Dog Attack. How to treat severe wounds? *Graphic Pic*

[Lelilamom]

My beagles snatched one of my birds off the fence that separates them early yesterday evening. We thought she was dead but she survived. I cleaned her wounds with peroxide which nearly killed her. Then I coated her with bacitracin. How do I dress her?

This morning she's standing up and making a few cooing noises. She is severely wounded, but walks just a tiny bit and is eating and drinking. She pooped this morning. Her wounds are draining a bit. I've set bones, cleaned peck wounds and pulled stuck eggs out of vents. But this is new territory for me.

 

[Sonya9]

Keep her warm and if you can, start giving her antibiotics. If she isn't bleeding out due to internal injuries that is a good sign but infection is a concern with puncture wounds.

Don't use anymore peroxide on the wound (once is enough, it destroys cells and will delay healing with repeated use). See if you can keep her eating/drinking by offering scrambled egg or other treats. If you add antibiotics to her water add some sugar to cover the taste and also to keep her blood sugar levels up.

 

[Lelilamom]

Thank you. Throughout the day yesterday she was more and more alert and even laid a soft shell egg. I pat dried her wounds last night and applied more bacitracin. She is eating and drinking and this morning walking a bit and pecking at the ground. I cleaned the brooder I have her in and she seemed happy and was preening herself just a little bit. I gave her 5 or 6 grains of oyster shell and she gobbled them up.

 

[Sonya9]

That's a good sign! Infection is probably your biggest concern, hopefully the puncture wounds will heal from the inside out.

 

[Lelilamom]

That is my biggest concern right now. I stopped by the feed store and grabbed a back of antibiotic and started her on it yesterday.

 

[hyzenthlay]

How is your hen doing now? It sounds like she is feeling a lot better!

I have a 4 month old pullet who just suffered a similar attack today. She apparently found a hole in the fence and ended up in the neighbor's yard, with the neighbor's lab mix. We didn't know until we heard squawking and then saw the dog with our chicken in her mouth. The pullet was quiet and very still, so we thought she was dead--the dog was actually digging a hole to bury her--when I saw Delphine's leg move. I yelled at the dog and she dropped the Delphine, who went running into the bushes.

Now she has wounds on her back very much like your hen's--a lot of feather loss on her back and tail and a bloody area on her back, but the wounds didn't look deep at all. She can walk, but her gait looks a little odd--kind of drunk/wobbly--and she was trembling for awhile. After reading here, I flushed the wound with saline, cleaned it with a foaming betadine type spray (Bac-D?), and put some bacitracin on it. Delphine is isolated in the coop with a heat lamp. At first she was cowering in a corner, but as it got towards bedtime she went up onto the high perch, which requires either a big jump or a little flying, so I took that to be a good sign. I don't think she's been eating or drinking, though. I put a bunch of dried mealworms right by her, and it doesn't look like she touched them (that's usually their favorite treat). I'm worried about internal injuries. I made her a vet appointment for the morning, mostly to get antibiotics (the vet is much closer than any feed store around here), but I don't have much faith that they really know what to do for a chicken.

I'd love to hear how your girl is doing. Are you going to keep her isolated until her back heals fully, or at least scabs?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Skip the H2O2 and betadine. Treat her with "purple medicine" and keep her warm and dry. The folks at the farm store will think for sure that you're a hard case farmer if you go in and ask them for "some of that purple (Gentian Violet) medicine"

Just don't get it on your fingers unless you don't mind wearing it off.

 

[jranee]

we had a dog attack a few years ago and we used this glue that is safe for the chicken and glued the skin and then used bandages to hold the wounds closed.i it only took a week or two to heal and she is running around fine today

 

[casportpony]

Best thing for cleaning wounds is chlorhexidine (Novalsan).

-Kathy

 

[ihvpower]

Honestly folks, I just pulled through a pullet who had 90% of the skin on her back and sides pecked off. What worked exceptionally well, was gently rinsing the wound with saline, then spraying with REDKOTE, which is an antiseptic and keeps the wound soft and protected. I found it at Tractor supply. I also put her on a 7 day course of Doxycycline which I found online. Right now, she has a dime-size wound left to heal and she will be ready to be re-introduced. What a tough little chick though!!!