- Jul 25, 2014
- 13
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My brave little chicken
Hi all, I just thought I would share what I learned about doctoring a hen after a dog attack. I hope what I learned might benefit some of you.
First let me say that it was not the dogs fault, our neighbor’s dog does not leave it yard – ever. My chickens invaded his space and while 3 of the 4 cleared out successfully, Miss Picky was not so lucky. He caught her by the back end, but luckily did not pin her wings. Since he is part retriever I’m guessing he was “retrieving” her because he did not viciously attack her, she must have struggled and twisted and beat her wings in his face until she got free, leaving him with a mouth full of feathers and successfully getting across the buried electrified line and into the woods to hide.
At least that is what I have pieced together about the incident. My neighbor was sick when she found feathers in her yard and immediately came to help. They have been very supportive.
But here is what I encountered that fateful day. I was a sunny Sunday and I let them out early, 1:00 p.m., to free range. It was hot and I was working indoors but checking on them every hour or so…but when I went out at 3:00 they were nowhere to be found, I walked the property for twenty minutes calling them and even walked to my neighbor’s – there dog was in their yard, but nothing seemed abnormal. That is until I found the girls, hiding in one of their favorite bushes, I must have walked by them 3 or 4 times but they never moved, I literally had to coax them out with treats (they usually run to meet me!) and Ms. Picky was missing. That’s when I started looking in earnest. We live in the woods and while there is always the possibility of foxes or coyotes or even bears, we have never had a problem and I thought for sure I would find her…or at the very least some feathers or something…but I didn’t. I kept circling our property looking for signs of a struggle and checked the coop several times - hoping she might show up. Our other 3 chickens were sticking close to my husband who was working in the front yard. By 6:00 I was convinced she was really gone for good so before putting the girls back in their pen I went to the coop to change out their water - and there she was, up on the roost pole, shaking like a leaf in a storm. I picked her up and immediately noticed the missing feathers on her back, I carried her to the back porch, snuggled her up in clean, fluffy towel and rocked her to sleep keeping her warm and relaxed to ward off shock. My husband put our other chickens in their pen and set up the isolation pen in the basement, complete with a cardboard “nest box”. He then held her while I went and gathered up a clean plastic tub, a fresh gallon of distilled water, some antiseptic wash and antibiotic ointment. The missing back and tail feathers were minor compared to the torn and ripped skin under her wings. While she was lucky the dog hadn’t pinned her wings she must have done a lot of twisting and turning to get away and this left several areas of ripped and torn skin. On one side you could actually see the muscle, but there was very little blood, so I knew she would not bleed to death. This was a Sunday evening and the only open veterinary clinic was over two hours away, and since only time would tell if she had internal injuries that would prove fatal, we decided to do what we could for her here at home. So we cleaned her in a lukewarm half-bath, pulled as much debirs (feathers, grass, etc.) out of the wounds as we could and slathered her in ointment. After her body temperature seemed to stabilize we put her in her private nest box and she snuggled down for the night. I must say I did not have much hope, there was very little blood loss (a good thing) but a lot of discoloration and bruising, and if there were serious internal injuries I knew she wouldn’t pull through. I went to see her in the early morning, and to my surprise she stood up, ate a few mouths full of chicken food, drank quite a bit of water, pooped and then laid back down in her nest. I took that as a good sign and decided if she was willing to fight I would help as much as I could. I went to the feed store, purchase Duramycin-10 (antibiotic) and Betadine (the lower strength -5% - because the clerk explained the higher strength might irritate her tender skin.) Then every morning I gave her fresh antibiotic water (1/4 teaspoon to 1 cup of water) and gave her a half-bath and cleaned her wounds with betadine. We opened the garage door everyday so that she got plenty of fresh air and some sunshine while in her separate pen. She didn’t eat a lot but would always eat raisins, blueberries and grass. Every day her flock mates came to visit and she was always happier and more active with them nearby. By day 5 we were setting up a smaller chicken wire pen next to the main coop’s run so that they could see and hear each other, Miss Picky was only eating grass and leaves at this time and wouldn’t touch her feed even when coaxed. We then started allowing our young pullet in with her and this seemed to make both of the happy! They would scratch in the leaves together (we enlarged the pen to give them more freedom) and rested next to each other during the heat of the day. Then one evening after the 2 older hens had gone to roost Picky just clucked and carried on something fierce to get into the main pen (we had been carrying her back to her solitary pen each night and only letting the pullet back in the coop) so we gave it a try. The older hens were already dozing and didn’t seem to care when Miss Picky and Sparrow (the pullet) settled on the far end of the roost pole. I did get up extra early the next morning and got her out before the older girls woke up, but after a few more days we decided to reintroduce her to the flock. She had been on her antibiotic and betadine regiment for 11 days - her wounds were healing nicely, the bruising and discoloration was gone and her back was starting to re-feather. That was when we covered her bare areas with blue-kote and let them all free range together. There was an immediate kerfuffle when the number 2 hen reminder her she was now number three, but it wasn’t anything severe, and Princess, the queen bee of the flock, seemed more inclined to cluck, stare or just chase her off than to actually attack. Miss Picky wasn’t happy about it but she had to accept her new place in the pecking order. This is when she finally went back on her feed. (Approximately day 15.) Since then she seems to have filled out nicely and probably regained any weight she might have lost. The 2 hens above Picky are now molting so they seem more concerned about preening and dusting and are looking to snuggle together at night so they are all roosting comfortably together.
We learned a lot from our experience. First I’m not afraid to bath and clean and doctor my chickens anymore. I did consult a friend of mine that is a veterinarian via phone and text on day four of my treatment of Picky and he said I should continue doing what I was doing and assured me chickens are very hardy and could certainly bounce back from an attack of this magnitude (I texted him pictures.) He did say that if we lived closer he could have put a few stitches in her on the day of the attack, but that the skin should “crystalize” on its own and mend. And that is exactly what it did. (He also admitted he had never treated a chicken before, and didn’t know anyone in Western PA that had them as a specialty.) Being off her feed was scary, but we made sure she got plenty of “grazing” time and encouraged her to scratch for grubs and worms. I do believe that she knew what she needed, and the grass and weeds she selected must have been good for her. We also gave her plenty of healthy treats – veggies, oatmeal, berries, and freeze dried meal worms. The day after we quit her antibiotic we added Life-Lyte mega tabs to her water. The mega tabs gave her the vitamins, nutrients, and probiotics that she was missing because she was off her feed. It also had electrolytes and since we were in the midst of an extreme heat wave I think the entire flock benefitted from the additive.
I have cut back on the amount of time I now allow my flock to free range, so they don’t have as much time to wander all the way over to our neighbor’s yard. And we have been using our movable containment pen to our best advantage, this allows them new areas to dig and scratch and new patches of grass, but it keeps them from wandering off. And I really do believe, at least for Miss Picky, getting her re-socialized to the flock was key to her recovery. Chickens are flock animals, and while I know a one-on-one pet chicken can be happy, a chicken that is used to living with others just does better when she with the flock. I also think it was a blow to little chicken ego to realize she was no longer chicken number 2 – but once she finally accepted her new status her appetite came back. It has been 4 weeks since the attack, she is looking healthy and has become my number one free ranger! She finds more grubs, worms and insects than any of the others and all that protein is really helping her feathers to come back quickly.
I’m including some pictures so you’ll see the injuries and her recovery. And I hope this helps someone out there. I do give most of the credit to Picky herself, if she wasn’t a feisty little hen I don’t think she would have made it back to the coop or marshalled through all the pain of recovery. She is a fighter and all I had to do was support her and give her a fighting chance. So my thought is do what you can immediately when you find an injured bird, and if they make it through the first 24 hours then focus on keeping the infections at bay with topical cleaning and antibiotics. And if she is used to being with other chickens find a way to keep her connected, even though they squabble they depend on their flock mates for direction and comfort.
missing back feathers ripped skin missing tail feathers & bruising
deep wound exposed tissue fully feather back and new tail feathers coming in (both 4 wks later)
Hi all, I just thought I would share what I learned about doctoring a hen after a dog attack. I hope what I learned might benefit some of you.
First let me say that it was not the dogs fault, our neighbor’s dog does not leave it yard – ever. My chickens invaded his space and while 3 of the 4 cleared out successfully, Miss Picky was not so lucky. He caught her by the back end, but luckily did not pin her wings. Since he is part retriever I’m guessing he was “retrieving” her because he did not viciously attack her, she must have struggled and twisted and beat her wings in his face until she got free, leaving him with a mouth full of feathers and successfully getting across the buried electrified line and into the woods to hide.
At least that is what I have pieced together about the incident. My neighbor was sick when she found feathers in her yard and immediately came to help. They have been very supportive.
But here is what I encountered that fateful day. I was a sunny Sunday and I let them out early, 1:00 p.m., to free range. It was hot and I was working indoors but checking on them every hour or so…but when I went out at 3:00 they were nowhere to be found, I walked the property for twenty minutes calling them and even walked to my neighbor’s – there dog was in their yard, but nothing seemed abnormal. That is until I found the girls, hiding in one of their favorite bushes, I must have walked by them 3 or 4 times but they never moved, I literally had to coax them out with treats (they usually run to meet me!) and Ms. Picky was missing. That’s when I started looking in earnest. We live in the woods and while there is always the possibility of foxes or coyotes or even bears, we have never had a problem and I thought for sure I would find her…or at the very least some feathers or something…but I didn’t. I kept circling our property looking for signs of a struggle and checked the coop several times - hoping she might show up. Our other 3 chickens were sticking close to my husband who was working in the front yard. By 6:00 I was convinced she was really gone for good so before putting the girls back in their pen I went to the coop to change out their water - and there she was, up on the roost pole, shaking like a leaf in a storm. I picked her up and immediately noticed the missing feathers on her back, I carried her to the back porch, snuggled her up in clean, fluffy towel and rocked her to sleep keeping her warm and relaxed to ward off shock. My husband put our other chickens in their pen and set up the isolation pen in the basement, complete with a cardboard “nest box”. He then held her while I went and gathered up a clean plastic tub, a fresh gallon of distilled water, some antiseptic wash and antibiotic ointment. The missing back and tail feathers were minor compared to the torn and ripped skin under her wings. While she was lucky the dog hadn’t pinned her wings she must have done a lot of twisting and turning to get away and this left several areas of ripped and torn skin. On one side you could actually see the muscle, but there was very little blood, so I knew she would not bleed to death. This was a Sunday evening and the only open veterinary clinic was over two hours away, and since only time would tell if she had internal injuries that would prove fatal, we decided to do what we could for her here at home. So we cleaned her in a lukewarm half-bath, pulled as much debirs (feathers, grass, etc.) out of the wounds as we could and slathered her in ointment. After her body temperature seemed to stabilize we put her in her private nest box and she snuggled down for the night. I must say I did not have much hope, there was very little blood loss (a good thing) but a lot of discoloration and bruising, and if there were serious internal injuries I knew she wouldn’t pull through. I went to see her in the early morning, and to my surprise she stood up, ate a few mouths full of chicken food, drank quite a bit of water, pooped and then laid back down in her nest. I took that as a good sign and decided if she was willing to fight I would help as much as I could. I went to the feed store, purchase Duramycin-10 (antibiotic) and Betadine (the lower strength -5% - because the clerk explained the higher strength might irritate her tender skin.) Then every morning I gave her fresh antibiotic water (1/4 teaspoon to 1 cup of water) and gave her a half-bath and cleaned her wounds with betadine. We opened the garage door everyday so that she got plenty of fresh air and some sunshine while in her separate pen. She didn’t eat a lot but would always eat raisins, blueberries and grass. Every day her flock mates came to visit and she was always happier and more active with them nearby. By day 5 we were setting up a smaller chicken wire pen next to the main coop’s run so that they could see and hear each other, Miss Picky was only eating grass and leaves at this time and wouldn’t touch her feed even when coaxed. We then started allowing our young pullet in with her and this seemed to make both of the happy! They would scratch in the leaves together (we enlarged the pen to give them more freedom) and rested next to each other during the heat of the day. Then one evening after the 2 older hens had gone to roost Picky just clucked and carried on something fierce to get into the main pen (we had been carrying her back to her solitary pen each night and only letting the pullet back in the coop) so we gave it a try. The older hens were already dozing and didn’t seem to care when Miss Picky and Sparrow (the pullet) settled on the far end of the roost pole. I did get up extra early the next morning and got her out before the older girls woke up, but after a few more days we decided to reintroduce her to the flock. She had been on her antibiotic and betadine regiment for 11 days - her wounds were healing nicely, the bruising and discoloration was gone and her back was starting to re-feather. That was when we covered her bare areas with blue-kote and let them all free range together. There was an immediate kerfuffle when the number 2 hen reminder her she was now number three, but it wasn’t anything severe, and Princess, the queen bee of the flock, seemed more inclined to cluck, stare or just chase her off than to actually attack. Miss Picky wasn’t happy about it but she had to accept her new place in the pecking order. This is when she finally went back on her feed. (Approximately day 15.) Since then she seems to have filled out nicely and probably regained any weight she might have lost. The 2 hens above Picky are now molting so they seem more concerned about preening and dusting and are looking to snuggle together at night so they are all roosting comfortably together.
We learned a lot from our experience. First I’m not afraid to bath and clean and doctor my chickens anymore. I did consult a friend of mine that is a veterinarian via phone and text on day four of my treatment of Picky and he said I should continue doing what I was doing and assured me chickens are very hardy and could certainly bounce back from an attack of this magnitude (I texted him pictures.) He did say that if we lived closer he could have put a few stitches in her on the day of the attack, but that the skin should “crystalize” on its own and mend. And that is exactly what it did. (He also admitted he had never treated a chicken before, and didn’t know anyone in Western PA that had them as a specialty.) Being off her feed was scary, but we made sure she got plenty of “grazing” time and encouraged her to scratch for grubs and worms. I do believe that she knew what she needed, and the grass and weeds she selected must have been good for her. We also gave her plenty of healthy treats – veggies, oatmeal, berries, and freeze dried meal worms. The day after we quit her antibiotic we added Life-Lyte mega tabs to her water. The mega tabs gave her the vitamins, nutrients, and probiotics that she was missing because she was off her feed. It also had electrolytes and since we were in the midst of an extreme heat wave I think the entire flock benefitted from the additive.
I have cut back on the amount of time I now allow my flock to free range, so they don’t have as much time to wander all the way over to our neighbor’s yard. And we have been using our movable containment pen to our best advantage, this allows them new areas to dig and scratch and new patches of grass, but it keeps them from wandering off. And I really do believe, at least for Miss Picky, getting her re-socialized to the flock was key to her recovery. Chickens are flock animals, and while I know a one-on-one pet chicken can be happy, a chicken that is used to living with others just does better when she with the flock. I also think it was a blow to little chicken ego to realize she was no longer chicken number 2 – but once she finally accepted her new status her appetite came back. It has been 4 weeks since the attack, she is looking healthy and has become my number one free ranger! She finds more grubs, worms and insects than any of the others and all that protein is really helping her feathers to come back quickly.
I’m including some pictures so you’ll see the injuries and her recovery. And I hope this helps someone out there. I do give most of the credit to Picky herself, if she wasn’t a feisty little hen I don’t think she would have made it back to the coop or marshalled through all the pain of recovery. She is a fighter and all I had to do was support her and give her a fighting chance. So my thought is do what you can immediately when you find an injured bird, and if they make it through the first 24 hours then focus on keeping the infections at bay with topical cleaning and antibiotics. And if she is used to being with other chickens find a way to keep her connected, even though they squabble they depend on their flock mates for direction and comfort.
missing back feathers ripped skin missing tail feathers & bruising
deep wound exposed tissue fully feather back and new tail feathers coming in (both 4 wks later)
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