Dog got chicken, will she be okay?!?!

[mommyofthree]

Some friends of ours brought their dog over today (without asking first) and our chickens were out free ranging. I was inside and saw the dog (a good size lab) chasing my chickens through the window....I was livid!! I was getting my son in bed so I went out as soon as I could, only a minute or two later. Apparently they yelled at the dog for chasing my chickens, then let it stay out assuming that because they had yelled at it it would leave the chickens alone...?? Well DH had a few too many to drink tonight so he wasn't thinking enough to tell them to put the dog in the car, or at least put the chickens away. So when I went out I saw the dog running around the back of the barn with one of my chickens in it's mouth....big surprise. The guys got the dog away from the chicken and I think she's okay, other than being scared half to death. The poor thing has been hiding in the coop since.

I looked her over and she has some broken/missing feathers and a couple of spots on her stomach area where I can see that she was bleeding a little bit. If she has puncture wounds do you think she'll be alright?? The dog had her in his mouth, tossed her and grabbed her again so I really hope she doesn't have any bad wounds that I missed. I hope she's okay. They offered to buy us a new chicken of she dies, sorry but I like the chickens I have and would rather they weren't killed by dogs and simply replaced. All life has value to me, just because it's a chicken doesn't make it expendable.

 

[HennyJenny]

I have nursed a couple of chickens after some pretty nasty dog bites and they did pretty well. It does take them a couple of days to quit being shocky. Just keep an eye on the wounds for infection. She could probably do with a cool quiet place to regroup as well. I bet she'll be ok. Good Luck!
Jenny

 

[zazouse]

Most labs have what is called a soft mouth, they are bred to retrieve without damaging the bird when hunters shoot them.

IMO... If the dog was out to kill the bird would have been dead the first bite.

Hopefully she will be fine, all you can do is wait and see.

 

[mommyofthree]

Thanks for the replies. I think she will be alright, she's just in shock. I went in to check on her and she pecked my hand pretty good so she must be feeling somewhat decent, lol. It's just so hard to look through all those feathers for wounds, especially when you have company over.
Another thing that REALLY ticked me off was when the owner of the lab yelled at her, right after she dropped the chicken. The dog layed right down, she knew she was in trouble. Then her big bully of an owner went up to her and gave her a swift kick right in the head. She layed there on her back for a good 10 seconds yelping louder than I've ever heard a dog yelp. Even though the thing had just been chomping on my chicken I felt awful for the poor dog!! What the heck is wrong with people?! I'd like to give hubby's friend a good swift kick in the head.

It's not the dog's fault that she followed her instinct and caught a chicken, it's her owners fault for not properly watching her. Plus the thing had never even seen a chicken before, what did he expect?? Poor chicken, and poor doggy.....

 

[luvmypyr]

we have had several NASTY dog injuries. Injuries i didn't think possible they could survive.. but they did! Make sure you clean all the wounds really well and pack them with neosporin ( with no pain reliever) . I didn't look where you are but if its really hot/ humid weather you may want to consider isolating her somewhere cool . Flies are nasty this time of year ...don't want any maggots in the wounds .. watch/ smell for infection regularly. OR if the wounds aren't really bad just clean her up and rub some neosporin on .. and off she goes. imo chickens are probably one of the most resiliant animals ( did i even spell that word right? lol)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chickens heal amazingly from injury; less so from illness.

 

[mommyofthree]

She seems to be doing fine, she was out and about in the yard the day after the attack and she can get up to her roost just fine. I was worried....for some reason I thought chickens had a hard time recovering from injuries, I never would have thought they were so resilient. Thank goodness for BYC!!

I just hope the dog is doing okay....