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

[GodofPecking]

you need to build a trap for it. if you make the trap part of a not moveable structure like the house, chicken coop (if it can't move) or a tree for a corner, then trapping the dog makes it really easy to prove that it is hunting your animals on your property. legally you could get someone to shoot it for you, or at lest call pest control to get rid of it.

A dashcam is pretty cheap and would give footage of it approaching the coop and getting trapped, to prove that it is on your property, without your encouragement.

You can hide and say you can't do that to a dog, and it just means regret when it tears your pets to pieces.

 

[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.

 

[BantyChooks]

yes, the dog has come back. It is the largest german shepard I have ever seen, its back comes up to my hip. It is a very scared dog, so very very agressive.

Goldie has rejoined the flock! I spent most of Saturday watching - the roo attacked her feet first, and she pecked back and then ran. That really worried me, but it has all settled down. She spent the night on the roost and came out with the flock this morning. doing great, I saw her eat and drink. she still has a funny gait, kind of a hitch in her walk and high steps a bit. I don't know if that will subside with time or if it is a lasting after affect.

32 days to recovery! at least enough to rejoin the flock.

How is she doing?

 

[huntingirl]

It wouldn't be fair to blame the dog or kill it. It is an instinct embedded in all dogs to kill small animals. I love chickens and mine have gotten attacked by my dog, but she DEFINITLEY learned her lesson. I still love her very much. She didn't know any better her instincts told her," kill". Don't be cruel to a dog. They don't know better. You have to TEACH them.

 

[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

 

[huntingirl]

I'm glad she's better!

 

[BantyChooks]

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

 

[GodofPecking]

She has totally recovered, and doing great. [...] 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.

I am very glad to hear this great news. This is an awesome surprise. I didn't think she'd make it.


Did you use honey on her wounds ? did it work well ? did it hurt much ?

 

[lalaland]

No, by the time I saw that advice I had already treated her with nustock, which is a commercially available sulphur based paste. It is marketed towards horses, people have had great results on various dog skin and wound issues, and I started using it several years ago.

Also have used sulphur as a powder, both work great on very terrible wounds.

Sulphur used to be sprinkled on wounds in the civil war - it is sometimes called flowers of sulphur, is all natural and super effective.

I couldn't believe she made it either with the number of wounds and the severity - she is the chicken with the worst injuries I've ever seen that was still alive when I found her.

 

[GodofPecking]

Sulphur used to be sprinkled on wounds in the civil war

Best to remember that any war is not the height of good science and medicine, rather a source of cheap and nasty maybe solutions.

Quote:

Now I feel a bit guilty about dispatching some of mine that were injured badly by a feral cat. I can't change the past but I can try to fight for the future.