Dog attack HELP PLEASE.

[moonnippie]

OK so bit of a delima here. We (my Dh and I)/are actually stuck for 2 more days in hospital with our newborn son on iv antibiotics. My mom is watching our 3 hens, dogs and daughter. We think one of the girls flew over their enclosure fence yesterday and the commotion attracted the beagle to attack. This is the damage he inflicted. I'm a Vet tech so were I home treating wouldn't be a problem. She is currently with friends down the street who also have chickens in their empty extra coop. I have them applying flamazine right now but I don't know what else to do for her...is she beyond repair or can this be salvaged? They say she's acting normal and eating and they can't believe her back is missing.

Help!?

 

[eviemethugh]

We had 4 survive a dog attack that took parts off their wing and shoulder. Skin was missing and a little meat. After 2 weeks they were healed and after 4 feathers were grown back in to where we couldn't see the damage. They were being raised as meat birds, and on harvest day...well I couldn't tell you which ones came from our hospital pen!
We used antibiotic ointment at first and the blue spray so they wouldn't pick on each other. And our plan was if they looked ummm not good on harvest day we would use the meat farthest from the damage for jerky dog treats...but seriously...we couldn't tell at all and we knew which ones they were because we never reintegrated them with the flock.
Sorry if that is offensive. But that is probably a very true showing of how well they can heal even when meat was taken.

 

[KayTee]

I have seen hens on BYC recover from attacks as bad or even worse that that - they are so resiliant it's amazing. One of my chicken mommas got attacked by a buzzard yesterday morning - in successfully defending her 3 chicks she lost a whole handful of feathers and a bit of skin, but she is acting like nothing happened! She is so brave - she's been getting loads of extra treats all day today!

If your girl is acting normal then that's a very good sign, but is it not possible for you to call in a favour from a vet that you know and get your friends (or your mom) to take her for the vet to look at? If not, then keeping her isolated in your friends' empty coop and getting them to look after her is the best you can do until you can get back home.

It seems as if you have your hands full elsewhere at the moment - don't let yourself get pulled in too many directions at once. I am sure your friends will do the best they can for her in your absence, and no matter how much we love our feathered family, our human family always comes first!

All the best for you, your son, your hen and all the rest of your family. Please let us know how you end up treating her and how she recovers - all information like that is so useful for the rest of us when we encounter similar problems.

 

[centrarchid]

Spray as inidcated with Bluecoat. Isolate bird from flies that might lay eggs on wound. Keep bird out of direct sun.

 

[moonnippie]

Thank you everyone!;I'm waiting to hear back from the avian Vet I used to work with. There are none around here she's 14 hrs away by car where we used to live.

Any recommendations on fly spray? We have TSC near us.

I have my mom scrambling some eggs for her to eat later today.

 

[centrarchid]

Start by following link below. I first try to keep flies away.

http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2436&Itemid=2697