exposed crop from a dog attack

[broodof3]

On Wednesday, a dog dug into the chicken yard. He killed one hen and injured three others. One of the hens, a Barred Rock pullet, has a one inch gash along her breast, below the bone. a grayish organ (crop?) is protruding and when she breathes, she gurgles. She is able to swallow, as I have given her food and water by hand. I think she eats some on her own, too. We are in coastal NC, and since we will be having a chilly weekend, I have brought her inside. Over the past few days, she seems to be improving. Her demeanor is a bit better, and I have been keeping the wound clean and bandaged. But, she seems to always have her head down, and the gurgling worries me. Is this hen a lost cause? Am I prolonging her suffering? Should she be put down (culled?)? If not, what else should I do for her?

 

[shadymonukah]

Hello, a neighbors dogs got to two of my chickens today. Unfortunately he tore one of them up bad. These girls are our babies, we only have three, but they are on the same level as our dogs, as well as buddies. Anyway, it happened in front of my six year old boy, so off to the vet we went. I will tell you what she told us, first, use saline to clean wound, she did staple two large gashes on one chicken, the other one had puntures, which the vet said are more prone to infection. I f there is blood or gurgling, its possible it has internal damage. We got some antibiotic shots for them, however, no eggs can be eaten at least 60 days, she did tell us that if they make it 72 hours its pretty certain they will make it. Also a defense mechanism of chickens is that the skin tears away easily to "protect the meat" So it looks worse than it is, the main thing is clean with saline, make sure it can drain, and if its warm where you are protect from flies/maggots are a big concern. I hope your girl heals! Its been a rough emotional day here. These are our first chickens, and we have all definitly bonded through thjs experience! Good Luck