HELP!! Hen attacked by dog!

[DuckWhisperer06]

Our almost year old hen, Mrs Peaches, was attacked by our dog. He was holding her by the neck in a muddy puddle so her face was covered in mud. I’ve wiped her nostrils clean. I took her inside to give her a bath and while rinsing her off, noticed she had an open wound in the middle of her back (about the size of a dime). I cut away the feathers around the opening and put Neosporin on it with a gauze patch covering the wound.

She is very special to us and we would hate to lose her.

Is there anything else I can do?
She is in a dog crate with towels over it so it is pretty dark. She also has a small dish of water that has vitamins and probiotics in it.

 

[MochaDuck]

I'll tag people who may be able to help.

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @casportpony

 

[blackandtan]

Sounds like you’ve done a good job already, just keep checking on her and only time will tell if there is anything wrong internally, but fingers crossed!

 

[Trux]

hope your hen recovers @azygous

 

[cheekychick3]

Hi There.
So sorry, of your sad, news. Guess you feel worse, it being your dog. We
have a Shitzu 8yr, and if he could, he would attack all ours. Our grandson 27yr lives
with us with his girfriend. He has a beautiful German sheperd, 6yr and you would think
it would be her, who would attack. But she is brilliant with them. I have brought ill
hens in the house, in dog crate. Soon as they are better, and everyone has gone to bed,
i have left my girls out, to walk around kitchen ect. Mitzy always stays up with me.
And she is fast asleep and many a time our girls, go up and annoy her. She is brilliant
with them. Of course i would never leave them, on their own, together just in case.
But our Tom, (shitzu) about 7yrs ago attacked 2 of my old girls. He was worse than
any predator, in for the kill. My girls had wounds so deep on their back, underneath,
they were in a mess. Cleaned them up best i could, and done exactly the same, as you
have. At the time our old Bichon Frise had a tumour in her leg, she was 14yr and our
Vet, said her age was against her. Plus, the tumour was eating her leg, which had a deep hole, and the smell was horrid. Now i will explain, why i have written this to you. The vet
use to clean + dress her leg. It was costing us loads. But one day i noticed what he was
using to pack the hole, after he cleaned it. We came home and i googled it, from there.
Found it on Amazon, it is a dressing called ALGINATE. I have copied it for you to see.
All you do is clean her wound, then cut a piece, and apply with sterile tweezers, and pack the wound. It will take 2 of you, one holding her and the other doing it. Also cover her
head, with a towel, and chat to her. Once you have packed the wound, apply another,
dressing on the top.Then use a bandage and tie it around her loosely. She may twitch
a little, but that is expected, trust me, you will not hurt her. This dressing is amazing
as once you pack the hole, and apply bandage ect. You can leave it for up to 3 days.
What happens is the dressing draws all the dead tissue and bacteria from wound. Then
check it 2 or 3 days, time, and keep doing it. As the days pass, you will then notice,
every time you change dressing, you will see all the bad, tissue/ bacteria from wound,
start to look cleaner, and cleaner. Because all the bad has gone, and new tissues,
appear. It also closes up the wound as well. Honestly it is brilliant. It is not expensive
either. Although i live in uk, i went on Amazon.com. Copied it from there. This pack is
good as you also have the rope and diffrent sizes. But any Medical site will stock them. Just google it, and you will soon find it. As for my 2 girls, wounds that Tom caused,
after a few weeks they were back running around. Sorry this is so long, just wanted to explain it all. And please do not blame yourself or your dog. Like i said, it was our Shitzu, who attacked, not Mitzy. We felt bad as well, trust me, like i said things happen
when we least expect it. (mores the pity.) See what you think, i really hope you go ahead, and try it. But up to now, you have done all you can for her. Hope this helps.
Again sorry for the long message. lol

Here is what i copied for you. And if you decide to google it, and try it. Buy the cheapest, it may not state Alginate on pack, but it only means, diffrent brand companies, which do them cheaper. They will work just the same. If our TIA did not
have that tumour, we would never have known about it. The day, Tom attacked, we
were frantic, and there was a few packs, of it left over. Like i said, the wounds were
deep, thought of Tia and knew, how her wound use to clean up, so gave it a go.
I believe that dressing made all the diffrence.

 

[cheekychick3]

Sorry, i sent that before this. lol Try not to worry, to much.

FIBRACOL Plus Collagen Wound Dressing with Alginate 4X4 1 Dressing each

 

[blackandtan]

On deep wounds KY jelly (plain kind) works well too, it lets it heal from the inside out

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Our almost year old hen, Mrs Peaches, was attacked by our dog. He was holding her by the neck in a muddy puddle so her face was covered in mud. I’ve wiped her nostrils clean. I took her inside to give her a bath and while rinsing her off, noticed she had an open wound in the middle of her back (about the size of a dime). I cut away the feathers around the opening and put Neosporin on it with a gauze patch covering the wound.

She is very special to us and we would hate to lose her.

Is there anything else I can do?
She is in a dog crate with towels over it so it is pretty dark. She also has a small dish of water that has vitamins and probiotics in it.

Can you post some photos of your hen and the wound?
Is she alert and able to eat/drink and stand up on her own?

It does sound like you have treated the wound like you should, flushing/trimming feathers and applying Neosporin.
Wounds usually do not need a dressing, it would be better to leave them open to heal unless the hen is picking at herself.

I would check her carefully for other wounds that might be hidden under the feathers. See that she's drinking well. Keep her where flies can't get into the wound.

Let us know how she's doing.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Can you post some photos of your hen and the wound?
Is she alert and able to eat/drink and stand up on her own?

It does sound like you have treated the wound like you should, flushing/trimming feathers and applying Neosporin.
Wounds usually do not need a dressing, it would be better to leave them open to heal unless the hen is picking at herself.

I would check her carefully for other wounds that might be hidden under the feathers. See that she's drinking well. Keep her where flies can't get into the wound.

Let us know how she's doing.

I will take pictures tomorrow morning. She’s been in shock since it happened (2-3 hours) and barely put up a fight when I rinsed her off (she normally hates any human interaction ).

I haven’t given her anything to eat yet and she’s barely drinking. I had to put drops of water on top of her beak just to get the water down.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will take pictures tomorrow morning. She’s been in shock since it happened (2-3 hours) and barely put up a fight when I rinsed her off (she normally hates any human interaction ).

I haven’t given her anything to eat yet and she’s barely drinking. I had to put drops of water on top of her beak just to get the water down.

If she's in shock she may not take water or food. I wouldn't worry too much about the food, they can last a few days without it. Hydration/fluids are important, so encourage her to drink or carefully syringe a few drops at a time into her.

If you have poultry vitamins those would be good, you can also use electrolytes, a little gatorade or sugar water as well. Anything that might interest her for the first 24hrs.

Keep her relatively warm and see how it goes. Sometimes with dog/fox/coyote attacks the chicken is squeezed so internal injuries are a possibility.

I'm very sorry that she was injured. I hope given time she makes a full recovery.