Help! Neighbors dog attacked my chicken!

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Hi, I'm new to BYC. Earlier today my neighbors dog attacked my chicken, Lucky. When he brought her home, most of her lower back feathers were gone, her wing blades were bloody, and she had a puncture in her neck. She won't eat or drink yet, but she has passed droppings. I was going to put her out of her misery, but decided to see if she will make it through the night. Any advice would be useful, thanks!

 

[micstrachan]

You will grt lots of advice here. I have seen some amazing recoveries on these forums! She needs to be looked over thoroughly for more puncture wounds and they need to be cleaned. Are there any breaks? Please keep her warm and comfortable in a calm place where you can observe her. Do you have electrolytes? If she won’t drink and you have the patience, try putting individual drops of fluid on the top of her beak, away from her nares. She may drink them on her own.
What is her body language like? Can she stand and walk?

 

[azygous]

If you can, she should be given an antibiotic. Puncture wounds are full of bacteria that can kill a chicken very quickly. Open wounds should be cleaned and kept moist with an antibiotic ointment.

She's in shock and giving her electrolytes is as important for her survival as an antibiotic. I hope she makes it.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

She is able to walk and stand, but she doesn't do it much. Should I make her drink, or leave her alone? Thank you for all the advice so far!

 

[azygous]

It's very important to get fluids into her. If you have any Gatoraid, red punch flavor is adored by most chickens, fill the plastic cap that comes on the bottle with the Gatoraid and dip her beak into it.

All it will take is a taste of the sweet liquid, and she'll probably drink on her own. If she still is reluctant, just keep dipping her beak. She will automatically slurp it. If she's getting any, she will tip her head back and swallow. Let her have as much as she'll drink. Repeat every 30 minutes for the first day.

 

[azygous]

Do you have any oral antibiotics on hand? Penicillin or amoxycillin are common broad spectrum ones. The sooner you get her started the better. The skin around the puncture wounds will start turning bright red if infection is starting. It can kill her in 24 hours.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I agree that cleaning her wounds and looking for more is important. You can use a syringe without a needle to flush any punctures.
Make sure the neck wound didn't puncture her trachea.
Keeping her hydrated is more important then forcing food right now.
Warm and in a darkened quiet area will help her settle.
You can post pictures of wounds if you are concerned about them. Most of us have seen the gruesome aftermath of attacks.
Electrolytes and or extra vitamins in her water will help her feel better. You can give her scrambled eggs or other favorite treats to entice her to eat.
I'm a fan of nutri drench for in water or drizzled on food.
Vetericyn is great for wounds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yikes-large-wound-on-hen.1141144/#post-17736677

That link takes you to thread I started when treating a wound on one my girls.

Good Luck and Keep us Posted!

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Just put the antibiotic cream on, and forced her to drink some water. Will pick up some Gatorade at the store today. Hoping for the best!

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Thanks for all of the advice y'all, but she passed on earlier today.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I'm so sorry. It's never easy to lose them.