Chicken cut/rubbed terribly! PLEASE HELP!

[Theofire88]

Thank you! The one dog is a bouvier and is exceedingly headstrong, large and has a very high hunting instinct, we have literally tried everything and he was raised with the chicks, so believe me, I was FURIOUS! We are turning towards remote shock collars to "lay them flat" when they run for the chickens, this bouvier especially, despite how cute he is, is non responsive to anything, violence included. He just doesn't care! He is PERFECT on leash and is a pro at "leave it", we have taken them both to obedience, they just passed their test to move up a level, he just doesn't care if your not there, we have also considered rigging up the outside of the coop with minor electric wire, so that even if we are not around, he will get the same penalty. He is also kind of my younger sisters dog, and she isn't exactically fabulous at reinforcement...

 

[justplainbatty]

Thank you! The one dog is a bouvier and is exceedingly headstrong, large and has a very high hunting instinct, we have literally tried everything and he was raised with the chicks, so believe me, I was FURIOUS! We are turning towards remote shock collars to "lay them flat" when they run for the chickens, this bouvier especially, despite how cute he is, is non responsive to anything, violence included. He just doesn't care! He is PERFECT on leash and is a pro at "leave it", we have taken them both to obedience, they just passed their test to move up a level, he just doesn't care if your not there, we have also considered rigging up the outside of the coop with minor electric wire, so that even if we are not around, he will get the same penalty. He is also kind of my younger sisters dog, and she isn't exactically fabulous at reinforcement...

How frustrating! I had a bouvier for a while. I didn't have AC so whatever window/s I'd leave open, he'd jump out. Lucky for me the old lady across the street would frequently catch him and keep until I got home. That's a lot of dog! He was not a puppy when I got him so his mind was already set, I didn't have good dog training skills then so, I couldn't keep him. He also used to eat stuff, out of the bathroom trash, items in the hamper, which then went on display on my lawn (eew)

But, that was 25 yrs ago...
I used" leave it", a shock collar and a few other tricks to teach a Lab to leave chickens alone even when I wasn't around but, they are not as stubborn as your dog.

 

[Theofire88]

Wow, that's too bad! The thing with bouviers is they can be excellent dogs but they are silly, wild, puppyish things until around two years, and if you got your older then yes, I can feel your pain (my mom had similar troubles when so eine gave her a grown dog - it always ran away and broke fences etc until someone hit him with a car D the bouvier really (I think) knows he's done wrong (he killed it) as he now stays away from the coop and just lies down wherever he is. My little standard schnauzer is a different story.... Although she didn't kill anything, she still got "the boot" as Gloria was rescued, however she just doesn't learn! She is smaller and was very timid going after a chicken, so I don't think she would on her own, but she is still and instigator and such a little diva - I really have it to her the other day when she jumped at the coop. Sigh. Hopefully THAT will sink in....still getting the collars though.... They chased down a rabbit a couple months ago, and I am sick and tired of this.... We also have three barn cats (maybe two - I think one was taken down by cyotes) that we just don't keep track of that well (they are really barn cats) and the dogs always try and take them down too...grrrrrr, I tell you, if I didn't love them too much they would be gone.

 

[justplainbatty]

Wow, that's too bad! The thing with bouviers is they can be excellent dogs but they are silly, wild, puppyish things until around two years, and if you got your older then yes, I can feel your pain (my mom had similar troubles when so eine gave her a grown dog - it always ran away and broke fences etc until someone hit him with a car D the bouvier really (I think) knows he's done wrong (he killed it) as he now stays away from the coop and just lies down wherever he is. My little standard schnauzer is a different story.... Although she didn't kill anything, she still got "the boot" as Gloria was rescued, however she just doesn't learn! She is smaller and was very timid going after a chicken, so I don't think she would on her own, but she is still and instigator and such a little diva - I really have it to her the other day when she jumped at the coop. Sigh. Hopefully THAT will sink in....still getting the collars though.... They chased down a rabbit a couple months ago, and I am sick and tired of this.... We also have three barn cats (maybe two - I think one was taken down by cyotes) that we just don't keep track of that well (they are really barn cats) and the dogs always try and take them down too...grrrrrr, I tell you, if I didn't love them too much they would be gone.

Well, I sure hope your little dog learns! I haven't seen any of the 2 or 3 feral cats that were hanging around last month....?

The Bouvier I got was over 5 yrs, named Flanders and had all of his coat! He looked like a bear! I couldn't believe it was the same dog after the groomers! I swear he lost over 10# of fur!

 

[Theofire88]

*sigh* and wow! Our little puppy has his full coat and we always call him a baby bear as he has such a big coat! Whenever we take his to the groomer the same thing happens! They are so funny!

 

[Theofire88]

Ugh. Yesterday we want in the coop around 4ish to check on the hens and found our silver laced Wyandotte dead. It appears she ruptured/ had a hemorrhage while laying an egg. She was laying on the ground with her legs out behind her and her feathers were ruffled as if she was in serious distress. There was also blood inside a nesting box and around the coop.

Are we doing something badly wrong or is this just terrible luck?

 

[justplainbatty]

Ugh. Yesterday we want in the coop around 4ish to check on the hens and found our silver laced Wyandotte dead. It appears she ruptured/ had a hemorrhage while laying an egg. She was laying on the ground with her legs out behind her and her feathers were ruffled as if she was in serious distress. There was also blood inside a nesting box and around the coop.

Are we doing something badly wrong or is this just terrible luck?

Sounds like she may have been egg bound and strained beyond capacity trying to lay. You also said you have a cannibal in the bunch. I think perhaps the cannibal helped in the demise of the SLW. What feed are you giving and do you provide oyster shell daily? Sometimes, egg bound hens benefit from extra calcium given by injection. We'll have to look at that a little bit.
Here's me the worry wart: I hand feed chickens a few treats each morning so I can have a look at them. when they are roosted, which I am frequently present during, I listen to breathing and scratching and keep an eye on squabblers. Once they settle, I check eyes, noses, crops, vents, abdomens, look for bugs and check any poop that happens at the time. My birds put up with these nightly exams but even they probably think I am crazy.

 

[Theofire88]

Sounds good. The SLW was very low on the pecking order. We hand feed a few treats a day and check, but we are not normally around for roosting. We have commercial feed avalible (from our local UFA/co op feed store) and have oyster shell present at all times. The pecking has subsided a ton now that they are out and about more, and our PPR hens underwent an off season moult. New feathers are coming in all around and we are hopeful on that front! I have liquid calcium that I could mix with some oats/sunflower seeds and feed around just if it might benefit them? A little while before we had a very large egg but then laying went back to normal, related? Now I am really paranoid and am checking all the hens about five times in one hour! ;p

 

[justplainbatty]

Sounds good. The SLW was very low on the pecking order. We hand feed a few treats a day and check, but we are not normally around for roosting. We have commercial feed avalible (from our local UFA/co op feed store) and have oyster shell present at all times. The pecking has subsided a ton now that they are out and about more, and our PPR hens underwent an off season moult. New feathers are coming in all around and we are hopeful on that front! I have liquid calcium that I could mix with some oats/sunflower seeds and feed around just if it might benefit them? A little while before we had a very large egg but then laying went back to normal, related? Now I am really paranoid and am checking all the hens about five times in one hour! ;p

As hens age, their eggs get bigger....How much calcium is in the feed? And then we add in the oyster, look at shell quality and decide if liquid calcium is in order....How many birds and what is the sq footage of the coop floor? What % of their daily diet is snacks >than 18% protein, > 4% calcium?
It never hurts to try getting a look at hen butts after the morning clutch and again after the late lay. Were the last SLW eggs streaked with blood at all? Or anything besides bigger? BTW, did you ever account for all the buttons or remove all the litter after the original incident?

ETA: This is a really good thread on egg bound and calcium supplements from two stellar BYC Members, read the whole thing! https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/819024/egg-bound-calcium-dosage/30
Here is just a general article about best type of calcium/calcium control study. http://www.poultryindustrycouncil.ca/pdfs/factsheets/fs_133.pdf
You will have to access your flock and decide whether to give oral or sub-q.
What I am getting out of all this is that, you either want to target a specific hen in distress(sub-q) or correct a flock wide calcium deficiency (orally).

Whatcha gonna do, do you think?

 

[Theofire88]

I will check the feed label tomorrow. It's regular layer ration and I remember checking the label but all those numbers just don't stick. Same with the oyster shell. And I did find all the buttons! I cleared the litter anyways... Thanks so much for the links! The eggs were not streaked or irregular (minus the big egg) until this point, thus our prediction of a rupture. On the topic of the large egg, the egg was really big, like not close my fist around, larger than any other. Every once in a while we get these and they have 2 yolks, the first time we freaked out but nothing bad came of it and everything went back to normal.