Moose (my dog), who has never shown any interest in my chickens before, caught one of my Brahmas yesterday. He stopped as soon as I yelled, and Bertha (the chicken) ran under the barn/coop. My husband was able to pull her out. We brought her in the house and cleaned the wound. I was surprised to see that she was not bleeding at all, but her skin was torn pretty badly and I could see her rub bones. We trimmed the feathers around the wound, poured hydrogen peroxide on it and applied a liberal amount of triple antibiotic. We set up a little “hospital cage” for her in our mudroom with her own food and some antibiotic water we had been given by the vet for one of our injured ducks last fall.
Last night she hardly moved and slept a lot. Understandably. This morning she seemed a little bit more with it. She seemed sore but she got up and moved a little on her own. When I tried to move her to the back of her cage to make room to place the water directly in front of her, she took a peck at me. So I left her alone and put the water to the side, but I was happy to see she had a little fight in her. : )
Has anyone had an experience like this? I will continue to keep the wound clean, and make sure she has water and food, but are there any other hints or tips to share? Would she be more comfortable in her own cage but in the barn/coop in sight of the other chickens? When will I know she is “out of the woods” and on the mend?
Needless to say, I feel stupid for forgetting that my dog, although docile and sweet, is at his core a prey animal. It is not his fault. It is mine. I won’t be making this mistake again. Hopefully I have not learned this lesson at the expense of one of my favorite feathered critters.
Last night she hardly moved and slept a lot. Understandably. This morning she seemed a little bit more with it. She seemed sore but she got up and moved a little on her own. When I tried to move her to the back of her cage to make room to place the water directly in front of her, she took a peck at me. So I left her alone and put the water to the side, but I was happy to see she had a little fight in her. : )
Has anyone had an experience like this? I will continue to keep the wound clean, and make sure she has water and food, but are there any other hints or tips to share? Would she be more comfortable in her own cage but in the barn/coop in sight of the other chickens? When will I know she is “out of the woods” and on the mend?
Needless to say, I feel stupid for forgetting that my dog, although docile and sweet, is at his core a prey animal. It is not his fault. It is mine. I won’t be making this mistake again. Hopefully I have not learned this lesson at the expense of one of my favorite feathered critters.
