HELP! Coyotes found my girls!! Injured chicken.

[drumstick diva]

sounds like she has a punctured lung

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry about your baby. I hope you can get her healed up soon.

 

[adw1403]

I cleaned her wounds, patches her up with gauze and made her comfy for the night. She made it through the night and seems to be doing well. Will keep her in the house for a few days and give her some extra tlc! I'm now thinking it was one of my neighbor's dogs. He has quite a few which are usually secured in their yard. He has another that is small and gets out and literally lives on our back porch. But she's a sweetie, is great around the chickens and has chased off other neighborhood dogs as well as bark at the coyotes beyond the tree lines at night. So I've actually like having her around. And I was surprised she didn't alert us to anything last night. But when I went out to check on things later last night, the other dog was out there sniffing around, running circles around the coop. So maybe if it was her, then that's why the dog who has adopted us didn't bark. They're buddies!

 

[Marthab1953]

Glad she made it through the night and is doing well.

Hope she continues to improve, good luck!

 

[foreverlearning]

Glad she made it threw the night! Let your neighbor know that they have a dog that got out last night and circled the coop. I would not accuse their dog of harming the chickens yet without further proof but they may want to know that another one is getting out. Even if that dog did not harm the girls it is normal for any dog to sniff out blood and that is what you had there. Most dogs that kill chickens do it out of sport and not for food. Whatever got the first hen took off with it so it makes me think it was a predator for food. I am not saying it couldn't have been the dog, I'm just saying it could have been something else as well.

 

[chickie farmer]

I wouldn't use chicken wire for the run. a dog or raccoon will tear it apart. If possible, I'd use dog fencing around the run then 1/2 mesh around the bottom so raccoons can't pull the chicken through the fence, piece by piece. or use a 16-20 gage wire for the run. I prefer dog fencing myself. That way you know they are safe. I hope your chicken will be ok.

 

[chickie farmer]

I would also be sure to cover the top to keep hawks out. I use chicken wire for that.

 

[foreverlearning]

How is she doing?

 

[adw1403]

She's actually doing great! The wounds haven't shown any signs of infection and are healing well. She's living the life out in an X-large dog kennel in the garage.

 

[foreverlearning]

Good to hear! It's strange what they can heal from.