Chicken attackedby pet dogs

[becky31312]

We went on vacation for a week. The chickens flew the coop literally. One of my black chickens was attacked, I assume by the 6 dogs we have that got to spend more time out than in since we were gone. Lots of feathers are gone. I put blue coat on her and me (by accident) have her wrapped in a towel in the kennel. Covered it with towels to block the light and keep in the warmth. Also have her wrapped in a towel. So sad, she whines when I pick her up to move her. Any suggestions on what to do for her? I did wash her off with warm water she had a bowel movement and layered a skin filmed egg. She is breathing and sleeping now. Please. Any suggestions. Also, how can I keep the dogs away. How do I cut their wings so the can't fly over the 6 ft fence? Any help appreciated. Tired of crying for them. Poor babies. Ready to rehome if I can't make something work.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We went on vacation for a week. The chickens flew the coop literally. One of my black chickens was attacked, I assume by the 6 dogs we have that got to spend more time out than in since we were gone. Lots of feathers are gone. I put blue coat on her and me (by accident) have her wrapped in a towel in the kennel. Covered it with towels to block the light and keep in the warmth. Also have her wrapped in a towel. So sad, she whines when I pick her up to move her. Any suggestions on what to do for her? I did wash her off with warm water she had a bowel movement and layered a skin filmed egg. She is breathing and sleeping now. Please. Any suggestions. Also, how can I keep the dogs away. How do I cut their wings so the can't fly over the 6 ft fence? Any help appreciated. Tired of crying for them. Poor babies. Ready to rehome if I can't make something work.

Can you post some photos of her wounds?

Do the best you can to clean her wounds and watch for signs of infection - odors, thick pus, hot inflamed skin, etc.
If need be, flush the wounds again with saline, betadine or soapy water and clean out the wound. If the area is large or deep, apply some Vetericyn or triple antibiotic ointment. Blu Kote works well for small cuts/wounds.

Try to keep her hydrated, offer some poultry vitamins and extra protein like egg or tuna in addition to her normal feed. Making sure she drinks is important.

If they are flying over the fence, then you may need to cover their area with birds netting or chicken wire, this will also keep flying predators like Hawks out of your chicken pen. For the dogs, you can pen them or run electric fencing around your chicken pen, but if the chickens are flying out that would be a wasted effort, either the chickens or dogs need to be contained.

For clipping wings, there are numerous threads here on BYC and if you Google you will find videos, photos and instructions as well.

Keep us posted.

 

[becky31312]

Thank you for all of the information. She passed away this evening. I think the trauma was too much for her. We are going to reinforce the chicken yard and extend it out so the remaining girls have a large area to play in.

 

[jjandm]

Very, very sorry to hear this. :'(

 

[Eggcessive]

I am sorry of your loss. We went through a similar situation when I first got chickens. We lost 1 and had 2 pullets injured by our gentle golden retriever who got them as they came over a 4 foot chainlink fence from their yard. We had to do something, so we bought a shock collar, and only used it twice on him with the dead chicken lying in the yard. That collar has never been out of the box since. Later we had to keep a rooster and 2 hens in our dog yard, and he would not even look at them.Our other dogs had no interest either, unless they acted crazy and ran, or if we had a small chick accidentally get through the fence. They can still fly if you cut one side or even both sides of wing feathers, so I wouldn't do it. they need those wing feathers in the yard to help escape from a predator.

One thing that I finally used to keep the chickens in their large yard, was electric poultry netting. It is pretty easy to install--we don't electrify it, since it is to keep the chickens penned, not for predators. You can move it around, and connect it to more if you need it. We shopped around and this was the best, the easiest to set up and move, and longest for the price: https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/poultrynet-and-poultrynet-plus-12-42-3-kits-electric-netting

We later bought taller and the double post model, but the chickens do not jump over the smaller netting since they can't jump up to a top post. Even our banties who could fly 10 feet straight up onto our chicken coop roof, don't go over it. The taller fencing is more expensive, unnecessary, it is shorter in distance, and too heavy for me to move myself. I would buy some inexpensive step on posts from your feed store (about $2) to put in between posts if it sags too much. this is what they look like:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.