Hen attacked!

[Meghoff]

One of our favorite hens was attacked by a pack of dogs. We saved her but as you can see she has suffered some pretty good injuries. It has been a day since the attack she is alert but doesn't move much and she smells very bad. Any help or advice would be very welcome.

 

[dotsonshine]

If she smells bad that means her wounds could be infected and she may need special treatment.
!! If she starts smelling worse please call a vet for medicine because bad infections can easily kill chickens !!

 

[Meghoff]

If she smells bad that means her wounds could be infected and she may need special treatment.
!! If she starts smelling worse please call a vet for medicine because bad infections can easily kill chickens !!

One of our favorite hens was attacked by a pack of dogs. We saved her but as you can see she has suffered some pretty good injuries. It has been a day since the attack she is alert but doesn't move much and she smells very bad. Any help or advice would be very welcome.

 

[Meghoff]

We called the local vet, they had no advice or medicine. Would you recommend anything? We put vetrimiacine on her. Anything else you would recommend?

 

[dotsonshine]

maybe try washing the wounds with hydrogen peroxide.

Please do not take my word for it I am not a professional

 

[KaseySnow]

Ouch, no, not hydroden peroxide. That doesn't do nearly as much as people think and is really only for very minor scrapes or burns. In this case it will just cause unnecessary pain.

There are lots of threads on wound care here in the Emergency section. I suggest doing a search. Definitely clean and bandage the wound after applying some sort of cream to prevent infection. The vetricyn you picked up should work well in keeping infection at bay.

If she is eating and drinking, then she has a will to live and might be worth trying to save, especially if she is a pet. If she starts acting lethargic and refuses food and water, it may be more humane to let her go.

Edit: Here is one of my favorite threads on emergency wound care. It's not exactly the same situation, but a chicken was attacked and there was a large open wound, much like yours. The images are a bit graphic if that bothers you, but I highly recommend reading it carefully for tips: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/graphic-pics-wing-amputation-advise.1246736/

Here's another really good one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-bear-attack-should-i-euthanize.1468219/#post-24458738

 

[KaseySnow]

She is probably not moving much because she is in a lot of pain.

You can try crushing up a very small amount of asprin and feeding it to her mixed in with some scrambled eggs, if she'll take it. I am not sure the amount, but I believe I have read on BYC that a baby asprin is an okay dose for a chicken. You may want to do some research on it first though, just in case.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I have had a hen that looked like that live to 'tell the story'. Most of my girl's wounds were external, mostly feather loss with a couple of deep gashes. Chickens can get over this external damage remarkably well. Bathe her in warm water to 'flush' the wounds while closely examining her for breaks in the skin. This will go a long way towards soaking out a one-day old infection. After her bath and a very gentle pat down with a soft dry cloth, either rub triple-antibiotic ointment (the type without pain reliever in it, has consistency of vaseline) into the wounds & surrounding tissue or spray her down with an anti-larva/antibiotic spray such as Larvicid (tm) or chlortetracycline spray... any color EXCEPT red on these sprays will be fine.

Chicken healing looks different than human healing. Humans heal best when a wound is kept clean & dry. Chickens heal best when a wound is kept clean & moisturized.

If she has any wounds where much of the skin is peeled away from the meat, consider if you or a vet could add a stitch or two to help the wound(s) heal faster. Do not stitch the entire wound shut, as it will need to drain.

She has extensive wounds, and risks being picked on by the other birds... it's just what chickens do. I recommend that you keep your sweet girl in separate housing (a dog cage will do), where she is still within sight and sound of her flockmates to both ease anxiety and help her maintain her position in the pecking order. Chickens 'forget' their 'long lost' siblings... out of sight, out of mind, and problems can occur when reintroducing if this precaution isn't addressed.

Expect that as the deep gashes heal that her skin will get tough, like leather. That's a scab. My girl's scab was almost black in color, so don't be alarmed. Her plumage may take a long time to recover... perhaps as long as her next molt.

I'll keep you and your feathered family in my prayers.

 

[Ebony Rose]

She is probably not moving much because she is in a lot of pain.

You can try crushing up a very small amount of asprin and feeding it to her mixed in with some scrambled eggs, if she'll take it. I am not sure the amount, but I believe I have read on BYC that a baby asprin is an okay dose for a chicken. You may want to do some research on it first though, just in case.

One 81mg baby aspirin is the correct dosage. It's usually easy to give to chickens, put it in your hand as if it's a treat, and she should gobble it up... if not, gently pull her waddle down while opening her beak, pop the pill in and release the waddles... she should swallow automatically. Try to convince yourself that she's not bleeding internally before offering aspirin.

 

[Meghoff]

I have had a hen that looked like that live to 'tell the story'. Most of my girl's wounds were external, mostly feather loss with a couple of deep gashes. Chickens can get over this external damage remarkably well. Bathe her in warm water to 'flush' the wounds while closely examining her for breaks in the skin. This will go a long way towards soaking out a one-day old infection. After her bath and a very gentle pat down with a soft dry cloth, either rub triple-antibiotic ointment (the type without pain reliever in it, has consistency of vaseline) into the wounds & surrounding tissue or spray her down with an anti-larva/antibiotic spray such as Larvicid (tm) or chlortetracycline spray... any color EXCEPT red on these sprays will be fine.

Chicken healing looks different than human healing. Humans heal best when a wound is kept clean & dry. Chickens heal best when a wound is kept clean & moisturized.

If she has any wounds where much of the skin is peeled away from the meat, consider if you or a vet could add a stitch or two to help the wound(s) heal faster. Do not stitch the entire wound shut, as it will need to drain.

She has extensive wounds, and risks being picked on by the other birds... it's just what chickens do. I recommend that you keep your sweet girl in separate housing (a dog cage will do), where she is still within sight and sound of her flockmates to both ease anxiety and help her maintain her position in the pecking order. Chickens 'forget' their 'long lost' siblings... out of sight, out of mind, and problems can occur when reintroducing if this precaution isn't addressed.

Expect that as the deep gashes heal that her skin will get tough, like leather. That's a scab. My girl's scab was almost black in color, so don't be alarmed. Her plumage may take a long time to recover... perhaps as long as her next molt.

I'll keep you and your feathered family in my prayers.

Thank you, this was great advice! We are new to chickens and I had no idea if her poor feathers would come back.