Help! Dog Attack.

[rockchick]

Hi, I'm a bit new to this so hope this post makes it. One of my chickens got out of the run and was savagely attacked by one of our dogs a few days ago. She's in a mess, but remarkably seems quite well, eating, drinking, pecking and clucking. She has basically had her whole tail ripped off and there is bone, flesh and muscle just sticking out where the tail used to be. We have got antibiotics for her and have tried to keep the area (quite a large area) clean as best we can with savlon and warm water. Have tried covering it to protect it from the heat and flies etc and from her pecking it, but nothing stays on - we even tried a pair of pants on her! Have just put her back in with the other hens today after keeping her seperated in a cage in the shed for the last few days, and we'll see how she gets on. My concern is that even if she survives this, how will she get on with no tail and bare exposed bone and flesh? Can see her getting frostbite in the winter. Has anyone any experience of this or any tips of what else we should do? I'm not sure we should have put her back with the rest of the flock yet, but she seems very happy to be back with them. So far no sign of infection and the wound is drying up. But its a really horrible injury - basically akin to you or I being pinned down and having our arm ripped off. Poor thing - but she seems quite unconcerned!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi rockchick, I hope you've checked on her this morning, it's not a good idea to put her back with the flock, if theres an open wound the others will peck her unmercifully, chicken can be cannbalistic, that being said she will most likely heal up and grow new skin to cover the area, feathers maybe by next molt, which is usually by fall. there are products that you can buy at the feed store to help with the fly problem. Also theres a product called blue-kote that is wonderful to help in healing and also covers [disguises] the wound [purple] so the others won't be so apt to peck her. there is another product called vertracyn TSC has is and blue-kote so there are things you can use. The antibiotics is a good thing with such a wound. you might want to try soaking her in some warm salt water once a day for a while then letting it dry real good the put one of the products on that I mentioned. if not warm salt water then warm water with betadine to keep the area clean. just do this a couple of times to make sure it's clean once it starts to scab over you wouldn't need to soak her or wash it out. keep her on clean bedding also. If you can get some poultry drench to put in her water that would help her get over this too. hope I haven't overwhelmed you. and looking forward to hearing how she is.

 

[rockchick]

Hi Miss Lydia and thanks very much for that - I will certainly keep a close eye on her, so far she is fine and the others seem to be leaving her alone. Good idea to soak her a couple of times, will do that and keep her as clean as possible, and will try to find blue kote - not sure we can get that here (Ireland) but there might be something similar. I am truly amazed at how she has recovered - the wound, while awful is healing over and drying out nicely. I just can't see how she could survive such a thing. Will keep you posted and thanks for your help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi, and glad to hear the others are not messing with her. might be able to find something close with the blue-kote, it's got gentian violet in it which is a wild flower that grows in our mountains here and although anything it touches will turn purple it's the best stuff I know of for healing and inexpensive. They can sure come back from horendious attacks thats for sure. So keep us updated and I wish ya'll the best. Trish. [miss Lydia is my very first hen]

 

[IndigoJaguar]

I'm still very concerned about my limping one. She seems even worse today. I shouldn't have listen to DH. He said I should let her in with the others this morning, so I did, and the rooster rode her. We put him in a separate pen away from them, then, but she seems to walk even less now.

O dear. I may have caused her a relapse in my haste to reintegrate them. She is very healthy looking other than not walking well, so there is hope for that.
On a brighter note....completely unrelated...

..... I have a hen who is extremely broody. She refuses to come out of the nest box at all, so I may let her sit on some eggs!

I need to go on the other part of the forum and get advice on how to let her go broody. DH thinks I can just put a cage in the coop for her to sit in, but I'm not so sure.
Sorry about your hen, rockchick! I hate it when these horrible things happen to our babies! It makes me cringe. Like I said before, I almost expect to lose some to wild animals, but I never stop being suprised when domestic animals attack.

 

[rockchick]

I know and its our family dog that is the culprit - I don't know what it is about the hens that gets to him, but if he gets near them he goes for them. I think its the noise they make - he tries to get them to stop, but doesn't try to kill them, hence the horrible injuries. Anyway, have got hold of something called stockholm tar to coat her wound, which is basically tar, but is for poultry. Its antibacterial, black and sticky and it coats the wound and allows it to heal by preventing flies etc and pecking (cos it tastes so foul - excuse the pun!).
So we'll see.
Sorry to hear about your limping one - I would say she needs complete rest and yes if you could get her to go broody that would allow the rest. I guess they are like us with damaged muscles - just need to rest up until it mends. Good luck and hope all our chicks are out and about again soon!

 

[Miss Lydia]

glad to hear you found something to put on your hen rockchick sounds like good stuff. keep us up to date on how she is doing.

and Indigo, have you heard of DMSO? it started out being used on race horses when they had a leg injury muscle pull, etc. well I use it on my knees and my dh uses it on his hands for arthritis, I read that it can be used on chickens, I will go and see if I can find out any info on it.
I found this in the BYC archives. Can you get some DMSO? I use it for arthritis and i know they use it for race horses, just wondering if it would work for a chicken.
Chillin' With My PeepsFrom: New orleansRegistered: 04/09/2007Posts: 167PM Website

Re: My poor RIR is limping & we don't know why! She's in pain


You can go to the feed store and get some DMSO. I have been using DMSO on my birds, ducks and chickens with leg problems for over 6 years. You will want to dilute the DMSO 1 part DMSO to 9 parts water. Make sure the clear gel is completely dissolved. DMSO smells awful, but it works wonders. Take a cotton ball and rub it all over her leg, up to her hip if you have to. DMSO helps swelling and inflammation. You can apply it twice daily and you should be able to notice a difference.

I don't have the money to take everybody to the vet every time something is wrong, unless it's something I really can't handle. I run a bird rescue, so I have a lot of injured birds come in, and it's mostly chickens. DMSO costs about $7 and lasts. I'm still on my first jar. I have a lot of babies with leg problems and DMSO really does help.



another link thats very interesting http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[rockchick]

just realised indigo that you were talking about two different hens - sorry, my message must have sounded very jumbled! If you have a hen who refuses to come out of her nesting box, she is already broody so you don't need to do anything other than seperate her and give her some fertilised eggs to sit on. Give her food and water and a little run of her own and she'll be happy out and three weeks later lots of lovely chicks! Good luck - there's no better incubator than a broody hen. You don't have to do a thing - she will do all the work. We have a bantam who's a born mother and has raised several batches of chicks successfully. She's brilliant - good luck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Indigo theres a thread thats been going on for quite some time you might be interested in, it's all about having a broody hen and lots of pictures too. so come join us.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6293979#p6293979

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[IndigoJaguar]

Thanks for the links, Trish.

I figure you misunderstood me, rockchick.

I will look up dsmo. Sounds like it might be a lifesaver! I am going to keep her separate for as long as it takes....if she keeps improving. I built her a cage inside the coop so she will still be acclimated to the others, but the roo wont be able to get to her. During the day I will let her out in the run if the weather is nice. She is healing up well and still lays eggs, so I want to do all I can for her.
It's hard when it is your family pet that gets your chickens! That would be the worst to me, to have to choose between my chickens and my dog, because my dogs are my ultimate pets, but it would be a real pain to have to keep my dogs away from my chickens. My boston terrier chases my girls for fun, but she is too small to do anything to them. My roo goes after her sometimes; I keep hoping he will get her good one of these days. I yell at her when I see her do it and she is an indoor dog, but she's very stubborn and persistent.