopped limping, I would have suggested baby aspirin. You did a good job in getting to her in time to save her.

 

[snowflake]

good job, you might watch for infection at the puncture site, chickens are very tough