Hen Attacked by Neighbors Dog - What to Do?

[cowcreekgeek]

Wow! This post is SO reassuring. I'm in the same boat (well, my chicken is...) with a dog attack. One of my questions is, when do I take the hospital cage back out to the coop? The coop is insulated, but it's not as warm as it is in the house (I'm in MN and the air temps at night are about 25 degrees.) It's probably in the 40s inside the coop.

I want her to be near her flock mates, and I think she does too, but I don't want to risk her health. The attack happened three days ago. Her wounds appear to be healing, from what I can see.

Thoughts?

Follow the exact regimen as the AV layed out for battagliac, in his post. Our birds are … well … bird-brains, and want what they want; it's up to us to make certain they get what they need. You could take your wounded bird outside (w/in the cage) for periods, but nowhere it'd be likely to expose it's wounds to possible sources of infection. It won't be long 'til she quits pluckin' at your heart strings ~'-)

 

[DianaMallory]

Thanks everyone for your input, especially cowcreekgeek. When I got home from work and saw our hen I knew it was way beyond anything I coudl handle. She had six to seven lacerations from the base of neck down her back to and around her butt, plus some puncture wounds on her sides; some were wide open flesh. On the drive home I made some calls to feed stores and got a number for an avian vet. Ended up she was our hens angel. After a 1.5 hour drive to her lab, she took care of her like it was her own child; numbing her up, flushing with iodine, sterile rinses, and sewed her up. She also located a large flap of skin that was hanging under the feathers that covered the big open fleshy spot I saw. She did an amazing job and our hen seems like she will recover fine. She is drinking water (200mg ibuprofen/2 cups water for 6 days) and eating laying food and scratch, so we are thrilled. We have to give her two antiobotics orally for 12 days and were told we can introduce her back to the flock after that. She got about 80 stiches in all (we watched them all), and her back looks like a quilt or something. She will live in our laundry room until we ger her back out there. BTW, it was not our neighbors fault. Our chickens crossed the street and entered our neighbors yard. We just moved here and have not finished our coop/run, so they are free range on our acre of land in the daytime. The run will be finished this weekend!! Thanks again, I'll post a picture soon. Charlie & Mitsuyo

Wow that is a lot of stitches on one bird. Is there anyway to confine your birds so you don't have to go through this again?

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Thanks everyone for your input, especially cowcreekgeek. When I got home from work and saw our hen I knew it was way beyond anything I coudl handle. She had six to seven lacerations from the base of neck down her back to and around her butt, plus some puncture wounds on her sides; some were wide open flesh. On the drive home I made some calls to feed stores and got a number for an avian vet. Ended up she was our hens angel. After a 1.5 hour drive to her lab, she took care of her like it was her own child; numbing her up, flushing with iodine, sterile rinses, and sewed her up. She also located a large flap of skin that was hanging under the feathers that covered the big open fleshy spot I saw. She did an amazing job and our hen seems like she will recover fine. She is drinking water (200mg ibuprofen/2 cups water for 6 days) and eating laying food and scratch, so we are thrilled. We have to give her two antiobotics orally for 12 days and were told we can introduce her back to the flock after that. She got about 80 stiches in all (we watched them all), and her back looks like a quilt or something. She will live in our laundry room until we ger her back out there. BTW, it was not our neighbors fault. Our chickens crossed the street and entered our neighbors yard. We just moved here and have not finished our coop/run, so they are free range on our acre of land in the daytime. The run will be finished this weekend!! Thanks again, I'll post a picture soon. Charlie & Mitsuyo

Reading of all that y'all did for your chicken made my screen a bit blurry, but I'm sure it's just the smoke from our fireplace ~'-)

You're welcome, but I was mostly relaying information provided by others, like that found when following the link TurtlePowerTrav provided. Man … 80 stitches? She's nearly caught up w/ me, all in just one day.

Not to pick on the dog, but he's shown what he's gonna do if ever given the chance again (and, I don't reckon it'd be his fault then, after what most dogs consider to be nothing more than loads of fun 'til the chicken can't run any more). In fact? Even my Niko might, even though he's never touched the garbage, or anybody's food that wasn't directly offered to him.

*** edit ***

And, not to kick a dog when he's already down, but what were you thinkin' w/ thoughts of open range on one acre of land? We've got fifty, and surrounded by even more, but I still have a mixture of kennel panels and 6-8' chain link where they'll be stayin' and nothin' weaker than 5' field fence topped w/ barbed wire beyond that. I am a huge fan of allowin' birds to have access to nice green pasture, but will be rotating them within controlled areas, and allowing them into the larger areas w/ lighter/shorter wire only when I'm right there w/ 'em: We know the nature of the predators, and that it is the nature of some w/in every flock to become their source of nutrition (or, as in the case of your neighbor's dog, entertainment )-;~

I wish the strike-thru feature on some forums could sometimes 'un-say' my words ...
this wasn't the place, and most certainly not the time, for me to express any opinion whatsoever of open-range concepts.

My apologies to battagliac for not considering more closely before clickin' the 'submit' button.

*** /edit ***

A quick thought, in regard to your run? One idea I had for a 'chicken tractor' might be useful, even w/ a larger chicken house if room permits … best way to relate this is to think of a sliced pie, with the fence (and house, even) rotating around the center, with wheels along the crust side, so as to allow the chickens to graze each slice individually, but for not so long as to destroy the pasture (even if an area only permits two or three slices). Takin' it down a bit further? A house could have two or doors, and one fixed fence (or even a t-shaped one) w/ other panels made to be easily moved from one side to the other when the grass first begins to thin out.

 

[stellaluna]

this is a good article on wound care:

http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html

the "iodine tea" mixture (iodine in warm water) can be applied with a needleless syringe to avoid touching sensitive, wounded areas. wrapping is not always a good idea; sometimes the wound will heal better if it is allowed to breathe. found this article while looking for a treatment plan for my two ladies who were attacked by a raccoon... happy healing to your injured chicken

 

[battagliac]

I'm not sure about the cold since it generally does not get below 30 here in the winter, but the vet said to add the hen back to the flock after 12 days when the antibiotics end. She did say however to keep an eye on her to make sure the others don't abuse her. The pecking order shifts when she is out and then it is confusing when she returns. She said to pen her separately within the run, just so we can keep her eggs separate. She said not to eat her eggs for a month after the end of the antibiotics. Our hen is missing a lot of feathers, not sure about yours, but I think I would keep a heat lamp or bulb available for her just in case she needs it. Good luck

 

[battagliac]

Wow! This post is SO reassuring. I'm in the same boat (well, my chicken is...) with a dog attack. One of my questions is, when do I take the hospital cage back out to the coop? The coop is insulated, but it's not as warm as it is in the house (I'm in MN and the air temps at night are about 25 degrees.) It's probably in the 40s inside the coop.

I want her to be near her flock mates, and I think she does too, but I don't want to risk her health. The attack happened three days ago. Her wounds appear to be healing, from what I can see.

Thoughts?

I'm not sure about the cold since it generally does not get below 30 here in the winter, but the vet said to add the hen back to the flock after 12 days when the antibiotics end. She did say however to keep an eye on her to make sure the others don't abuse her. The pecking order shifts when she is out and then it is confusing when she returns. She said to pen her separately within the run, just so we can keep her eggs separate. She said not to eat her eggs for a month after the end of the antibiotics. Our hen is missing a lot of feathers, not sure about yours, but I think I would keep a heat lamp or bulb available for her just in case she needs it. Also, the avian vet did not wrap anything and the stitches will disolve, and she put a plastic neck collar on her because she immediately starting pecking at the stitches. Good luck.

Good luck

 

[real_redhead]

I am glad your girl is ok..I ended up putting one of my beloved girls (Topper) to sleep after a dog attack and sometimes have regretted it thinking she may have made it. But at the time I was so crazy over what happened I Wasn't thinking straight. The vet bill was going to be astronomical and I couldn't justify it. Just putting her to sleep was over $200, granted is was after hours emergency care but it was still expensive. I am better prepared and hope that it never happens again but there was some great info in this thread I am subscribing so I can use it for reference if I ever need it! Thanks all

 

[battagliac]

Wow that is a lot of stitches on one bird. Is there anyway to confine your birds so you don't have to go through this again?

Yes, we are finishing the run this weekend, so they will be safe from now on. In the future, we will also build a fence along the front of the property. Thanks

 

[battagliac]

I am glad your girl is ok..I ended up putting one of my beloved girls (Topper) to sleep after a dog attack and sometimes have regretted it thinking she may have made it. But at the time I was so crazy over what happened I Wasn't thinking straight. The vet bill was going to be astronomical and I couldn't justify it. Just putting her to sleep was over $200, granted is was after hours emergency care but it was still expensive. I am better prepared and hope that it never happens again but there was some great info in this thread I am subscribing so I can use it for reference if I ever need it! Thanks all

Sorry to hear that. I reacted the same way and told my wife this girl is too far gone, but luckily I found this avian vet, and she told me chickens can recover from pretty severe injuries. Her cost was so reasonable too, that we took her there. She was $35 for the office visit, $20 for two antibiotics, and quoted us $60 if she had to stitch her. The stitching ended up being way more than expected ,so it ended up being $199 for everything. I think that was a pretty good deal.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

this is a good article on wound care:

http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html

the "iodine tea" mixture (iodine in warm water) can be applied with a needleless syringe to avoid touching sensitive, wounded areas. wrapping is not always a good idea; sometimes the wound will heal better if it is allowed to breathe. found this article while looking for a treatment plan for my two ladies who were attacked by a raccoon... happy healing to your injured chicken

I both saved locally and bookmarked it …
and, may I be possibly the first to say, "Welcome to BYC," since this appears to be your first post/response ~'-)