Injured chickens after dog attack

[Hedwigsmom]

Dog bites can get really effected.

I know I've been bitten before

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Hedwigsmom]

I would clean the bites with saline solution and keep the chicken separate so I didn’t want packing at each other.
You can carefully spray with Vetericyn or Silver Honey to help prevent infection.

The one I'm most worried about putting anything on even saline is Bella because I'm pretty sure she had a punctured lung and i don't want the liquids to get in her lung

 

[coach723]

Most of the wounds, best I can tell from pictures, look survivable. Obviously I can't see internally. Just need to prevent infection and give them time to heal. I would flush as I said before, sterile saline, diluted chlorhexidine (Hibiclens), get them as cleaned out as you can. For the one sneezing blood, be careful flushing. It could be lung, or it could be air sac damage, there are several places air sacs are located, I will post a link below. Is there any sucking or wheezing sound around the wound area? If so, then sometimes placing plastic wrap over the wound will seal it off enough to ease breathing. Then cover the wounds with a plain triple antibiotic ointment completely, and reapply that as needed to keep the wounds covered in it. In a couple of pictures there are feathers around the wound (one maybe has them in it), I would trim back feathers with a small pair of scissors to keep them out of wounds, which will help keep them cleaner and make it easier for you to deal with them. I would not bandage any, except for the possible broken wing. I will attach a splinting manual below which should help you determine where it is broken and how to splint and/or wrap to support it. If it's a closed break, less chance of infection. Even if it didn't heal perfectly, the bird would still do well, since chickens really don't fly.
This link has pictures of where the air sacs are, and explanation of how their respiratory system works, which is different than ours:
https://www.chickenfans.com/chicken-respiratory-system/
If you have amoxicillin on hand, that's good for wounds. If you don't have any then you might consider ordering some to have on hand in case any of them show any signs of infection. You may start to see dark or greenish area's around the wounds, and that will likely be bruising. If there is discharge, bad odor (you will know), or redness and swelling more than you would expect from the trauma, those are signs of infection. You can get amoxicillin without prescription as a fish antibiotic, Fish Mox or Aqua Mox, online. Dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, orally, 2 times a day for 5 - 7 days. Amoxicillin is usually well tolerated.
Last link, this thread has some images of some pretty bad wounds, and their healing process, for reference. May help to see what you may be seeing as this goes. If you click on the title it will take you to the whole thread, with more pictures.

Thread 'Wounds - Pictures of how they heal.'

Aug 3, 2019

Here are some pictures of a friend's turkey that was injured, then got flystrike.

Photo's by @DylansMom

• casportpony

• 

One day at a time, do what you can.

 

[Hedwigsmom]

Most of the wounds, best I can tell from pictures, look survivable. Obviously I can't see internally. Just need to prevent infection and give them time to heal. I would flush as I said before, sterile saline, diluted chlorhexidine (Hibiclens), get them as cleaned out as you can. For the one sneezing blood, be careful flushing. It could be lung, or it could be air sac damage, there are several places air sacs are located, I will post a link below. Is there any sucking or wheezing sound around the wound area? If so, then sometimes placing plastic wrap over the wound will seal it off enough to ease breathing. Then cover the wounds with a plain triple antibiotic ointment completely, and reapply that as needed to keep the wounds covered in it. In a couple of pictures there are feathers around the wound (one maybe has them in it), I would trim back feathers with a small pair of scissors to keep them out of wounds, which will help keep them cleaner and make it easier for you to deal with them. I would not bandage any, except for the possible broken wing. I will attach a splinting manual below which should help you determine where it is broken and how to splint and/or wrap to support it. If it's a closed break, less chance of infection. Even if it didn't heal perfectly, the bird would still do well, since chickens really don't fly.
This link has pictures of where the air sacs are, and explanation of how their respiratory system works, which is different than ours:
https://www.chickenfans.com/chicken-respiratory-system/
If you have amoxicillin on hand, that's good for wounds. If you don't have any then you might consider ordering some to have on hand in case any of them show any signs of infection. You may start to see dark or greenish area's around the wounds, and that will likely be bruising. If there is discharge, bad odor (you will know), or redness and swelling more than you would expect from the trauma, those are signs of infection. You can get amoxicillin without prescription as a fish antibiotic, Fish Mox or Aqua Mox, online. Dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, orally, 2 times a day for 5 - 7 days. Amoxicillin is usually well tolerated.
Last link, this thread has some images of some pretty bad wounds, and their healing process, for reference. May help to see what you may be seeing as this goes. If you click on the title it will take you to the whole thread, with more pictures.

Thread 'Wounds - Pictures of how they heal.'

Aug 3, 2019

Here are some pictures of a friend's turkey that was injured, then got flystrike.

Photo's by @DylansMom

• casportpony

• 

One day at a time, do what you can.

Thank you so much. Yes there is wheezing coming out of a specific hole in her wound. The one with the broken wing I'm pretty sure it's a closed break. I didn't see any broken skin or anything on it or around it. Her wound is up more between her wings on her back and a bit more towards her other wing

 

[Hedwigsmom]

I came out of my house yesterday and found a dog that we have never seen before 2 days ago chewing on one of my hens. I got over to find her dead so we went looking for the other 11 hens. After a 6 hour search we found 3 dead and 5 injured and 4 not injured. They range in the ages of 6 months to 5 years old. The injured ones (some worse than others) all have tears and holes in their back and one also has a broken wing on top of those injuries she is 5 yrs old and the one that is injured the worst is wheezing and i think she might have a punctured lung she is also 5yrs old, the other 3 injured are 1is 2 yrs old and 2 are 6 months. I am frustrated and very saddened by all of this and vet is not an option. All 5 injured made it through the night. I do not have any pictures yet. By the time we found them all and put the survivors up it was dark out. Will be doing a more thorough look at them today and cleaning them up more. Any help is appreciated.

Update: cleaned up the wounds last night best I could. Still not sure how to really clean Bella's wound since I'm pretty sure she had a punctured lung so I dabbed it with some gauze and saline and put a little medicine around the puncture. Wish I could flush it. I mixed up some electrolyte solution in some water added a little crushed aspirin and probiotics poured it on some bread for each of them to eat. Which was the easiest way with my girls. Lost sweet Ruby overnight I got the other 3 girls cleaned up better today and got some better ointment on their wounds. Luckily Layla and Violets wounds are shallow. Mocha's upper back wound isn't too deep but I noticed that her other wound on her right side around her thigh is deeper than I thought it was and found maggots. Got her flushed out really good and I think i got all the maggots out and got ointment on both. She's still dragging her left wing but I'm worried about splinting it because I don't want to cover the wound between her wings. Going to get Bella cleaned up a little more tonight. Since she's the worst I'm trying not to do too much at once, but she did get up and take a few steps today

 

[coach723]

So sorry you lost one.
Continue to check the wound where maggots were, if flies got to it there could still be eggs that will hatch. Check several times a day for several days to make sure you get them all. I would also check the others just in case, you don't need to deal with that on top of everything else. I can't tell in pictures, but sometimes a wing may just be badly sprained and sore, and hurts too much for them to hold it up. The only broken wings I've dealt with were so badly broken that there was no question about it. Sprains and strains can cause them drag as well. If a figure 8 wrap will work on her wing you may be able to put something between the bandage and her body at the top that will give space for the wound to breathe, or situate the bandage so it's not over the wound. It's really hard for me to tell. Do what works, and what you can manage.

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

I so sorry for your loss!

 

[Hedwigsmom]

So sorry you lost one.
Continue to check the wound where maggots were, if flies got to it there could still be eggs that will hatch. Check several times a day for several days to make sure you get them all. I would also check the others just in case, you don't need to deal with that on top of everything else. I can't tell in pictures, but sometimes a wing may just be badly sprained and sore, and hurts too much for them to hold it up. The only broken wings I've dealt with were so badly broken that there was no question about it. Sprains and strains can cause them drag as well. If a figure 8 wrap will work on her wing you may be able to put something between the bandage and her body at the top that will give space for the wound to breathe, or situate the bandage so it's not over the wound. It's really hard for me to tell. Do what works, and what you can manage.

Thank you, I will keep checking it. I know it can take a few cleanings to get them all. Unfortunately I had to deal with dry strike already twice since June. I checked her other wound and the other girls wounds and they all look maggot free thank goodness. Hopefully they stay that way. I think I'll be able to clean Bellas wound a bit more than I have when I was checking it a little earlier I didn't hear any wheezing any more and it looks like maybe the blood clots have sealed the hole in her lung. I'm still not going to flush it out just yet. I've gotten everyones feathers out of the way of their wounds but I'll have to have someone help me trim them better. Thank you everyone for your help. I'll try to get new pictures of the wounds to post.

 

[Hedwigsmom]

I so sorry for your loss!

Thank you