Injured hen

[threecutechicks]

Came home from a visit and found my Great Dane hiding under the deck, thought nothing of it, as that is where she hides when scared of something. Several hours later when i went to lock the girls up for the night, one was missing. I went and looked under the deck and found her there. She was moving slowly and limping. I gave her some bugs to coax her out and she did munch them up. She let me pick her up and she was full of dirt. I checked her out and found no visible injuries. Put her in the nest and she went to a corner and settled down. I wrapped her in a blanket and brought her in the house to keep her warm. She is just laying there on the couch. Her wing was kind of wonky. There is no vet that sees chickens here on the island. Is there anything more i can do for her? I already lost one chicken this week and dont want to loose this one. HELP

 

[BarredRockMom]

Sorry to hear about your hen! So was the dog responsible for the injuries in your estimation? Does the dog have a history of problem behavior with your girls? If so, ya have to fix that as you are no doubt aware.

As for the hen, I'd search this site to see about how to inspect a wing for damage & how to splint it if there's an issue. Also, if she's injured, she's likely in some kind of shock so electrolytes would be a great idea to help with that. Or give NutriDrench if you have some. If neither is on hand, Google how to make an electrolyte solution.
Keeping her inside, quiet & still will be a great way to begin helping her, so great job moving in the right direction.

Sounds like you also have a leg issue to look into, as you mentioned her limping.

What did you lose your other chicken from this past week. Please don't say "Great Dane"....

 

[SweetKeeks5]

Also I would maybe talk to it ( if your close with them) it might help her go back to her normal life

 

[threecutechicks]

Yes, the dog is responsible, she usually only chases them if they get out of the run. She is usually not friendly unless she is squatting. I think they over bathed her butt too. Her butt was wet and dirty. Cleaned off the best i could but found no injuries. I just got 2 new chicks this morning so i have electrolytes. Thanks for your response

 

[threecutechicks]

Sorry to hear about your hen! So was the dog responsible for the injuries in your estimation? Does the dog have a history of problem behavior with your girls? If so, ya have to fix that as you are no doubt aware.

As for the hen, I'd search this site to see about how to inspect a wing for damage & how to splint it if there's an issue. Also, if she's injured, she's likely in some kind of shock so electrolytes would be a great idea to help with that. Or give NutriDrench if you have some. If neither is on hand, Google how to make an electrolyte solution.
Keeping her inside, quiet & still will be a great way to begin helping her, so great job moving in the right direction.

Sounds like you also have a leg issue to look into, as you mentioned her limping.

What did you lose your other chicken from this past week. Please don't say "Great Dane"....

 

[threecutechicks]

She got egg bound. I did not know what was wrong. I put a post on my local byc group on FB, but the admin did not even post it so i lost precious time waiting on that before i came back here to check. It was just too late

 

[threecutechicks]

The only issue my dog has had with the chickens was chasing them. Several years ago, one of my other chickens got out and all she did was carry her around in her mouth.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Awwww, poor girl, sorry you lost her. Yeah, just skip right to this site in future. Lots of answers here.

Ugh, the dog is responding to it's instincts but chasing and carrying chickens around is not good.

Hopefully your injured hen will recover. So if they get out, two things occurr to me...they shouldn't be able to get out & if they can get out, something else (worse than a dog) can get in.

You're likely going to want to look into securing your set up a little differently to prevent both issues. Seems like that would be a help right off the bat.

I'm realllllly trying to gently address the dog issue and imagine that you must know that's not acceptable behavior. Can you fix that or confine the dog so that this doesn't happen again? Once a dog (or cat) gets a taste of chasing livestock, wildlife or running rough shod over other domesticated animals for that matter, you're going to have to intervene to fix the problematic behaviors, confine the villain or someone's gotta go...in my opinion. And just like people, some animals are just jerks.

I'm not trying to offend or tick you off, I just don't tap dance around very well.

 

[threecutechicks]

We have just cut down some bamboo so we weaving it through the gate to the run so the girls cant get over it and we will be doing a wing trim later tonight. The coop itself is pretty secure, it is just the run that she flew over. As far as the dog, she will no longer be let out without one us with her. She did this when i was not home and she opened the door to get out, the door leading out was open, which will not happen anymore. And you are fine with what you are saying. Stating the truth is not a bad thing.

 

[BarredRockMom]

How is you hen feeling today??