About a month ago, my dog got ahold of one of my Silver Dorkings after dark when I went to shut the coop for the night & discovered that she had gotten over the fence. My dog found her before I did. She had puncture wounds on her back, and died in the night. She made some gurgling sounds when she breathed, so I'm not sure if she 'drowned' or just died from internal bleeding. Her abdomen was full of blood when I checked on her the next morning and found her dead. So this is why I'm not sure if I should be worried, or not at this point. I hate losing chickens!
The current problem is we have a hen- about 7 months old- Brahma mix- kinda big girl- that gets over the 6 ft fence every day to lay her egg in the woods. My dog has never messed with her. This hen usually puts herself up but if we see her out, we put her up though. Yesterday, I went outside to play with my 4 yr old in the afternoon, and there were some feathers around on my driveway and my dog & our neighbors dog were sniffing around on our carport. I found my hen huddled in a corner. She didn't have any apparent gashes, or bleeding. Her right side abdomen did feel fluid filled though. I put her in our 'injured/sitting hen' area adjacent to our main coop. My hubby looked at her when he got home, and said he seemed fine to him, as she went from one box over to another to stand on top of our Broody Hen who is in the neighboring box.
This morning, I didn't hear the roosters crowing, so I knew for sure she's died in the middle of the night. She was alive. I had to go to work, so didn't mess with her. When I got home, she was sitting in the corner of the box, (little door open so she could get out in the run if she wanted to). Her abdomen no longer feels fluid filled, but she does under her right wing. I did see what looked like superficial gashed along where her wings attach to her back. They're well covered in feathers, so I'm not sure if I should mess around with them and treat them with a topical spray or not.
There was no egg in her nest when I checked it after I found her and put her in the 'injured bird' area, so I don't know if she laid one and the dogs got that as well, or if she hadn't laid it yet. I mention the egg because there was some poop that wasn't normal looking, but had dark 'turds' and then yellow runny part to it (it looks normal according to the chicken poop page thats posted in the threads here)
I was intially concerned that the puncture could have damaged her intestines or other vital organ, thus the fluid. Now I'm still concerned about that, but also that she hadn't laid her egg yet, and the egg was broken inside her.
Vet isn't an option. I will do what I can to help her recover, but can't justify paying a vet bill for her. I don't want to put her down if she can recover, and since she's made it 24 hours now, I think that's a good sign. Unless it's an infection, then it'll be apparent over the next couple of days.
The last bird went to waste- I could have processed her, and we could have at least eaten her if she hadn't died in the night. I want to avoid 'waste' with this one, if I can.
Anyone have any ideas as to what else I can do to help her recover, or decide if it's her 'time'???
The current problem is we have a hen- about 7 months old- Brahma mix- kinda big girl- that gets over the 6 ft fence every day to lay her egg in the woods. My dog has never messed with her. This hen usually puts herself up but if we see her out, we put her up though. Yesterday, I went outside to play with my 4 yr old in the afternoon, and there were some feathers around on my driveway and my dog & our neighbors dog were sniffing around on our carport. I found my hen huddled in a corner. She didn't have any apparent gashes, or bleeding. Her right side abdomen did feel fluid filled though. I put her in our 'injured/sitting hen' area adjacent to our main coop. My hubby looked at her when he got home, and said he seemed fine to him, as she went from one box over to another to stand on top of our Broody Hen who is in the neighboring box.
This morning, I didn't hear the roosters crowing, so I knew for sure she's died in the middle of the night. She was alive. I had to go to work, so didn't mess with her. When I got home, she was sitting in the corner of the box, (little door open so she could get out in the run if she wanted to). Her abdomen no longer feels fluid filled, but she does under her right wing. I did see what looked like superficial gashed along where her wings attach to her back. They're well covered in feathers, so I'm not sure if I should mess around with them and treat them with a topical spray or not.
There was no egg in her nest when I checked it after I found her and put her in the 'injured bird' area, so I don't know if she laid one and the dogs got that as well, or if she hadn't laid it yet. I mention the egg because there was some poop that wasn't normal looking, but had dark 'turds' and then yellow runny part to it (it looks normal according to the chicken poop page thats posted in the threads here)
I was intially concerned that the puncture could have damaged her intestines or other vital organ, thus the fluid. Now I'm still concerned about that, but also that she hadn't laid her egg yet, and the egg was broken inside her.
Vet isn't an option. I will do what I can to help her recover, but can't justify paying a vet bill for her. I don't want to put her down if she can recover, and since she's made it 24 hours now, I think that's a good sign. Unless it's an infection, then it'll be apparent over the next couple of days.
The last bird went to waste- I could have processed her, and we could have at least eaten her if she hadn't died in the night. I want to avoid 'waste' with this one, if I can.
Anyone have any ideas as to what else I can do to help her recover, or decide if it's her 'time'???
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