German Shepherd Attack

[MetalFarm]

**** neighbors with no fence and no leash.
Coop was open and my dogs were inside. Perfect storm.
Only lost three hens.
One is not doing great. She has a slight limp, lost a lot of feathers, and has a couple spots where you can see some teeth marks.
Found her tonight in a nesting box on some eggs.
I assume she's hurt and scared and didn't become broody after her near death experience?
I have her in the laundry room keeping warm. If I need to put eggs under her to make her happy I sure will.
Neighbor never came back to apologize or anything. Looking for suggestions there as well. We're city folk that moved to the country to enjoy things like chickens.
Thanks.

 

[millietime]

Not had this happen but I have a German shepherd and chickens and my dog has twice now gotten excited and too close, close enough to do damage if he wanted. Mostly I have found that the girls get their feeling hurt more than anything (which is not to minimize your lost hens or neighbors not apologizing because those things are awful and must have been a horrible experience for everyone!). I am thinking that a good nights sleep in a secure place, a good meal, and whatever comforts you could imagine would be helpful. Look for bloody poop-internal bleeding. I also learned a lot looking up chicken stressors such as predator attacks. There may be some funky droppings but mostly they need some down time. Hope this helps! Love to you and your flock!!

 

[PeepersMama]

Step #1. Get a good fence. A fence is the most important thing in the country. It keeps your animals out of your neighbors yard, and your neighbor's animals out of your yard.
#2. If you still have the girls that the stupid dogs killed, take pictures, or for an even better affect, take one of them over and knock on their door. Don't try to be too polite. "Scold" them and tell them to get a fence (FOR PETE'S SAKE), or tie up the dogs.
#3. If you see the dogs in your yard again, get either a gun or a really big stick (a chain is another one of my favs) and chase them off. Make sure that the dogs know where your turf begins, and theirs ends.

IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN
Catch the dogs and call animal control. THAT should wake them up. It costs some serious moolah to "bail a dog out of jail."


Okay, I have ranted about how I don't care much for dogs in a productive way - YAY!

Now for the injured chickie:

First of all, she won't die as long as her wounds aren't anything internal. Chickens are very resilient!

Just do everything you can to keep her stress free. If her wounds aren't major, then maybe put her in a small dog kennel in the coop so she can still see the rest of the flock. Removing her will just cause more stress, especially when you put her back.

Get some veterycin (if you don't have some already) and spray the puncture wounds. Like millietime said, watch for blood in her poop, and keep a close eye on her breathing. She may have punctered an air sac, which is usually deadly.

Add some probiotics to her water, and give her some treats to get her eating, if she isn't. If she won't eat or drink, then take a syringe and put a few drops of water in her beak. Make sure that you give her probiotics, not antibiotics. Antibiotics won't help her any.

She isn't broody, the nestbox was a safe place, so she hid there. It just so happened that there were eggs in it.

 

[drumstick diva]

Of course they never came back and apologized or offered restitution - they were JUST chickens! I say this sarcastically. If you had shot their dog which would probably be completely legal - imagine if you said "It's just a dog, you can get another one."

Can you report this to animal control or police, so at least there is a foundation of attack history? This dog will be back - he had a good time and was successful. His owners must be beaming over his hunting prowess. Big dog, small, defenseless chickens.

So very sorry