Help! chicken attacked by dog!

anne4321

Hatching
8 Years
Jul 4, 2011
4
0
7
Our chickens were attached by a neighborhood dog (Jack Russell Terrier) two days ago. I pulled the dog off of Suzie, just as he pinned her. I can't tell what her injuries are. Missing lots of tail feathers, but otherwise seems unharmed. She was able to get up and walk around afterwards, but is not eating, pooping, or mixing with the other hens. We secluded her overnight last night, because the other hens were pecking her. But she is not eating or pooping at all. Please give advice! Suzie is only 6 months old, a Speckled Sussex. Thanks for any help you can give.
 
I'm sorry this happened to you. It is not a good sign that she is not eating or drinking. You could try tube feeding, I guess. When something similar happened to me, no visible serious injuries, then hen died within an hour or two. I opened her up to find massive internal bleeding; nothing anyone could have done.
 
The same thing happen to me when my dog got loose... And she died that same day because my dog bit her soo deep that it bursted her internal organs..and died
 
Thank you both for your helpful replies. I just checked on Suzie and she has eaten a little bit! She seems to be resting quietly, still has bright eyes, and so I'm not going to give up hope. Am I doing the right thing to keep her secluded OR does she need to be outside with the other hens in the bright sunshine? And do I need to check more deeply to see if she has puncture wounds, etc?
 
I would look her over very carefully for punctures and/or bruising. Tempt her to eat with goodies....yogurt, scrambled eggs, fruit, whatever her favorites are.
 
I don't have lots of good advice to give you but one that I know of personally is to keep her in a comfortable zone - away from the other chickens for the time being, at least she is able to eat/ drink normally. If you can, try to monitor her as much as possible during the day time and encourage her to eat. I've read here that people usually give smashed feeds (scrambled eggs with buttermilk, regular feed smashed). Also, try to pet her as a way of comforting her will also help as well.
She may also experience internal bleeding, like the others have posted here. If she is your valuable chicken or you can afford to take her to a vet, then please do so. Internal bleeding is a serious issue and sometimes, even with the expert eyes, you can't really tell/ see.

I am so sorry and good luck.
 
Very helpful comments everyone. We seem to have some good progress. She has continued to nibble at some of the great snacks you all suggested, and last time I checked on her, I smelled poop! Never thought it would be such a positive development! I plan to keep her secluded tonight and will let her try a "normal" day in the coop if she looks ok in the morning.

BTW, the only thing that saved our chickens was that our dog (a little rat terrier) alerted me that something was wrong. She was visibly upset, running around the house, whining, jumping on me. I asked her if it was the chickens, and when she dashed for the door I knew she must know something I didn't. We got there just as the intruder was about to chow down on poor Suzie. Our dog, Scamp, was the hero of the day!
 

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