Hen mauled by dog

[Wanaka]

Hi All

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of threads about dogs mauling chickens. I wasn't home at the time but my Dad was and saw her get mauled by his friends dog (which he let off at the gate!).

It happened on Friday pm (I'm in New Zealand) so that was about 72 hours ago. She has no visible bleeding and I've palpated her and can't find any obvious broken bones. But, she is not eating or drinking and is mostly sitting and standing occasionally. I have been giving her water via an eye dropper but as she is quite distressed I don't do this often.

She is in a cage inside (it's freezing outside) away from the others. She has water and food available but doesn't seem to be taking any.

My concern is that she is suffering so should I euthanase her or give her more time.

 

[jak2002003]

I recon she is in shock. Cover the cage with a blanket to make it dark for a few hours. Keep the area quite and give her time to settle down again.

Also you don't say if she has lost a lot of blood, or has bite wounds on her? It she has lost a lot of blood then that is serious, look at her comb and wattles, if they have gone pale in colour that is a bad sign.

If she has deep bites she is likely to get infection from bacteria from the dogs teeth. She may have internal injuries if the dog shook her, or bit deeply.

You can mix some re hydrating salts (like we have if we have a bad stomach), and get her to drink some of that.

If she is not improving at all after today I think you need to take her to a vet, or find someone in your area to help you treat her.

Hope she gets better soon

 

[JNB]

Hi Hopefully others will reply but here's my thoughts and what I would do.
When you say she is in distress do you mean like having issues breathing? From what you posted it sounds to me like she may be in shock. Which is very very common when a trauma happens. It can take several days for a bird to re-coop from that.
I have had a few birds injured by dogs and other critters. It sounds like your doing the right things so far. Separating her, putting her in a warm, quiet and low light place where you can observe her.
You may even want to cover the cage she is in so that she can only see out one end Like the door.... It will keep her warmer and out of any draft also make her feel safer.
72 hours seems like a lot of time but for a bird that has been traumatized its really not. So I wouldn't force water. Just make it available with the food and monitor.

If you cant see any physical signs of injury then it leaves possible internal injury so watch for bloody droppings, issues breathing, etc.

Alot of people add electrolytes to the water to help boost the birds recovery. There are also vitamins and other food you can give them. I will try and find the post that explain them in detail Personally after I see my injured hen drink I offer some plain yogurt and or cottage cheese. The probiotics that are in those foods help the bird recover. I also use a liquid B vitamin. But you would want to research the proper dose for your bird and weight

I wish you well and hope for the best

 

[Wanaka]

Thanks JNB and jak.

Today she took a drink of water when I pushed her head into the water trough a bit (sounds terrible but she seemed happier with that than the eye dropper).

When I lift her to change the newspaper she stands and kind of has her wing flopping down, I wonder if it is broken?

She's not getting worse so I'll just keep her inside - she's covered with a blanket so is not stressed. If the sun ever comes out ( really grim spell of weather) I'll put the cage outside with her compadres.

Thanks again for advice

 

[JNB]

Glad to be of help. The joint of her wing may be bruised or very sore. After she has had a couple days see if you can gently lift her wing and spread it out. You should be able to see or feel any breaks in the wing itself. The joint is a little more tricky. I know if you do a search on her for Broken Wing you will find some more info on how to help with that

I hope she continues to improve