Dogs...

[Willow2253]

I mean more that I’ve been trying to get the clots of blood and feathers away from the wound, she doesn’t sit still for very long. Otherwise besides spraying I haven’t touched the wound itself since I initially disinfected it. She’s out walking around with the others today and I’ve hardly seen them. It’s a hot day so they’re all hiding in the bushes.

 

[aart]

Vetericyn is what I’ve been using. I’ll look into Blu-Kote and see if I can get some quickly on amazon. I’ve been cleaning her wounds daily, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to bandage it but it’s in a difficult spot.

Vetricyn is fine, better I think as it doesn't camoflague the wound so you can see better what is going on.

You don't need to clean it everyday unless they have dirt in them. Don't find yourself being too excessive with cleaning.
No need for bandages either.
Keep a Triple Antibiotic on them.

Ditto Dat!

 

[Willow2253]

Vetricyn is fine, better I think as it doesn't camoflague the wound so you can see better what is going on.

I do like that I can see what’s going on there and from what I can tell it’s working. The others aren’t picking on her so far, and it would take a week for blu kote to get here. I may get some for the future but I think for now I’m going to continue with Vetericyn.

 

[aart]

I do like that I can see what’s going on there and from what I can tell it’s working. The others aren’t picking on her so far, and it would take a week for blu kote to get here. I may get some for the future but I think for now I’m going to continue with Vetericyn.

Found blukote to be worthless, because of the staining, save your money.
A human type triple antibiotic ointment can work well too,
might help moisturize things better to get the feathers out of wound.
Got pics of wounds?
If you need more help, might post in the injuries forum.

 

[Willow2253]

I have some pics from Monday when it still looked pretty bad, but it’s looking better now. She’s got a big gash around her tail and most of the feathers were torn out, that’s the worst. She also has a couple of small, shallow wounds on either side of her chest which are healing well already and not easily visible, and her right foot and leg got cut up some, but that one’s doing alright too. I’ll try some human triple antibiotic on the big one and see if that helps. I know this isn’t going to be a quick recovery, but I’m willing to try anything I can to help her.

 

[Jadakraft1]

I know what I’d do, but understand the small town (community) as well! If there is a next time call the cops and let them deal with it, and the dog owners need to reimburse your chickens.

 

[Willow2253]

I know what I’d do, but understand the small town (community) as well! If there is a next time call the cops and let them deal with it, and the dog owners need to reimburse your chickens.

We called the sheriff’s department the morning after, they finally sent someone to take our statements today and they’re going to cite the owners, then once that’s done we can either have them reimburse us out of court or we can take them to small claims.

 

[Peppercorngal]

You need to fence a large "free range area" for your chickens. Dogs are not the only predator you have to deal with, wolves were mentioned. We were having problems with daytime foxes and coyotes running in from the woods, grabbing a chicken and running back out. Also we had a few stray dogs as well. It did cost money, but husband and I put up a farm fence around their free range area. We have not lost another chicken to daytime predators like coyotes, dogs or foxes. (haven't lost any at night either!). It's a huge space, probably the size of 1/3 a football field. Put up a fence and then you can relax especially since you can't be home all the time! I wish you the best and hope this never happens to you again. It's awful to loose your friends.

 

[aart]

I have some pics from Monday when it still looked pretty bad, but it’s looking better now. She’s got a big gash around her tail and most of the feathers were torn out, that’s the worst. She also has a couple of small, shallow wounds on either side of her chest which are healing well already and not easily visible, and her right foot and leg got cut up some, but that one’s doing alright too. I’ll try some human triple antibiotic on the big one and see if that helps. I know this isn’t going to be a quick recovery, but I’m willing to try anything I can to help her.

I've seen some hellacious wounds and 'skinnings' heal up here,
but yeah it takes time and tenacity.

 

[Willow2253]

You need to fence a large "free range area" for your chickens. Dogs are not the only predator you have to deal with, wolves were mentioned. We were having problems with daytime foxes and coyotes running in from the woods, grabbing a chicken and running back out. Also we had a few stray dogs as well. It did cost money, but husband and I put up a farm fence around their free range area. We have not lost another chicken to daytime predators like coyotes, dogs or foxes. (haven't lost any at night either!). It's a huge space, probably the size of 1/3 a football field. Put up a fence and then you can relax especially since you can't be home all the time! I wish you the best and hope this never happens to you again. It's awful to loose your friends.

View attachment 2269029

I like the idea, and I would do it in a heartbeat if we could afford it, but unfortunately we’re pretty tight on money, and most of our property except where the buildings sit is on a mountain side, so it would be difficult and too expensive to fence in the whole area with anything other than the barbed wire we already have up. Our biggest concern about wild animals is coyotes, though our dogs do an excellent job of keeping them away. We’ve only seen one around here and our border collie chased it off before it reached our fences. We’ve only lost one chicken to predators before this in the few years we’ve lived here, and it was when we first moved in and a raccoon or bobcat pulled it through the fenced of the run before we had that secured and before we had the collie. I like to think we’re pretty safe from wild animals here, and we’ve always knows with free ranging it’s a possibility to lose one here or there, but domestic dogs are different.