- Apr 27, 2014
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My poor chicken was attacked by a dog (or coyote possible) yesterday morning. She has been in a temporary dog run made of chain link fence with chicken wire over the top due to our recent move. We have not reassembled her coop yet.
Anyways we think she poked her head trough the fence as she often does when we approach and the dog bit her head. there were dog prints and dig marks around the area where there was blood.
We found her shortly after the attack brought her in the laundry room and cleaned her wounds.
It looks like there is a big scrap near her ear which is now swollen and on the same side her eye is buldging out of the socket. looks like there is a scab on the eye ball so we think it was punctured. she wont open the other eye now for 24 hours but it has not been effected. it sounded like she had fluid in her airway but no body punctures. she had bleeding from her nose but that has stopped. her breathing seems labored and raspy. She was in shock when it first happened wouldnt hold up her head. Last night she perked up a bit picked up her head when we talked to her. But this morning there seems to be no improvement, maybe even worse. She wont hold up her head for very long on her own. we have to tilt her head back to give her water. She does however take the water. she will swallow it when we dropper it in her mouth.
Treatments have included erythromycin eye ointment, neosporin on her cuts, and antibiotics through her water which we have been giving her trough a dropper as she can not eat or drink on her own.
She seems to be suffering so much but she is a family pet to my daughthers so we didnt want to just put her down. I am now beginning to think we should end her suffering, but dont have much experience with how much chickens can handle and recover from. Its also been only 24 hours, but I was hoping to at least have seen a little improvement this morning, or at least still responsive
She has no injureies to her body its only her head. which makes me think she could pull out of it since there is no damage to vital organs. Could the pressure from the incredibly swollen eye be putting pressure on her brain?
How long should we nurse her and allow her to suffer without improvement? Has anyone seen a chicken recover from this state?
Please help! I need some encouragement that we are at least doing the right thing by trying to save her!
thanks so much!
Anyways we think she poked her head trough the fence as she often does when we approach and the dog bit her head. there were dog prints and dig marks around the area where there was blood.
We found her shortly after the attack brought her in the laundry room and cleaned her wounds.
It looks like there is a big scrap near her ear which is now swollen and on the same side her eye is buldging out of the socket. looks like there is a scab on the eye ball so we think it was punctured. she wont open the other eye now for 24 hours but it has not been effected. it sounded like she had fluid in her airway but no body punctures. she had bleeding from her nose but that has stopped. her breathing seems labored and raspy. She was in shock when it first happened wouldnt hold up her head. Last night she perked up a bit picked up her head when we talked to her. But this morning there seems to be no improvement, maybe even worse. She wont hold up her head for very long on her own. we have to tilt her head back to give her water. She does however take the water. she will swallow it when we dropper it in her mouth.
Treatments have included erythromycin eye ointment, neosporin on her cuts, and antibiotics through her water which we have been giving her trough a dropper as she can not eat or drink on her own.
She seems to be suffering so much but she is a family pet to my daughthers so we didnt want to just put her down. I am now beginning to think we should end her suffering, but dont have much experience with how much chickens can handle and recover from. Its also been only 24 hours, but I was hoping to at least have seen a little improvement this morning, or at least still responsive
She has no injureies to her body its only her head. which makes me think she could pull out of it since there is no damage to vital organs. Could the pressure from the incredibly swollen eye be putting pressure on her brain?
How long should we nurse her and allow her to suffer without improvement? Has anyone seen a chicken recover from this state?
Please help! I need some encouragement that we are at least doing the right thing by trying to save her!
thanks so much!
