Dog attack

[Angeline1978]

Obviously not a member here!

 

[SW31]

You did the right thing. We have a lovely vet who is starting to treat chickens but will contact experts if she’s not sure. She first injected them with steroids to manage their shock( they were very badly injured) and then started on antibiotic injections which we then did at home. We also had to clean the wounds daily and apply an antibiotic type cream to the wounds. That was in the beginning on January this year. We added more protein into their diet, such as ground beef and chopped up boiled eggs, to help them heal better. Due to lack of feathers and cold weather they couldn’t go back outside until mid March; they were a nightmare in the house but we could watch them carefully and tell how they were recovering. It was surprising just how poorly their combs were - very pinky grey colour and very droopy. Now they are bright red and standup properly.
They are now fine and the worst injured has almost re-grown all her feathers, just a few still missing. It takes time but they will be fine with lots of TLC,

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Sometimes finding a large animal vet can work out better. Horse and cow vets find themselves seeing chickens on their rounds here and there and seem to be more practical often.

Sounds like this wound will be fine though with a little care.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Ahh. Does her wing cover it or no?

It sorta does.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I've been on here for a while now. I have read a lot of problems from all over. Out of all the problems I've read, one problem is always the same. "The vet here does not do chickens". Is there a vet that does work with chickens? I'm telling you, they could make a million and never touch another animal.

I can't say I can blame them. Chickens are more or less "disposable" and there's no money in them. It's hard enough to find a veterinarian who sees livestock. My vet has her own chickens and has made the effort to learn about poultry medicine, but that kind of thing is more production-related than pet-related. I had her look at one of my hens with a static crop and she sort of shrugged. I totally get it. I just have to be able to doctor them myself, or euthanize as necessary.

 

[Angeline1978]

On one hand they are and other hand, some blood lines are irreplaceable. When I was young we had a blood line that I don't think exists anymore and if they do whoever has it is tight lipped. I can't seem to find them anymore. Wish I would have kept them and breed over the years. Those are worth the money to me anyway.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

My girl isn't doing so great this morning. Her wound looks good, albeit very wet, and she's depressed and not really interested in food. She is in apparent pain and is having trouble walking. Poor thing.

 

[Angeline1978]

She is going to look and feel very bad for few days. She not only has stress from being attacked but now adrenaline gone pain kicks in. Just keep eye on her.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

For anyone who is in a similar situation, my dog-attacked hen is doing so much better today, two days after the attack. She's still walking gingerly , but she's eating and drinking and seems much better. This has been a good learning experience for me about chickens and large skin wounds.

 

[Angeline1978]

That's fabulous!