Dog attack...

[mnhomeschoolmom]

Well, I should have thought better about letting my girls out today, shame on me for not foreseeing this possible outcome. My 2 dogs have no issues getting along with our chickens, it was my sister's dog that got out and came after one of my girls. It didn't take long to catch him, but he managed to scare her to bits and get all of her tail feathers. At least that's what I thought initially. There was no blood, just one seriously freaked out chicken with no tail feathers so I let her be for a bit to calm her down. Once she settled, I brought her back to the coop to look her over, she was still so upset that I didn't prod too much, I brought her to water and food and decided since she seemed okay I'd just let her be. She did eat and drink, went to her nesting box and as usual sat for awhile. I continued checking in on her and her behavior was normal, in fact she laid an egg. At that point I decided to look her over a bit more carefully. Well, I feel horrible! I noticed the missing feathers went a bit further under her wing and there WERE in fact a few wounds. One ripped the skin pretty good. She's such a good girl, she let me clean her up and apply some antibiotic ointment but I'm wondering if this will heal on it's own? She is absolutely unaffected in temperament and socialization, but I want to be certain I do take care of her wound as best I can.

Thanks for any advice or encouragement you may be able to offer!

Tracey

 

[SAORSA]

I once had a hen attacked by an ginormous red tailed hawk. I heard all the commotion and ran outside. The hawk was on top of her, feathers everywhere.
The hawk flew away when it saw me running up on them. Pour Rosie was traumatized and had several tears to her skin. She was bleeding quite a bit.
I only treated the wounds once with an antibiotic ointment and then was told to "let her heal, chickens are very resilient and have a high body temp".
I didn't do anything else and sure enough, she healed.
I then built an everything proof pen and that was the first time I saw what it looked like when a chicken felt safe.
I know it sounds strange, but they really did relax when I put them in the pen. They had been in a large open pen, five foot non climb horse wire with no cover for many years unmolested.
Before the pen, I didn't realize they were worried and stressed. They looked so calm and content after I put them in a covered pen.

 

[mnhomeschoolmom]

Thanks for your reply! She does seem to be doing okay. These girls have always been so sweet and content. Spoiled a bit, I suppose!

Our own 2 dogs could mingle with them in the garden with no one upset at all. This dog was not familiar with the chickens and although we thought we were careful, he did manage an escape. I can't be too angry with him, I should not have let their begging to come out get to me!! They have pleanty of room outside in an enclosed run. Lesson learned!

Tracey