Another Dog attack.. hen survived but in shock..

[growinupinfl]

My girls were attacked by a wolf/shepherd mix this morning. Ran out there and saw this

I went looking for the body and was floored to find her alive. She had buried herself under a pile of pine needles. Now she has some dog bite puncture wounds, missing feathers everywhere, not really walking, when she tries she just kinda staggers around. I don't feel anything broken, I think she is truly in shock. But all of her 10 wk old chicks are fine. Her feathers are still falling out, her breathing seems a bit labored, but I think that is partly shock.

Is there anything I should do for the shock she seems to be in, and should I start her on preventive antibiotics? Let me know the best way to help this girl recover.

Thank you so much
Christal

 

[SpringChickens]

The good news - chickens are VERY hardy. Chances are she'll recover without any problems if you just give her some time. I would isolate her and her chicks together (assuming she would stress out if the chicks were removed), and give her some vitamins and some extra protein (scrambled eggs, tuna fish, etc) and she should recover well.

Good luck - so glad she survived

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd say shock for sure, put her in a quiet warm place and she should recover nicely. Make sure to clean out her wounds good with saline of warm salt water, then apply neosrotin w/o pain relief to her wounds give her plenty of water with electrolytes and some good feed with yogurt added. Thank goodness she must have really protected those babies. Did you take care of the predator?

 

[growinupinfl]

He ran off before the 22 was brought out. We live in the suburbs, called animal control. We were throwing bricks and everything else you could imagine and he showed no fear. Just stared at us with ice blue eyes. We opened the gate and he just strolled off. I would hate to see what he could do to a human.

She seems sore and has some very deep scratches that we have cleaned with saline put triple antibiotic ointment. She ate a scrambled egg and is in an unused brooder. Hopefully there is no underlying damage, and she makes a full recovery.

Thanks a lot
Christal

 

[easttxchick]

Quote:
This is great advice.
If you have some on hand, PenG Procaine injectable is for warding off skin infections.

 

[phasian]

Lots of great tips- here's one more= Bach's Rescue Remedy. This is a homeopathic flower remedy which is immediately calms both animals and humans that are stressed/in shock.

 

[Miss Lydia]

good phasian, I have some in my house and forgot to mention it. It works great for animals and humans.

 

[growinupinfl]

Ok since someone brought up rescue remedy, a standard in my home. I have some questions, has anyone ever used arnica for their chicken, I do not see any contraindication with it but want to double check.

What about using vitamins what dilution would be used for poly vi sol?

Thanks
Christal

 

[terrilhb]

Thank God she is ok. I agree with the post above. She really is a good mother protecting her babies like that. Keep us informed please as to how she is doing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have not used arnica, but I think it would be something that I would try for inflamation and pain relief. I have used Astragalus and Echinacea in my birds feed before to boost immune system. They also get flax seeds.