Dog mauled one of my hens-can she survive?

[rod5591]

Its raining hard outside this morning and I went to let my dogs in. My GSD was in the corner of the yard with one of my young black Australorp hens in her mouth. The hen had apparently flown over the fence into the front yard where the GSD stays. She and her sisters like to fly over the chickenyard fence and forage in the fields, but the roosters can not fly (too big) and so they go by themselves without protection. Today she decided to fly into the front yard and paid the price.

I called the dog off and my poor hen is in bad shape--all the back feathers are gone, and I see one puncture wound on her back. I put her in a cage and brought her into the garage where it is dry. She is panting, but she is able to stand. I don't know how long the dog had her-- what would the immediate steps be in trying to save her? Or should I just go ahead and dispatch her? I dont want her to suffer.

I am thinking, dry her off and keep her warm. spray her wounds with the pet wound spray. Any thoughts? I will take a photo if it would be helpful.

 

[Battlepants]

I would treat her for shock:

*Separate her from the flock, bring her to a calm, quiet and warm place (if you have a brooder, put her in this)
*Wrap in a towel to prevent too much moving around
*Offer only water, add electrolytes to it if possible (do not offer food at this time)

As for the wounds, compression on those to stop the bleeding. If she's already stopped bleeding, just the spray for now.

TBH, I think she has a solid chance to pull through this. Keep monitoring her for a few hours. When she is back acting somewhat normally, food can be offered again.


On a side note, do NOT offer any pain meds unless told to by a vet. Human pain meds are very different than chicken pain meds and will likely be toxic.

 

[rod5591]

There appears to be very little bleeding. The poor girl is missing most of her back and tail feathers. She is now in the garage in a cage. The cage is covered with a towel and the only noise is the rain outside, plus my noisy roosters crowing. I gave her a bowl with some electrolyte water, she had no apparent interest in it. I will just let her rest.

 

[Aunt Angus]

There appears to be very little bleeding. The poor girl is missing most of her back and tail feathers. She is now in the garage in a cage. The cage is covered with a towel and the only noise is the rain outside, plus my noisy roosters crowing. I gave her a bowl with some electrolyte water, she had no apparent interest in it. I will just let her rest.

I have seen some gnarly wounds here on BYC that healed. My biggest concerns would be shock (great advice mentioned above), internal injuries, and infection.

Pictures of the wound would definitely help, when you feel she's up to it.

 

[rod5591]

I have seen some gnarly wounds here on BYC that healed. My biggest concerns would be shock (great advice mentioned above), internal injuries, and infection.

Pictures of the wound would definitely help, when you feel she's up to it.

She seems a little better. She is standing at times, but mostly resting . When I tried to change her cardboard liner, she pecked me. Here are 3 photos.

 

[Battlepants]

That is really good news! I see that she is pooping a bit, I assume she is also getting some food and water into her?

For recovery going forward, I would probably keep her in isolation for a couple more days until she can reliably stand on her own. Then probably set up a dog crate in the yard so she can go out during nice weather to see her flock, but not physically be with them. Also make sure she has good shade where you set this up, don't want a sunburned butt. Beyond that, once she is back to her normal self, probably get a chicken saddle for her and she can return to the flock.

 

[Soonermagic254]

She seems a little better. She is standing at times, but mostly resting . When I tried to change her cardboard liner, she pecked me. Here are 3 photos.

That looks worse than it is. Mostly looks like feathers were just removed. My dog got my hen and she had a huge gouged out area between her wings. Keep her separated add electrolytes and vitamins to her water. I treated my hen with pic related she had a full recovery but didn’t lay eggs for awhile

 

[rod5591]

That is really good news! I see that she is pooping a bit, I assume she is also getting some food and water into her?

For recovery going forward, I would probably keep her in isolation for a couple more days until she can reliably stand on her own. Then probably set up a dog crate in the yard so she can go out during nice weather to see her flock, but not physically be with them. Also make sure she has good shade where you set this up, don't want a sunburned butt. Beyond that, once she is back to her normal self, probably get a chicken saddle for her and she can return to the flock.

I have not seen her eat. The water level has dropped a little but I haven’t seen her drink either. Today I thought she was gone since her eyes were shut and she was panting, but later she opened her eyes. We hope she will get better! She used to be the cutest little thing, and so brave and curious!

 

[Soonermagic254]

Its raining hard outside this morning and I went to let my dogs in. My GSD was in the corner of the yard with one of my young black Australorp hens in her mouth. The hen had apparently flown over the fence into the front yard where the GSD stays. She and her sisters like to fly over the chickenyard fence and forage in the fields, but the roosters can not fly (too big) and so they go by themselves without protection. Today she decided to fly into the front yard and paid the price.

I called the dog off and my poor hen is in bad shape--all the back feathers are gone, and I see one puncture wound on her back. I put her in a cage and brought her into the garage where it is dry. She is panting, but she is able to stand. I don't know how long the dog had her-- what would the immediate steps be in trying to save her? Or should I just go ahead and dispatch her? I dont want her to suffer.

I am thinking, dry her off and keep her warm. spray her wounds with the pet wound spray. Any thoughts? I will take a photo if it would be helpful.

You may want to clip the wing of your other chickens and after the hen recovers clip her wing. Just as a preventive for future attacks

 

[rod5591]

You may want to clip the wing of your other chickens and after the hen recovers clip her wing. Just as a preventive for future attacks

Good idea! Its so darned hard to catch them, though, since they young ones roost up in a tree.