Dog mauled chicken - help!

[goats-n-oats]

Hi, I believe my dog mauled this barred rock hen. He bit her neck and the spine can be seen if you lift the skin. She is still walking normally and drinking water. She is covered in mud (I assume from struggling with my dog.) There is only an emergency vet right now about 100 miles away, and I don't have the funds. Should I put iodine on the open skin? Wrap her in gauze? Any other supportive care? Is there a chance it will heal by itself, or must it be stitched or covered?

 

[goats-n-oats]

Hi, just an update. The local pharmacist (bless, her, she also owns chickens) recommended the following - non stick pads 2x3" on the wound, then wrap with a few yards of gauze, over the shoulders and breast then under the wings in a crossover pattern, then surgical tape 8" strips to secure the edge of the gauze. It appears to be holding in place and covering the wound. Hen is still active and eating

 

[Liveove]

Hi, I believe my dog mauled this barred rock hen. He bit her neck and the spine can be seen if you lift the skin. She is still walking normally and drinking water. She is covered in mud (I assume from struggling with my dog.) There is only an emergency vet right now about 100 miles away, and I don't have the funds. Should I put iodine on the open skin? Wrap her in gauze? Any other supportive care? Is there a chance it will heal by itself, or must it be stitched or covered?

I like to use veterycin or original neosporin for chicken wounds. Blue-cote is not my favorite, since it stain like crazy, since that's what its made for. The others may peck at her wound, so you might want to separate her. Poor baby!

And no, I have never had a chicken have to get stitched (fingers-crossed!) They are pretty tough birds.

 

[goats-n-oats]

Make sure you bring it inside so maggots don’t lay eggs in there try to find liquid bandaid! I’m sure she’ll be fine just keep her inside until it starts healing

She violently opposed being in a crate, and caused her comb to bleed by pushing against the top of the crate, so I put her in a separate horse trailer with two docile flock mates. She is calm now.

 

[Mrs J]

This is advice given by azyorous to another member who went through something similar

 

[Mrs J]

Thank you so much!
I only have these on hand: metronidazole, tylosin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, lincomycin-spectromycin, or doxycycline. Will any of them work in lieu of amoxycillin?

Thank you so much!
I only have these on hand: metronidazole, tylosin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, lincomycin-spectromycin, or doxycycline. Will any of them work in lieu of amoxycillin?

I’m not experienced enough with antibiotics to be able to give you correct advice maybe @azygous can help.

 

[goats-n-oats]

I have just done a quick search for antibiotics that you can use and found this, so your well equipped

View attachment 3036908
I just wouldn’t know the best one or the correct dosage.

That's very kind of you to research. I started her already on 250mg of lincomycin. I hope it works. It's too bad the closest poultry vet to me is 90 miles away

 

[goats-n-oats]

Thanks everyone for your ideas and support. Little hen is on the mend. I used oral antibiotics, and the best I could do was dress the wound for 3 days, then leave it uncovered with daily spray of iodine and blu-cote. Left her with a flock mate in their trailer for two weeks. The skin grew back thankfully and I am seeing a couple of new feathers around the wound, not yet from the new skin. She is eating and laying normally. Thanks!

 

[My Bagurks]

I had a chicken attacked by a dog during the winter. Looked very similar to those wounds. I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it. But I slathered Neosporin into the wounds and the feathers covered it well enough that the other chickens left it alone. I applied it for a few days and they closed up pretty quickly. All wounds healed well. I can feel some scar tissue under her feathers and you can see some feathers are a little out of place. But chickens are amazingly resilient. Good luck and I hope she is ok.

 

[Chicks in VA]

i would personally use neosporin or silver honey on the wound
does it look like the spine is injured