Dog attack this a.m. -- need advice ASAP

[Stumpy]

One of my young hens was attacked this morning by my own small dog. I feel horrible about this and want to do what I can for the hen. There is almost no skin on her back. Is it foolish to try to save her or should I put her down? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Sonja73]

Do you have pics?

 

[enola]

Pictures will help us give advice.... she is ptobably in shock do make sure to keep her warm until someone more helpful hsn me responds.

Ps. I also have a small dog who is just counting the days until she can help herself to a chicken...........

 

[Stumpy]

I'll give pics. It really looks horrible. Be back soon.

 

[ten chicks]

One of my young hens was attacked this morning by my own small dog. I feel horrible about this and want to do what I can for the hen. There is almost no skin on her back. Is it foolish to try to save her or should I put her down? Any advice would be appreciated!

You could try,chickens are very resilient. clean/flush wound with a diluted peroxide solution initially then apply an antibiotic ointment(nothing ending in "caine/cane"toxic to chickens). Leave wound uncovered,wound will heal from the inside out,clean daily with a saline solution and apply ointment,watch for infection. Keep her warm(very important,when ill/injured,chickens cannot regulate body temp)give her electrolytes for shock ASAP. For pain give her a baby aspirin 81mg or a reg 325mg aspirin,dose is 25mg per lb of body weight,crush and place in water(my preference)or sprinkle over feed. Make sure she starts to eat/drink. Keep her inside,watch for flies(maggots).

 

[junecleavage]

Is she still eating and drinking? My thought is if she is missing most of the skin off of her back she is probably in too much pain to do either. If that is the case she will be dying anyway, so why make her suffer. I have had two hens I have rescued from hawk attacks. Both lived through it. One was missing a fair amount of skin but ran from my husband when he went to put her out of her misery. Since she had that much fight I quarantined her, sprayed her with antibiotic spray (red kote, most people say don't use it because the red will encourage pecking but if she is on her own no one can peck her and it is supposed to be for more serious wounds than blue kote) and kept a watchful eye on her. After a day of not eating or drinking, we put her down. I felt worse that we kept her alive when she was suffering than I would have if we had just done it right off. The other I rescued, I gave the same treatment to and she was eating and drinking shortly after the attack and was anxious to get back out with the other chickens the next day.

If you can post a picture others may be able to tell you if she is too far gone. Otherwise, keep an eye on her,make sure the wounds are clean and if she is eating and drinking I say let her be. Hope that helps.

 

[enola]

See I knew some one would chime in.....

Keep in mind ..... chickens DO recover from horrible wounds with lots of TLC.

 

[Stumpy]

 

[ten chicks]

Nasty,just follow advice i have given in previous post. Make sure you get the electrolytes into her ASAP,she is in shock,you have to stabilize her right away,then proceed with cleaning wound. Keep her inside and warm(i use a hot water bottle,fill with hot water,wrap in a pillowcase and place beside her)give her the aspirin right away. Flush wound then apply ointment.

 

[raiford921]

It does look bad but I think that Ten Chicks has the best idea for care. Definately would bring her inside or in a space that you can control the heat and the flies.