Hen Brutally attacked by Dog!!! Emergency!!!

[TwinsLoveChicks]

Last night my hen, Hummingbird, was attacked by a dog, and she has wounds all over her. She has been my friendliest and favorite chicken since I started my flock, and I really don't want to lose her. I'll be glad to answer any questions about her injury, and please don't hesitate to post anything that might help. This is an emergency, so please answer soon! Thank you so much!

1) What type of bird, age, and weight.
She's an Easter Egger, about 5-6 years old, and she hasn't lost any weight.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She's just acting really quiet.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She got attacked sometime last night.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Her back is ripped open near the base of her tail, almost the entire top part of the beak has been ripped off, and she has wounds between her eye and her nostril and on the back of her head. You can see her skull on the head wound, and all the others are bleeding. The beak wound is bleeding the most. The wounds on her head and her back are making me worry that she could have internal bleeding or bleeding in her brain.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I think that a dog attacked her least night.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I got her to drink some water, but her eyes are swollen up and she can't see to eat anything. I'm also worried that it'll hurt her beak.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
Poop looks normal so far, no blood or anything to signal internal bleeding.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I wrapped her back in gauze, but I didn't put anything on it, and I cleared away as much blood as possible, and she's in the house in a box.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I'm going to make her some electrolyte water and try to get her to eat some yogurt, and I'd like to treat her myself.

11)Describe the housing/bedding in use.
I put her in a box in the house, but she's on a towel.

12) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

Front/Beak wound

Side

Side

Close-up beak and face wound

Close-up back of head wound

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Keep her wounds clean, rinse with saline use triple antibiotic ointment. If she seems like she is in pain or not getting better than you may have a decision to make....

From what I have read on here chickens are very good about healing themselves up, but hopefully someone with more experience chimes in.

Good luck

Gary

 

[TwinsLoveChicks]

Thank you for answering so quickly!
I don't know if I have saline, but I will check. I know that I have bactine and hydrogen peroxide. Would that work? Also, is this for the back wound?
Thank you again!

 

[Chickassan]

I would get to a vet if possible.That's some pretty serious damage.

 

[sbhkma]

Do not use hydrogen peroxide. It will damage good tissue. If a vet is not an option (and for most it's not, as few vets treat chickens) your best bet is to make sure her wounds are cleaned & dressed with antibiotic ointment (NO "caine" type pain relief in the ointment). I wouldn't dress the wounds as 1) unless you use non-stick pads it's going to be hell to get them off and 2) lets the wounds breathe and allows you to keep a CLOSE eye on them for infection.

Keep her in a quiet, warm room, give her some electrolytes in water and make a mash with high protein chick feed and warm water/electrolytes in it. She may not be able to eat with that beak wound and in that case your options are to try to tube feed her or euthanize her.

You may also want to take a good look at your coop enclosure to make sure this doesn't happen to another bird. My coop is closed up at night and electric fencing surrounds it.

So sorry this happened. I know what it's like. 4 years ago my Sophie was grabbed by a coyote. My German Shepherds saved her and she spent 2 months in a chicken hospital in my spare bedroom. She's doing great and is my best layer.

 

[coach723]

Veterycin wound and skin care spray is very good to use in these situations. You can use it to clean as often as needed and will cause less trauma to what is already hurt and reduce causing bleeding again. You can just spray it on. Available at most feed and pet stores now, look in the dog/cat section, it's good for all species. If you have a bleed that won't stop with pressure you can use corn starch as a blood stop.
You do need to keep her hydrated, and the electrolites mentioned above are important now. Sav-a-chick is a good one and widely available. If she survives the shock, then watch for infection above all else, and as mentioned the feeding/watering may be an issue. If she does start to eat/drink on her own, then softer food like mash and cooked egg will be much easier for her to deal with. As long as there is no infection then the beak damage is going to be the most difficult recovery, and making sure she gets enough food/water.

 

[TwinsLoveChicks]

Thank you guys for answering! I will put some antibiotic ointment on her wounds until I can get Vetericyn for it. Her wounds have started to scab, and I'll keep her on electrolyte water and see if I can get some of the chick feed mix that you mentioned down her. At the moment she's just sleeping, and I'll keep a close eye on her. Should I worry about brain injury?

 

[TwinsLoveChicks]

Also is there anything that I can put on that will reduce the swelling around her eyes? Thanks again!

 

[sbhkma]

Regarding brain injury I doubt it but you can't do anything about that anyway. As for the swelling, a cool damp cloth might help but be very very gentle. If she fusses, leave it alone. It's better than she rest and put energy into recovery. The swelling should go down over the next couple of days.

 

[TwinsLoveChicks]

Update:
Here are some updated pictures of her face and some new pictures of her back as well, all taken at the same time. I never took any original pictures of her back, so you'll have to judge if it's better or not by looking at the new pictures.
The swelling in her face has gone down a little bit, and she has stayed alert this entire time, but she hasn't opened her eyes yet. She hasn't eaten much, but yesterday I got some yogurt and three little chunks of watermelon down her, and I'm going to get more in her today. I've also been getting lots of water down her every day.
As for her wounds... For her back I have been putting Neosporin on it and then putting on a gauze pad. Then I wrap it with gauze to keep it on her and change it every day, but I'm going to leave off the gauze pad and just do the Neosporin for a while so that the air can get to it. I will keep using the Neosporin until I can get Vetericyn.
For her head wounds and beak I have been carefully dabbing on the Neosporin. It has all scabbed over and isn't bleeding anymore. I would like to do more, but I don't know what.
Here are some pictures. I will describe how the back wound looked before I started treating it.

Side

Front/Beak Shot

Side

Beak Shot
It looks like it might be healing up a little bit. What does everyone think?

The back wound. When it first happened, the fat was bright yellow and the scabbed up part was red and bloody. You could also feel tons of heat coming off of it as well. I still am worried about one part of it, though. That weird gray part in the middle. It used to be liquid-y, and now it's more solid, but I don't know what it is. It isn't intestines or anything like that, but it still makes me worried. Any ideas?

Anyway, the positives are that she's stayed alert (still itching her face, making little trilling noises, and preening a little,) the swelling has gone down a little, her beak looks like it's healing, her back looks better, her head wounds have scabbed up, and she isn't bleeding internally.

Negatives are that she still hasn't opened her eyes, she's lost some weight, and I don't know what the gray stuff on her back is.

Please tell me what you guys think, and what else I should be doing. Thanks!