Dog attack - 8 week update - RIP :(

[WizChick]

My neighbor's dog also got ahold of one of my girls this last week. The incident didn't last long because we were around. She had similar injuries to your chicken, a few punctures wounds and a lame leg. I treated the punctures with peroxide and iodine solutions as well as neosporin and crossed my fingers that she wouldn't have an infection. There didn't appear to be a break in her leg and I figured she had dislocated it. She gained her strength quickly with the help of her best buddy although she still didn't put much weight on her leg so I made a vet appointment.
My vet inspected her leg and decided it wasn't broken or dislocated. She suggested there was neurological damage caused by swelling or fluid build up on her spine. There has been improvement in her walk although the vet suggested she would never be 100%.
Have faith in your girl. Today is the second complete day mine has spent free ranging with the others and sleeping in the coop. She was injured last Saturday.

 

[Orphy]

We had a dog attack last wed. and my favorite hen was injured. She is very alert though won't walk on one of her feet. I think shock puts alot on them and just give her time. I give mine a scrambled egg each morning with a little scratch mixed in, along with some liquid vitamins i picked up from the store. So at least I know she is getting enough protein for the day in case she doesn't eat enough of her chicken food. I also put electrolytes on her water like someone else suggested.
I think the main thing is to give them time. It is stressful going through a dog attack and I am sure that there is alot of soreness that goes along with it. The main thing is to access the injuries and see if you can tell any visible wounds, breaks. If not then she may just need love and time.
Also, someone suggested for me to add a source of heat. It is supposed to help with recovery, that they loose alot of heat when they go into shock.

Hope she does ok.
Our dog attack was Wed. and my girl isn't moving around very well, but she is still very alert and coo's when I hold her in my lap. She can hold her weight on the bad leg now, but still can't walk around on it. So a little improvement is better than nothing.

 

[Laney]

This morning my Hen tried to get out of her cage on her own but couldn't quite make it. Then she walked around the bathroom floor slowly. She is getting a bit better a little at a time. I think she is just lonely and that is slowing down her recovery. She is starting to preen herself and that is an improvement also.

We gave her a big bath yesterday which was much needed as she had been just laying in her own feces in the cage. She liked most of the bath, just didn't like the heavy scrubbing that had to be done in the vent area. She really enjoyed the blow dry though. Just sat calmly for that.

Her sisters have taken to sharing brooding in one nest box. Before she got hurt only one Hen was broody. Since she got hurt the non-broody hen just sits with her sister all day and night.

Laney

 

[NellaBean]

Well today i moved the healthy sister back outside to the "free range" crowd. The injured chicken did stand a bit today on her good leg....tried to hobble around the tub but mostly tipped over. She does have a great appetite if I put food next to her. The biggest problem I see is her laying down all the time....in her own feces.

Do I need to wash her? I can't imagine that would go well......

 

[NellaBean]

Tonight she did pretty good hopping from one end of the tub to the other on her good leg. She is really covered in poop though. Gross. I have hesitated to give her a bath as that will totally traumatize her...she is not a very friendly chicken. I may have to do something about it tomorrow....

 

[chickenshagg]

One of my Delawares just went through a dog attack on Sunday. She is slowly recovering now. Like your hen she has been laying in her own poo even though we have been changing her bedding each day. Tonight after doing some research on BYC we decided to go ahead and try a bath for her since not only did she have poo but also dried blood on her. The bath went fairly well although I don't think we had the water warm enough to begin with but after some adjustments we seemed to have hit the right temperature. I did keep my hands on her or under her the whole time. I did not try to do any heavy scrubbing because I know that her wounds are still sore. I just gently swished her around in the water. When she was through with her bath I had a towel waiting to wrap her up in and my wife was ready with the blow dryer. I kept the bathroom door closed so that there was not a draft on her. After her bath my wife made sure she had clean bedding and a small heat lamp turned on for her. I placed her back in her cage(cat carrier) with the lid off. After taking an immediate poo in her clean bed she spent a lot of time fixing her feathers. She is laying in front of me now sleeping as I write this.

 

[addy8]

Trying a bath would probably be a good idea. Good vets often use hydrotherapy for musculoskeletal injuries. You could wash the poo off first, then let her soak in very warm water (with epsom salts ) deep enough to stand in and support most of her weight. This will encourage her to work her muscles without having to bear weight. She will probably like it more than you think she will, but make sure she's supervised, in case she gets too tired.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I would wash her under running water that is about as hot as you would like for a bath. If you later choose to saok her, be sure to hold her the entire time, keeping her head well above the water--chickens cannot recover from aspiration.

 

[jenjscott]

I have been amazed that I can take a chicken out of the pen that I have never messed with, and give it a bath and have it behave perfectly. I bet you it won't be as hard as you think.

 

[NellaBean]

I will have to break down and bathe her tonight. She is pretty gross and poopy.

I have been turning the light off in there at night and after I turned it back on this morning, she was up hopping around in there and made her way over to stand and drink out of the waterer. That is improvement.......usually she just lays around and I hold the water up to her so she can get a few drinks. She has been standing (1 legged) more in the last day or so, and is able to hop/hobble around without flailing as much. If she can get to where she moves around a bit better, I may put her out in the big (securely fenced) pen this weekend during the daytime with her sisters, so she can get some fresh air.

If she makes it out of this whole episode, hopefully she will at least be friendlier!