Chicken attacked!

[JuliePoole]

I went out to shut my coop tonight and found one of my poor hens plucked, wet, and in a horrible state! I'm not sure what attacked her (possibly my dog or woodland preditor) but she was at least alive. I cleaned her up put some medicine and bandages on her and put her in a clean dry container in our shed. I blow dryer her and she finally seemed to snap out of her shock state some and pecked a little at her food and water. Tomorrow I'm going to put a saddle/apron on her. Is there any more I should do? How long will it take for her back feathers to grow back? I'm so sad

 

[MissChick@dee]

Photo would be nice so we can see what’s going on. You should do a complete examination of her top to bottom front to back all the way down to her skin go slowly take your time if you find wounds it’s best to trim a perimeter around it. Take photos of what you find. I don’t know if you’ll want to treat any injuries or if your able to take her to the vet.
It all depends on what you find in your examination.
Electrolytes are always good to add to her water at this point even if she has no injuries (that would be the luckiest chicken ever) she had a shock and that with stress is enough to sometimes push them over the edge.
So let us know what you find. Best wishes

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing today?
If you can post some photos of her wounds that would be helpful.

It sounds like you did a good job taking care of her. The heat from the dryer warmed her, that was a good idea.

Check her very well for hidden puncture wounds if you think a dog got a hold of her, sometimes you may find one or two underneath the chicken as well. Depending on the extent of the wounds, bandaging them may be counterproductive. Most wounds do better when exposed to air. You need to have her where flies can't get onto the wounds, even though the weather is cooling, there are plenty still around. FlyStrike would be your worry - this is when a fly lays eggs on a wound and the maggots hatch and begin invading a wound - the maggots can do a lot of damage quickly and compound your problem.

Keep us posted.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The green is likely bruising. The wound looks good as far as I can tell.
When you do another change, re-evaluate the wound, if it's healing, it may do better without the bandaging, but the saddle will help keep her more clean - you still need to watch for any signs of flies though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I was thinking it might be bruising as well. Thanks, I'm concerned about if/when her feathers will come back. It will start getting chilly next month

You should start to see new feathers emerging. I would also provide her with some extra protein like egg, tuna or meat a few times a week.
I understand your concern about the weather getting chilly soon, but hopefully by that time she will be mostly feathered in. I've had naked molting hens in mid-January in temps down in the single digits and they did just fine with proper shelter/wind protection and food/water.

Your doing good.

 

[Matzwd]

My best guess would be dog since she was wet. Poor baby.

 

[JuliePoole]

Photo would be nice so we can see what’s going on. You should do a complete examination of her top to bottom front to back all the way down to her skin go slowly take your time if you find wounds it’s best to trim a perimeter around it. Take photos of what you find. I don’t know if you’ll want to treat any injuries or if your able to take her to the vet.
It all depends on what you find in your examination.
Electrolytes are always good to add to her water at this point even if she has no injuries (that would be the luckiest chicken ever) she had a shock and that with stress is enough to sometimes push them over the edge.
So let us know what you find. Best wishes

I totally meant to take photos I was just so upset. Today she seemed a tiny bit perkier. I redressed her wounds and made my first saddle/apron, it didn't turn out too bad for a first try. I'm hoping it adds a bit of extra protection. I let her walk about a bit then returned her to her clean container. Here's a picture.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check her wounds daily since you have them wrapped, you don't want them to get moldy, infested or infected.

Poor girl looks a bit under the weather. If you have poultry vitamins add those to her water or use them to make a wet mash out of her feed. Extra protein like egg, tuna or a little beef liver would be good too.

I hope she heals quickly.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If she were my hen I would not bandage it. I would trim the feathers around the area so it could dry. I would use something like cotton balls and wipe it with betadine twice a day I’d let it dry before covering it with the apron. As Wyorp Rick said she’ll be fine if she has no feathers. I too had a half naked girl ALL winter. I mean she had no feathers on either side and the top of her wings (pretty ugly).
I’ve had dog bites where they didn’t break the skin...they left welts and deep bruising. She looks extremely lucky to have such minimal injuries. I have one just like her ....I’ll post pics every chance I get LOL!Best wishes to you both.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

That looks like what happened to one of mine. She healed up very well. I didn't do anything but put peroxide on her puncture wound. She was somewhat reserved for a few days, but she returned to her spunky self after that.