Dig attack

[Greta A]

Yesterday my brother in law brought his dog to our house ( uninvited)…. Needless to say it did not go well. I have on chicken that was mauled. I looked thru old threads and got a few ideas on how to proceed. I keep rd her in the house over night I. A dog crate. She looks a bit better this morning But she will not eat, drink or stand up. I have a dish of various food choices available. Wet dog food, scrambled eggs, soaked feed, soaked bread And she is just not eating or drinking anything.

I have checked her over to Assad damage. And other than missing feathers there is a wound by her comb and one eye is swollen shut. She also will not stand. She does not make any noise when I try to get her to stand either I have vetricyn for the wound but I am not sure what to do for the eye. If she does not drink. She is going to die anyway. Would it be more humane to put her down now other than wait?

 

[The Birb King]

You are pretty much doing everything you can. Try adding electrolytes to her water and force her to drink some. She should slowly get her strength back.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If she does not drink. She is going to die anyway. Would it be more humane to put her down now other than wait?

Try holding the water up to her mouth and dip the beak in to see if she will drink.

You can use your finger to drip the water.. (preferably also a little poultry nutri drench or the like, if your in the US) directly to the beak just below the nostrils.. and she will naturally swallow as it rolls around into her mouth.. without worry of aspiration. When I do this for shipped/stressed chicks.. I usually support the beak in the bend of my forefinger, using the bend to help catch and direct the drop.

Her muscles are probably quite sore.. I would give her a chance.

Here is an article that discusses pain management..

https://bitchinchickens.com/2021/03/22/dealing-with-pain-in-chickens/

@azygous might have more helpful feedback. (TIA)

 

[azygous]

She's probably in shock. So treat for that first. Then read this for how to go about treating the wounds.

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can use the Vetericyn to clean out her eye.

 

[ChickinProblems]

Vetericyn is amazing stuff. We use it on all of our animals. Saved me a few vet visits for our dog.

 

[Greta A]

At day three the eye is looking better. She has been eating a bit. But she has one leg that she won’t stand on. She does try and just ends up sitting with leg in a wonkey position. At this point I feel like the leg is busted ? Soooo as I am fairly new to injured hens. ( mine usually just disappear ). Can she be soup or do I just start my chicken graveyard?

 

[Greta A]

Glad I ended her misery. I got breasts but everything else was contaminated by the broken leg. Thanks again for your help. I am better informed