Hen back wound from dog

[Paigehope]

I have an Orpington with a pretty gnarly back right now from a dog that got into our yard. I was able to interfere quickly with her so I cleaned the wound out with water immediately. I was in a bit of a panic with a million things going through my head (collecting the other girls, fixing the whole the dog created, disposing of the 2 girls that were gone by the time I got there, how to approach my neighbor about their GD dog, yada, yada, yada) so I used some hydrogen peroxide on it and wrapped her up with a bandage.

Now that I’ve had some time to do more research, and realizing maybe hydrogen peroxide wasn’t the best idea, I went on a shopping spree and bought some neosporin, Vetericyn, and chlorhexidine solution. Now my question is how often and in what order should I use this stuff and can it all be used together? The pessimist in me is worried I’ll turn her back into a 6th science fair volcano if the substances mix.

I would assume clean it out regularly (maybe once or twice a day?) with the solution, then spray the Vetericyn, then the neosporin? It’s been less than 48 hours and I haven’t used the Vetericyn yet. Pictures attached is what she is looking like now.

 

[CatWhisperer]

Those look like deep wounds. Dogs often pick up and shake their prey so damage may be much worse than what you see. Deep tissue damage can lead to difficult to treat infection. Clean the wounds twice a day with chlorhexidine and rinse it out thoroughly. Apply the neosporin topically. I recommend getting some antibiotics, perhaps Baytril, from a veterinarian. Keep her separated from other birds to prevent further injury, maybe indoors for a few days. Make sure she continues to eat and drink, add extra protein to aid healing- chick feed, gamebird, meat bird or dry cat food.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Those look like deep wounds. Dogs often pick up and shake their prey so damage may be much worse than what you see. Deep tissue damage can lead to difficult to treat infection. Clean the wounds twice a day with chlorhexidine and rinse it out thoroughly. Apply the neosporin topically. I recommend getting some antibiotics, perhaps Baytril, from a veterinarian. Keep her separated from other birds to prevent further injury, maybe indoors for a few days. Make sure she continues to eat and drink, add extra protein to aid healing- chick feed, gamebird, meat bird or dry cat food.

Yes, I totally agree. Puncture wounds from dogs usually get infected, so getting started with antibiotics is probably a good idea.

 

[Paigehope]

I just wanna start by saying thank you for the fast responses and that I already love this community!

the wounds are deep but I think that first pic may be a little deceiving. The dog is a young golden retriever and I think she was trying to play more than kill. (The other two girls that were lost were due to the chickens running out of the whole to the neighbors yard where a big husky lives. He did them in quick) I don’t know if that would make much difference though.

I’ve never dealt with wounds like this so I may just be bad at cleaning it. What color should it be?I’m scared to be too aggressive with it. The dark red that you see is pretty much where it ends. I’ll post a pic of when it was more fresh so you can get a better idea of how deep it is.

 

[CatWhisperer]

Safest to put her on antibiotics.

 

[Chickadee337]

When I got my very first little flock. One of my hens flew over into the dog area and got tore up pretty bad. She had a whole flap of skin nearly torn off her back along with multiple puncture wounds. Being new to chickens at that time and didn’t have the heart to cull her. On pure impulse I guess I filled every hole I could find with neosporin and used an entire little tube just for the back piece! Got some towels and a laundry basket and put her in there to where the towel was pretty much holding her together. I’d put little bowls of food and water, she was alert and eating the next day. I left her in there in the garage for about a week or so before I noticed she would turn herself around some how. So I knew she was getting better. After a few weeks I moved her into a dog crate and put it outside next to the coop. She still couldn’t stand for long, she would kinda scoot her way around. She stayed in that crate for about 5 weeks. In that time she got stronger in her legs and started walking again. Once her wounds were all healed, I let her back out with the others. She slept a few nights in the crate and then she was all good and back with her flock. She had a limp in her walk forever after that but she started laying eggs again and lived a happy 2 years after that until something got in the coop one night and got them all. After watching her come back from the dog attack, I learned these birds are pretty tough! Hope yours makes a full recovery!

 

[Paigehope]

Love this! Thanks for the success story! It really does ease my little heart to hear! She is a tough little bird and so far doesn’t look like she wants to slow down one bit.

 

[MountainWoman73]

Agree with CatWhisperer. Keep her isolated, confined and warm. Offer scrambled egg with cornmeal or something else high protein, and clean water, and then wait and see. It wouldn't be unusual for her to act alert and then die a day or two later. Or she might decide to live. Best of luck with the neighbor. When I had that happen I explained calmly what had happened, and asked him for $25 per bird, and offered him one of the dead birds to aversion-train his dog. (He thought I was nuts, because he's the kind of person who locks his dog up instead of training it, but I got my money and never saw them again.)

 

[Paigehope]

Will do.

Luckily I’ve got good neighbors. I don’t know them well but they came over later that night with flowers, a gift card to IFA, and promising to build another fence layer on their side. They are good people.

 

[BarnhartChickens98]

Make sure she is keeping her fluids up. Sounds like she is in good hands.