Extended hawk attack and large open wound - what treatment?

[Stayc]

So glad Carmel is recovering so well. What a cute pic with the girls and your dog

 

[micstrachan]

Yes we do have a dog and he has been on hawk duty recently. However he is easily distracted by squirrels! Our run is fairly secure with an apron and buried hardware cloth. It has hawk netting at the top. Here is our dog looking after the other girls.
View attachment 1203302

Oh, good! I am glad they are safe when enclosed in their run.

 

[XanderWiFi]

Great news! Glad to hear she is doing well. 3x antibiotic is indeed triple antibiotic ointment. Looking good!

 

[GretaGarboFirst]

So nice to hear of your hen's healing progress. Great dog ! Could you tell me what breed of dog she is?

 

[Rivington]

So nice to hear of your hen's healing progress. Great dog ! Could you tell me what breed of dog she is?

Monty is a "springerdoodle" - half English Springer Spaniel and half Standard Poodle. He is incredibly well natured and I think he's convinced he's the hens' mother.

 

[GretaGarboFirst]

You can tell he is a gem. I lost my dog 2 months ago after 16 yrs. Monty brought a smile to my face.....Thank you.

 

[Rivington]

I thought I would provide an update as we have a couple of questions.

Caramel is mostly back to her old self. The wound is healing and we are cleaning it every few days. There is still a deep unfilled gash and her skin has not come back on the rest of the wound but it doesn't look infected. We tried applying Blu-Kote and putting her back in the run but she was getting pecked and ended up spending her time hiding in the coop. So we took her back into the basement in her temporary cage. She was already bottom of the pecking order before the hawk attack but it seems like she is worse off now (although we may be noticing it more). We have let her out with the flock when they are free ranging and they mostly leave her alone.

Any tips on reintroducing her? Not sure whether it is preferable for her to be bored and alone in the basement or being pecked by her flockmates.

Also, she has not laid any eggs since the attack although I think she only laid a few times a week beforehand. Should we expect her to start laying again soon? We do not have a nesting box in her cage but there is a corner with straw and a golf ball and she relaxes there from time to time.

 

[GretaGarboFirst]

Most important to keep her protected. She needs to heal totally. Short visits free ranging sounds good. Can you bring her in your home at all with a lg. Dog crate.? Somewhere to see family activity? My chicken that was injured spent several weeks in our home. We all adjusted just to get her better . I know it is hard to do but if everyone can hang in there then you can return her with no worries to the coop. She will also have more confidence to be with the flock without her wound showing. Trust me when I tell you they will keep at her....

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

The other option is to bring in a friend for her. Introducing two is easier then one. But with the short free range visits with the flock should help with reintroduction. She won’t be a complete stranger

 

[GretaGarboFirst]

Most important to keep her protected. She needs to heal totally. Short visits free ranging sounds good. Can you bring her in your home at all with a lg. Dog crate.? Somewhere to see family activity? My chicken that was injured spent several weeks in our home. We all adjusted just to get her better . I know it is hard to do but if everyone can hang in there then you can return her with no worries to the coop. She will also have more confidence to be with the flock without her wound showing. Trust me when I tell you they will keep at her....