Hens attacked by dog

[Briana Wylde]

Hello- I've been reading some of the posts about this but wanted to get more specific advice. A dog attacked our flock of 4 hens. One died, one in shock, one is fine, and one is pretty severely injured. The severely injured hen has a nasty tear in her skin and my husband and I are wondering if she needs stitches. He is experienced in doing stitches but I'm not sure if it's a good idea... and he is curious as to how to remove feathers in the area where she would get the stitches.

Hoping to get some advice here. We love Dolly and want to do everything we possibly can to get her better. We have her in our house in a box with a heat lamp. We've already put medicine on her wounds.

Any help would be appreciated. We can't lose two of our girls

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Here's what I do for wounds like that. (some steps may be avoided but it is what I do)
If there are feathers that fall into the wound, trim them.
Flush the wound with saline solution.
If it is a fresh wound, less than an hour or so, use hydrogen peroxide once. After that HP will inhibit healing by killing new cells.
If longer than that, and thereafter, use betadine (organic iodine).
Apply an eye type triple antibiotic ointment. The eye type melts at body temperature and seeps deep into the wound.
Then I apply Campho-Phenique because it relieves pain and itching as well as being an antiseptic.
Isolate the bird in a warm environment.
If there is a severe amount of damage, you may want to subcutaneously inject an injectable antibiotic. Each case is different.
You'll have to judge for yourself if you think stitching is necessary but usually it isn't. They tend to heal very quickly.

 

[Briana Wylde]

Here's what I do for wounds like that. (some steps may be avoided but it is what I do)
If there are feathers that fall into the wound, trim them.
Flush the wound with saline solution.
If it is a fresh wound, less than an hour or so, use hydrogen peroxide once. After that HP will inhibit healing by killing new cells.
If longer than that, and thereafter, use betadine (organic iodine).
Apply an eye type triple antibiotic ointment. The eye type melts at body temperature and seeps deep into the wound.
Then I apply Campho-Phenique because it relieves pain and itching as well as being an antiseptic.
Isolate the bird in a warm environment.
If there is a severe amount of damage, you may want to subcutaneously inject an injectable antibiotic. Each case is different.
You'll have to judge for yourself if you think stitching is necessary but usually it isn't. They tend to heal very quickly.

Thank you so much for the advice. Dolly is doing okay- one of her wounds was so severe that we just thought it best to do stitches. We did HP right away and I went to the store and got all your recommended products... hoping she pulls through.