Dog Attack --photos

[practicalpets]

My first thought when I found her under the bush & examined the damage was "I gotta finish her" (which would've been super hard to do but I'd rather put her out of her misery) then I saw this message board and read other "help! Dog attacked hen!"-threads...
She definitely has an intense open wound and my second thought was to leave her there under bush -- again- Google
To the rescue!... I opted to spray hydrogen peroxide from a spritz bottle and lay a clean washcloth upon the wound and finally -- okay! You better come inside since its cold and rainy- she's got an extra shirt layed over her back.. She's in a plastic tote bin.. And next to the chicks nursery (warm!)
Sigh ... See pics below and LMk - I'll take to Vet early morn if u advise ..

 

[practicalpets]

 

[practicalpets]

 

[Zwolf84]

Chickens are quite resilient once they survive the initial shock, I had one attacked by a raccoon and it tore a piece of skin from her neck/chest that exposed her crop but didn't puncture it. I cleaned her up with some water but pretty much left her to her own devices in a separate pen. She went on to heal with almost no sign of injury. Sadly a year later a fox took off with her. The wound in your picture looks like there is some denuded tissue but overall it looks pretty viable. Let it dry once any debris is washed free and keep her away from other chickens and flies until a good scab forms. Don't use too much peroxide after the initial cleaning as it can harm healing tissue. Not sure how much a vet will be able to do as chickens either survive the injury or go downhill from unseen internal injuries. Vet care for more severe injuries also exceed what most people are willing to pay for most chickens.

 

[practicalpets]

Someone mentioned upping the protein on another thread /// does chick meal have more?
Also. I was advised to put Vodka upon the wound to clean it ? Less harSh than rubbing alcohol and peroxide doesn't clean (they said)...

 

[Sylver Queen]

Hi,

If this helps:

Last summer, one of my chickens sustained injuries from a dog and she had deep tissue punctures in both thighs, skin and fat missing from most of her back, and looked just awful. But she had hunkered down during the attack and protected her internal organs, so she was able to rest for a bit then get up and walk to a bush. When I saw her making such an effort to survive, I did all I could think to help her out.

She made a full recovery in one month, and here's what I did with what I had available to me:

I immediately gave her a warm bath/rinse with lightly Epsom salted warm water, to remove all the debris and help fight infection, then brought her in to a crate in the house, in a quiet room where I could keep her warm. Next day, she was alive, but really dealing, so I tried hydrogen peroxide and triple antibiotic, etc. After a couple of days, the dead tissue on her started to smell so awful I was wondering how she was still living. I didn't want to kill good tissue, so instead of using more hydrogen peroxide, I figured I'd try another salt water bath, hoping I could sort of jerkify the dead tissue until she could grow it out. I looked up online how much salt to use in a warm water bath to kill infection and came up with one teaspoon salt per quart of warm water.

That very evening, after the good salt water rinse outside, the smell was cut in half, and after about 36 hours of rinsing her with warm salt water every 12 hours or so, the smell was only noticeable if you were right over her. I also joined BYC, looked up what I could, and ended up visiting my local feed store to get some Vetericyn spray (I really like that stuff) and some tetracycline hydrochloride (internal antibiotic). I asked the feed store lady what she would suggest for the injuries I described, and these were what I came home with.

The next several days, I sprayed her wounds with Vetericyn a few times a day, and gave her the antibiotic on a cucumber twice a day, with light salt water rinses only as I felt were needed. It shocked me how completely her wounds healed, and she had feathers again and was back in the hen house almost exactly one month after the injuries.

I was very fortunate and grateful for that outcome, and I also learned how resilient chickens are for myself. I hope the best for your hen.

Oh, and after a whole bunch of research on how much tetracycline hydrochloride to feed a single chicken, I ended up with an infection-free animal by giving her about 1/4 teaspoon per pint (two cups) of water. Since she wasn't really drinking water, though, I actually ended up minutely measuring out the powder and rubbing it onto a half of a cucumber from our garden twice a day, estimating the water content of the cucumber and using the approximate measurement of antibiotic granules.

There were actually several factors, now that I think about it, involved in my hen's recovery. She wasn't interested in her feed, so I offered her fruit, veggies, and as many bugs as I could find while she was convalescing, and she did very well on that.

If there was one thing I was most struck by, it was how much the salt water baths seemed to help. And then, getting her to take internal antibiotics was good, too.

This is what worked for our little hen. Hope it helps!

 

[Zwolf84]

A fairly clean wound probably doesn't need a lot of cleaning after the first washout. Unlike Sylver Queen's disaster case with necrotic tissue and a secondary infection, which requires a bit more work. Peroxide is an oxidizing agent, hence all the crazy bubbles. Alcohol desiccates as it evaporates, killing cells like bacteria but also some healthy tissue if used too often. The goal in an open wound is not to get rid of all bacteria but to provide an environment that does not allow for overgrowth of bacteria to the point where the immune system can't compensate. All animals are covered with bacteria, most are harmless and will colonize open wounds without ill effects.
As for higher protein, there are layer pellets with higher protein as well as game bird feed that tends to be high protein. Better yet, get some worms from the garden or a bit of raw hamburger works as well. We have a sushi chef friend that gives us a few sashimi trimmings from time to time. The hens love their sushi.

 

[MrsBrooke]

I had a hen get sliced open by our overzealous rooster.

Head to Walgreens and pick up some chlorihexidine (it's right next to the hydro perox). Douse her wound with that twice a day... You won't even need antibiotic oint. Let it air out and keep her in a warm, dim, quiet place with water and high-protein treats like meal worms and boiled eggs to encourage tissue building.

If you notice the skin turning blue and green, that's normal bruising. Keep on keeping on UNLESS she goes off her food and water, loses the light in her eyes, or the wound starts to smell.

MrsB

 

[practicalpets]

Oh good - I am going to boil eggs - and share the reptiles siperworms and the lobster roaches which are far higher in protein than crickets and ok- going to IfA for
Vet spray

 

[MrsBrooke]

Forgot to mention... Hydrogen peroxide is really mean to chicken tissue and eats it away. It's why I recommend chlorihexidine. It might sting a little, but it doesn't do any damage to the chicken.

MrsB