So, my ducks like to go about and wander and are usually fine. But today a dog attacked my Silver Appleyard Hen. I haven't really seen the wounds considering she is very nervous and I don't want to make it any worse. There's a cut on her back and her stomach/chest. Judging from the amount of blood coming off of her the cuts aren't too bad. Right now she's sitting in a small amount of water to stop the bleeding with a bit of food in hopes she would eat. From what I can see she's probably going to be fine but I still worry. If anyone has any tips on how to care for an injured ducky please say so as all info and experience is greatly appreciated.
So I managed to check her wounds and.... well they could be worse. The one on her back is very small from what I see which i don't think it should be a problem. But the on behind her leg is pretty deep. Obviously it wasn't deep enough to hit an organ I believe but it's pretty deep. It's far enough behind her leg to not really hurt her walking ability but she still limps.
First you should try and keep your ducks from wandering, as you just found out it only takes one time. Dogs and ducks don't do well together if the dog doesn't know the duck. I am happy for you it's not worse. But you still need to keep her enclosed so she can heal and recoup. Clean her wounds good you can use saline or Veterycin spray for wounds and infections then apply something like Neomycin or tripe antibiotic with out pain relief, and now with warm weather starting up you'll need to keep her where flies can't lay their eggs in her wounds or she'll have maggots and that can be life threatening.
Storey's Guide recommends clipping feathers to a half inch long around the edges of wounds. Look under the wings and around the vent. Miss Lydia gave you good advice for treatment. You may end up needing oral antibiotics. Find out now if you can get some or if you will need a prescription from a vet, then you won't be caught short. Yes keep her away from flies. Please keep us posted.
Any idea who the dog belongs to? I once saw my neighbors usually lovable dog staring at my ducks through their fence and chased her off. I visited my neighbor awhile after that because I had other unfortunate incidents with their dog getting loose and causing havoc. I told my neighbor that they were responsible for their pet and that they should not let her wander. I would recommend a fence to keep your ducks protected, although it would have to be relatively high to keep dogs from jumping over or burrowing under. I would suggest gently examining your duck, she may be very skittish but a thourough exam to make sure every thing is ok...maybe some anti-bacterial salve to make sure the wounds don't get infected. Good luck!
She seems to be doing okay, I've been rinsing out the wound and checking on it. We don't have flies inside our house so she should be good but I check just in case anyway. I've been rinsing out the would with Luke warm water and saline solution. She laid an egg in her pen today as well, I figured her being all stressed and what not would stop egg production, apparently I was wrong.
