Dog rips both her wings off!!!

[Lunachick]

I wouldn't know what to tell you, but i feel bad for you and the chicken. Please try not to feel too bad, just try to help her as much as you can with the good advice you get here. Good luck, poor hen ...

 

[ivan3]

Do you have betadine (iodine)? Boil a pan of water, let it cool and add approx. 1/2 the amount of water in betadine. If you don't have that, then hydrogen peroxide (water&peroxide half and half), bactine, would be the next to options in order of acceptability. Take a spray bottle, tweezers and sharp scissors and boil those for 10min.

Do you have any cotton gauze pads (1"x1" - 2"x2") and something to perform the figure 8 wrap linked to above? Even a sports wrap or section of cut sheet will do.

Put the betadine tea in spray bottle an gently squirt the areas of injury (daub up with pads as you go along), pick out any debris with the tweezers. If you have some plain neosporin place a small amount on gauze pad and place it over wing socket opening. Examine the remaining wing carefully, can the injured portion be removed at the joint closest to the wing tip, or is it also coming off a the torso? Clean that wing. Use another sterile gauze pad and antibiotic ointment on those wounds and (get someone to help) apply the figure 8 wrap over the padded wounds. Make sure it is not too tight (just snug it up) use a bit of duct tape (if that's what you've got ) to anchor the bandage in place.

Poor thing will need antibiotics (I'd guess injectable penicillin), but someone here with more experience will weigh in on that.

Get some St. Joseph 81mg. plain aspirin tabs and crush one add it to a pint of water and let her drink that.
Polyvisol infant vitamins without iron/electrolytes as well.

It is important to get those wounds cleaned thoroughly. If it were'nt for the risk of infection I'd think she has an excellent chance of surviving!

Good luck!

 

[SterlingAcres]

:aww I'm so sorry. I hope she's doing okay.

 

[chilling in muscadine]

Quote:
Thanks for all the good info. Was wondering how much asprin to give. She is very alert and has a hardy appetite. I just now gave her a scrambled egg and she ate the whole egg plus some starter feed. She is also drinking good. I let her walk around while I cleaned her brooder out and she was exploring everything. I have her on electrolytes now but can I put asprin in that water? I will be picking up more supplies tomorrow. I have been giving her time to make sure she isn't in shock. I have trimmed back the feathers she has left and trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

 

[ivan3]

Sorry, had to go retire a opossum. Yes, the Aspirin shouldn't be a problem. Sure wish you and the girl the best of luck. The fact that she is eating well and made through the shock bodes well for her. Main thing at this point is keeping the wounds clean and dressings changed (bites are dirty and famous for staph).

Will check back tomorrow

Take care,

John

ed: on the aspirin: I low balled the dose not wanting to overdo it: However, you could go up to two of the 81mg. tomorrow if she is having difficulty moving, the maximum dose per pint: 203mg.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Wow Sara, I really don't know. I haven't had an injured bird yet, besides the chicks, and that didn't work out. You can add the electrolytes and antibiotics both to the water, or so I was told. But I would get the blue cote also to cover it with. I really don't know. I hope she makes it through.

 

[arlee453]

Just saw this one - treating for shock, keeping her isolated while she heals and antibiotics as a protection against infection due to the dog bite are all good.

How is she doing today?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Check with the folks at a local nature/wildlife rescue center near you, if there is one. While it's often hard to find a veternarian familiar with/willing to treat chickens, the folks who routinely rescue injured wildlife should have more experience with & advice on situations like your bird's.

If your hen didn't lose much blood and can recover from the shock she should do all right. She might have more difficulty with balance, but she should do better wingless than legless, or worse.

Now be sure to forgive yourself for this! It was a mistake, you learned from it, and probably will serve as a good warning/reminder for many others who have both chickens & dogs. We all know how very very much you love your animals. As one who keeps many animals, you know well that "manure" happens!

I pray for the recovery of this hen, and for you. Please keep us posted. :aww

 

[chilling in muscadine]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Today I am lightning up on myself some. This blame dog has been in this pen for three years with no problem. I even have a top on the pen just in case. What makes this whole thing bad is I always relied on my dogs to bark if there was some wildlife getting close to my birds. I can never trust this dog again, I can't even look at him right now. If my old man hadn't been home it would have been alot worse because there was no way I could stop him. I'm looking to rehome this dog but if I do the new owner will not be able to have any animals. I'm not just pushing the problem off on someone else. They will know the whole story and what they will have to expect. Rehoming may not be an option. I may not find a suitable home under the surcomstance[sp]

My hen made it through the night and has a good appetite still. I'ml keeping her quiet as possible. I went to town today and collected supplies. I am thinking maybe tomorrw if possible I will try and remove what is left of her other wing thats just hanging. Does anyone know of something I can use to numb the area I will be detaching? I will keep ya'll posted.

 

[cjeanean]

Someone suggested letting the clean break die first, u know, let the nerve endings die. I dunno. It's either that or you ensure that you get it situated to where you can't hit the bone on either side and make a very quick snip! I don't think there's anything you can give them for pain, but if you do decide to try something you gotta make sure it doesn't have any of the '-caine' pain killers in it. Lidocaine, etc. Anything that ends with caine. people on here give their chickens baby asprin for pain, not sure of the dosage, though.

Don't be so hard on the dog, either. I don't think that just cause he tried eating a chicken means he won't still bark a predators. Sasha would tear my chickens up, and the times that she's gotten out she runs from one side of the coop to the other scaring the daylights out of my chickens. She would tear them apart in an instant, and if she ever got one she would run away with it so I couldn't stop her. But she will still bark at the fox, and the hawk, and the rabbits, and squirrels, and the random nighttime monsters that I can't see cause it's dark but she can see them. I didn't know she would eat one till she got into my chick brooder. Tuna won't touch them, but Sasha's a devil dog. Just give it some time before you make a decision, I know you love your animals sooooo freakin much and you'll figure out what to do!!!

Good luck!

Christina