Dog attack - 8 week update - RIP :(

[NellaBean]

Bathing didn't go that well. It is hard to bathe a chicken that you have to hold her upright because she tips over and will flail otherwise....without pushing on injured leg/hip area....and actually getting any bathing done. I got some of the biggest poop off but she is still kind of gross.

I had taken her sister back out of the plastic tub she is being kept in, as she spent half the time standing on her or knocking her over. But the injured girl has been hopping around a bit in the tub and is able to get to the food and water herself, without me having to hold them up to her. She has been eating but not a lot....definitely lost weight.

She has been alone a few days and I think was depressed, so I put her outside with her sister today in their old tractor....its just a little 4x4 square, with a tarp for shade and shelter from the rain....but she has company out there, and i moved it to a fresh grassy spot with some leaves to play with. She still struggles to get around, but I saw her moving enough to be out there. Hopefully getting out and about in the fresh air with a buddy will improve her attitude a bit. I did see her pecking at the grass when she was first out laying in the corner of the tractor, so she is definitely happier out there. She still holds that injured leg up, but I do see her resting it on the ground sometimes and when she is hopping, she tries to walk on it a bit also. Hopefully it gets better with time. Her eyes are bright and clear though. I'm sure she'll be happy to be outside with her friend, and that tractor is in the middle of the big yard, so all the other chickens hang around it too. I saw the Giant Rooster babysitting them a bit earlier....I think keeping up her spirits right now is just as important as treating the wounds, so I am going to try to get her out into the tractor during the day from now on. I will either bring her inside at night to stay in her tub, or will put her alone in a crate in the big coop.

 

[crobi13]

I hope she starts feeling better soon

 

[Mel'sChicks]

Is she better now?

 

[suburbanminifarm]

How is she now? If you can palpate her bad leg and find where the break is, (if it is a break) you can splint it easily; the internet should have lots of directions on this. I wish I could help you do it!

 

[NellaBean]

She is still hanging in there. I keep her and her sister together in a little dog crate in the big coop at night......and either in the tractor during the day or in a large dog crate in the garage. Because of the severe rainy weather this week, she was totally soaked one day when I went to put her away for the night....so I have kept her in the big dog crate in the garage the last couple days. It is in the open front area...almost like a carport....so she is still out in the fresh air, but totally protected from rain, wind and direct sun.

She is eating and drinking and able to hobble around. She has figured out how to hop and flap her wings at the same time to stay upright.

I put the small carrier up to the large carrier this morning and then left to get something and she had hopped from the little one to the big one with her sister and was standing at the food dish pigging out. So she is doing okay.

She is so wild and crazy it is hard to do much of anything with her. She does seem to be using her leg better than before, so hopefully she is starting to heal.

 

[NellaBean]

The little chicky is still hanging in there. I stopped separating her from the others, and she of course, immediately got underneath the coop and wouldn't come out. Even spent a night out there when she decided to bed down at the farthest corner, up against the garage side. I expected her to get eaten that night (but it is not possible to get under there at all) but when I came out the next morning, she was wandering around in front of the coop. Last night she was all the way up the hill towards the back deck when I went out for night lockup. She even was able to run away from me fast enough that I couldn't catch her at first. She still limps but is slowly getting better. She was depressed by herself, so now I just let her out with her buddies and she manages to mostly stay out of the way of the big chickens. She is still very thin, but seems perky enough.

 

[NellaBean]

Poor thing, it took me a few days to realize she can't reach the "big chicken" feeder, since she is still kind of hunched over. So now I bring her a bowl of food every night to snack on when she is in the coop. Tonight I let her eat out of the bucket of chick food for a bit, since she seemed pretty hungry. She figured out that I am the food lady, so she will hobble around after me outside, or if I am nearby, will try to come over to me. The other chickens were being mean to her today and she ran over and tried to stick her head under my pant leg to hide. Too cute

 

[PaintedGemsRanch]

Glad to hear she is doing better and shining up to you

lol

 

[chris_m90731]

she looks much better!

 

[NellaBean]

Well this little chicky is still hanging in there. She is in great spirits and just zooms all over the place....although a bit lopsided and wobbly. I don't know what the actual damage was or just how bad it was, but she is kind of permanently hunched over and her 'injured' leg doesn't move normally...but is still usable. She is happy as a clam though....I added a group of 10 young pullets to the flock, so the big girls have someone else to pick on now. When I let everyone out today, she hopped right out of the coop and went running to the lower feeder down the hill and around the corner, and was standing right between two of the big roosters just chowing down. She is always last in the coop as she cleans up the scraps underneath the feeder after all the big chickens go to bed.

My boyfriend was over the other day and she was following him around the yard. Too cute

Every night I put her in a little dog crate in the coop, so she can have uninterrupted access to a bowl of food and so the big kids can't pick on her if I am late to let them out in the morning....so she has learned to get in the coop and wait at the crate door to get let in every night.