HELP! My sweet little Buff, who is almost a year was attacked by a dog.

[coloradogal]

Not sure how your hen is doing...but I have had to deal with this twice. Both times, I thought for sure there wasn't much hope. I generally clean them quickly with whatever I have and then check for bleeding. Sometimes the blood makes it hard to detect new bleeding which is why I try to get them cleaned as quickly as possible. I suspect the epsom salt would work but could further stress the bird as it would sting. I'd try something a little less stingy until the wounds heal. Then epsom is wonderful for lots of things as the minerals can be absorbed through the skin.

Once you get her cleaned up, assess to see if there is any bleeding. If you don't have blood clot, and pressure is not working, try flour. I know, I know, flour is not the best thing but it does work if there is nothing else. Someone told me to take some flour, mix with antibiotic ointment until it is just this side of soggy and adhere that to the wound. I do not know if that works, perhaps someone on here could chime in.

Once the bleeding is under control, I give fluids. I put the fluids on their beek and let them drink it. I never recommend opening the beek to someone new to chickens as there is too much chance of accidental drowning. I have poultry vitamin water mix that I use. Then keep her very warm and in dark place. A second bathroom works great. Just put paper towels under her. It makes cleanup easy. I generally just give vitamin water for the first couple of hours and then find some nice cream or make a kefir (probiotic) liquid that has honey, vitamins in it. Eventually, I'll transition to food...meaning I'll have it available but they often won't eat solid food for a few days.

The last little frizzle roo that I recuperated, not from a dog but from being low guy in the pecking order, didn't eat for 3 days and had multiple wounds and major loss of feathers when I found him. Sadly, reintegration into the flock has not been successful so now he is, sigh, a house chicken until I can find him a home.


yes, he's wearing a diaper and I added kool-aid to his rinse water to make him exotic so that when friends come over, they just assume he's a strange looking parrot.

my point is that they are more resilliant than we give them credit for. They do bounce back if we give them supportive care. If internal organs are outside the body or the neck is crushed, there isn't much that can be done but for many mauling occurences, they can survive. Most dogs do not want to eat chickens perse...they want to play with them. Sadly the way they play, even with toys, often causes the neck to snap. If you can get to the chicken before that point, you can usually bring them back.

 

[aghiowa]

You need to get that chicken inside, thoroughly cleaned off (a weak epsom salt solution soak is a good idea), and check it all over for puncture wounds. They may be crusting over by now, but they NEED to be opened, flushed with peroxide/water or iodine/water, and kept open to drain. What will really bring the hen down will be the infection setting in and that won't happen right away, but rather in the next week.

We had a very similar situation with a cochin. There was a puncture wound up under her feathers on her back that we didn't see until the second day after the attack, and we battled infection quite a bit. I ended up having to give her penicillin injections, but now, two months later, you can barely tell she was hurt!

They heal amazingly quickly, IF you can keep shock and infection away. Keep it inside in a dog crate, keep the wounds open so they can heal from the inside out, and keep it quiet, watered and fed well with not a lot of treats.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Angela

 

[bj taylor]

my experience is a black australorp attacked by my dog. her back was skinned from neck to tail. she was in shock so i put her in one of the nest boxes w/a heat lamp directed to that zone. i applied blu kote to her wounds which served as an anti-biotic and camoflaged the wound so the others wouldn't pick at it. she hundled in the nest box for several days barely moving. i put food in reach of her & water at all times. a buff orp would sit in the nest with her & keep her company.
because the wound was largely superficial i didn't need to take further action. i felt that staying w/her flock mates helped her stabalize. she began to move about in a few days & today she's fine.
good luck & sorry about your girl