day 17, horrific dog attack. should I bathe her?

[lalaland]

hen with multiple puncture wounds, deep enough to insert finger up to knuckle. wounds were rinsed, and nustock (sulphur and pine tar oil ointment) was applied, poured into puncture wounds). I have checked skin temp next to some of the wounds and there is no heat from infection.

She is doing ok, still not back to normal eating but appetite is improving. She is in a wire cage in the coop with supportive heat from heat panel (its in the 20's here). very talkative. moves slowly. stretches wings, grooms (still in molt). wings hang funny from her shoulders because of puncture wounds underneath, almost armpit location.

one wound appears to be draining a bit based on appearance of feathers. this is day 17 of attack.

She really freaks about being handled. In almost 15 years of chicken keeping, I would say she is in the top 3 as far as hating being picked up or restrained. she does a mjaor major flip out and puts everything into escape.

I am undecided about whether to try to bathe her and get a closer look at wounds. She will definitely open up wounds from struggling and may reinjure whatever soft tissue/muscle injuries she has going on.

Anyone with experience in deep puncture wounds want to weigh in? I don't believe there is an active infection based on smell, and I can't see any drainage, feathers just have that look though. question is, better to leave her be or to intervene?

 

[GodofPecking]

you do not need to be angry at the dog, you don't have to blame the dog, you just have to get rid of the dog in a humane manner.

 

[lalaland]

thanks for asking!

She has totally recovered, and doing great. I can only tell who she is by her legband these days, she moves easily and all of her feathers are back. She has some scarring that I can feel when I examine her, but that is to be expected.

We will see later this spring if she returns to laying, sometimes after such stress a hen will not lay again. She has definitely earned her place in the flock whether or not she ever lays again.

I am so grateful to the persons who suggested tempting her with live mealworms because that was the only thing she would eat for several weeks after the attack, and I think she would have died without that little bit (some days she would only eat 5 or 6 mealworms and that woul be the only thing in her crop!).

And huntinggirl, I am not killing the dog.
Have had multiple discussions with the dog owner and the dog has not been back on my land as far as I can tell from tracks in the snow for at least a month now

 

[BeanHen]

Sorry to hear about such a terrible attack!

I don't have extensive knowledge about deep wound care, but it would seem as if you're doing all you can for her for now. As long as she's coated in Nustock and isn't showing signs of obvious infection, you may want to just wait it out. Especially if she's molting and fearful of people.

Based on her behavior, (I'm sure you know this from your many years of chicken-keeping experience, but I might as well throw it out there

) it'd probably work well to inspect her at night when she's in the sleeping-hen trance, and with a towel over her head if possible.

Hopefully someone else with more experience can add on...

Good luck to both you and your hen in the meantime!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have had a few over the years with deep wounds, though not that deep, I have had good luck just leaving them alone to heal naturally, it will take a long time, at this point I wouldn't mess with the wounds or the bird, I might give her a broad spectrum antibiotic in her water to help stave off any infections, and I also believe some moving around will help with keeping circulation strong which helps with healing, so some area to move around but not too much. The fact that she's still alive is a great sign of her fortitude.

 

[lalaland]

I appreciate the advice from you both!. I gave her the freedom to roam in the coop, other than attempting unsuccessfully to fly up to a roost, she pretty much stayed put. Think I will let her be for now. She's back in the kennel but I will try to give her some supervised time to move a bit more. will hold off on messing with her wounds. thanks!
it helps to bounce stuff off other chicken folks.

 

[GodofPecking]

I would like to suggest the use of honey as a better alternative treatment for cleaning and sterilizing these kinds of wounds. It is cheap and easy to find. I have nothing against nustock and I'm sure it works, it's just not common throughout the world, like honey is. The glucose lactase in natural honey is a living enzyme which slowly consumes a little honey and releases hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of it's metabolism. This is in tiny amounts which are not harmful to people chickens or bees, but quite deadly to germs, giving honey it's anti-bacterial, anti septic and anti fungal properties.

Apply it by dipping your finger into some honey and dabbing on the wound, after a few minutes, or sooner if you feel any discomfort, pour drinking water over the wound to wash it away. On people, it makes a wound look clean like you just took a one hour bath, but it takes minutes.

I would leave her be while she looks fighting fit, and keep a careful watch for changes. If she needs to have intervention, try to do it at night by putting a large cloth over her, so she doesn't move and it should keep her quite and untroubled. Then uncover the parts you want to work on. It would be a good idea to have someone hold her very gently, if that is possible, but the cloth is quite similar in effect to an assistant when none are available. TRIM the feathers around the area using scissors. A bald healthy chook is a happy chook. I often trim the feathers of my chickens for various reasons and it works very very well. It makes things much easier to follow up over and over again without needing to touch the chook.

 

[lalaland]

you know, I never thought of honey which is funny because I use it on myself. My mom is diabetic and often has foot wounds, I've suggested honey to her but she pooh-poohed the idea and wouldn't use it. Then, a year ago she was hospitalized and having difficulty healing, and the docs used a "medi'honey thing, saying it was the newest way to treat infections Hah!

I will leave her be, but if I do end up bathing her will try honey. I have some good raw honey which should work well.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Personally, I wouldn't put honey, but that's just me. It's a great way to invite infection, but it is totally your call. It may be helpful to spray some Blu-kote on the wounds, apply neosporin, and wrap them up. You may also choose to make your chicken a sling if she needs it. Also, give her electrolytes in her water to keep her strength up.

Good luck!

 

[GodofPecking]

you know, I never thought of honey which is funny because I use it on myself. My mom is diabetic and often has foot wounds, I've suggested honey to her but she pooh-poohed the idea and wouldn't use it. Then, a year ago she was hospitalized and having difficulty healing, and the docs used a "medi'honey thing, saying it was the newest way to treat infections Hah!

I will leave her be, but if I do end up bathing her will try honey. I have some good raw honey which should work well.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=honey+resistant+wounds

Yes, there are some people for which it raises eyebrows, and of course there are ignorant people in the world, however honey is THE treatment for wounds, bar none. Flour is good on the battlefield but honey is for everything else.

Where all modern antibiotics are failing in the face of antibiotic resistant strains and 'super-bugs' honey just goes on working perfectly, BETTER than modern medicines, because Bees have been on this planet for a whole lot longer than humans. After more than 100 million years of experience, they know how to deal with bacteria.