Dog attack - 8 week update - RIP :(

[okieroy]

I would give her several more days after my last dog attack. We had a RIR that refused to walk for 3 days. She would only hang out in the nest box. Everyone was leaving her alone and I would bring water and food. It was almost 48 hours before she ate anything substantial. Its been several weeks now since the attack and while I was out cleaning the coop tonight she was all over the place. She made a full recovery in about 12 days.
The will to live is strong. This little lady belongs to you and you have the final say. My advice is time.

 

[NellaBean]

Thanks Okieroy.

She doesn't seem able to walk. She tries to use her wings for balance on the ground and just flops around.

She has perked up a bit more as far as food. She at least is eating a little bit. I still have her sister with her inside, but am going to move the sister outside tomorrow as she manages to stand on the injured girl more often than not.

I tried to take a better look at her legs, but didn't really see much....for now I am going to keep waiting. These chicks aren't big on treats, but I will try scrambling an egg for her. Maybe some oatmeal?

 

[purpletree23]

In the morning check her ALL OVER for wounds. Check very carefully. Those feathers hide a lot. If she does have puncture wounds you need to clean them, apply neosporin (as long as the wounds aren't deep) and start her on penicillin. As far as eating and drinking make sure she drinks. If you have to put some Gatorade in her water and give it to her through a dropper. Don't force her to drink because the liquid can end up on her lungs. Place the dropper on the top/side of her beak and slowly drop the water out. Let the liquid gently roll into her mouth so she can swallow. Do this as often as necessary to keep her hydrated. She will die from dehydration before she dies from starvation.

Get her to eat! Give her treats to stimulate her appetite. Scrambled eggs, chopped greens, cottage cheese, sliced strawberry, quartered grapes anything to get her to eat. Scratch is always a favorite. If you can get a small watermelon, and the cost is not too much give her a piece. She will be attracted to the red color and will get a lot of water into her system that way. Just one warning....don't give too much fruit at once because it will cause diarrhea.

She's in shock and is not certain what to do. Having her sister with her is an excellent idea and I'm sure gives her some level of comfort. Give her time to recover but please make sure you check her all over tomorrow. Have someone help and check for broken bones etc. Hopefully in a few days she will be feeling better. Remember to get penicillan if she has any puncture wounds. Bites are very dangerous because of the infections they cause.

 

[NellaBean]

Thanks Purpletree.

I do know she has at least 1 puncture wound as I saw it yesterday. I will have to check for the others tomorrow once I move the sister out, she makes everything difficult!

After watching her tonight, she did make a few hopping flops. I bet it is a leg injury and she can't figure out how to stand/walk/balance on only the one leg. She starts to stand and then tips to the side.

If I put the food and water in front of her she will eat and drink. I will just have to do that a few times a day. I moved the water in front of her, which worked until she decided to end up on the other side of the tub. She ate when I poured food on the shavings in front of her.

I will have to get a better look at her tomorrow. She really drank a lot when I moved the water to her a little while ago. Poor thing.

 

[NellaBean]

She is still hanging in there. I watched her stand for a few seconds earlier. Definitely holding one leg up.....before tipping over. I'm just going to keep her inside, giving her food and water.......hoping her leg gets better.

 

[houndit]

I would recommend giving her some colloidal silver. I would probably put some Hydrogen peroxide on the punctures. Chickens can live through amazing things. We had one whose leg was cut off by a tractor. We had one with only one wing. We had one that got run over by our huge hen house. We had another that got run over by a portable pen. I honestly thought she would die on the spot. She lived as well as all the rest.

 

[mdbokc]

Check out the info on this thread also for a dog attack and the resulting trauma.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=58806&p=1

Good luck!

 

[GwenReaper]

My own dog attacked and killed some of my chickens. It was about 3am in the morning and I thought that 3 were killed, then in the morning I realized 1 was still alive. I brought her right in and put her in a pet carrier, I had to syringe feed her some water into her beak and then she would swallow it. Then I would soak some bread in water and she would eat it. I was feeding her treats so that she would eat anything. She could not stand and I was worried that she had a broken leg. After a couple days of eating on her own she started gimping around alittle bit and then I started giving her treats to make her walk. I would put the food across the room and make her go to it.

Here we are about 2 months later and she is doing great!!!

So keep your head up and just make sure she eats plenty. It could be shock.

 

[NellaBean]

It is definitely her left leg being injured. She stood on the other leg and tried hopping but is not coordinated enough for that. I still have her sister in with her, but will take her out tomorrow as she keeps standing on her and I think the injured girl is comfortable enough to be alone now.

She does eat and drink if I put it in front of her, so I have just been doing that a few times a day.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Laney]

Nella,

I hope your Hen does Ok. I have a Hen in the house right now recovering from a Dog attack. It's my next door neighbors too, my In-laws. They feel awful and want to pay for me to take her to a vet, but I've told them there isn't a chicken vet.

She has some similar injuries to your Hen, her left leg is injured, but with no signs of a break. She just won't bear weight on it. She has lost a LOT of feathers, mostly on her chest and legs. She does have some broken skin, but no puncture wounds. I believe that is because my in-laws dog is a retriever and her chosen method is to catch and shake, not rip and tear. Most of her broken skin is from small abrasions in the skin, tares from rough treatment.

What we did, was first place her into a bird cage with some brooding chicks we had that were going out to a friend the next day. It had a warm light on it, and only 4 day olds in it. We then changed the water from plain water to water with Vitamins and Electrolytes added. This can help both the newly hatched chicks and the hen who has been through a trauma to recover from all the effort put out in both situations. You can get the bag of vit and elec. solution at your feed store.

I also picked up some unreconstituted antibiotics just in case I noticed any signs of infection. I wasn't sure I'd be giving it to her because her wounds were clean. With puncture wounds I would have grabbed the penicillin.

We are trying to keep her quiet, clean and keep the light dark cycle of the lights as close to normal as possible. We're giving her water, crumbles, greens (she's free range normally) grit because she can't get it on her own in a cage, and oyster shell because she needs extra calcium to help her recover from an injury.

Laney