OK, I am definitely keeping them separate from now on.
(Yes, I know I am stupid for allowing the dogs and chickens to mix. I just need some advice, please?)
Can anyone give me any suggestions of what else I can do besides wait?
We recently got ducks and chickens, and our 4 year old American Eskimo and 5 month old chihuahua had never seen chickens or duck before. We let the birds range in the back yard all day, and let the dogs out while supervised periodically during the day (they usually only want to go out when I go out to care for my flocks). The dogs are fascinated by the ducks and chicks and love the excitement of flapping wings. The reason I usually supervise them.
The dogs were let out in the yard around 6:30 pm unsupervised while the ducks and chickens were out in there (thanks to my 5 year old grand daughter).
Usually the dogs will run past the birds looking for poop to eat (eew - how do we stop them from doing that?). Once the Eskie tried to tackle my big drake, but I stopped her, thinking she would quit.
At 7 pm, my daughter found one of the 9 week old silkies laying in the grass and the dog was laying next to it. There were some clumps of feathers next to the chicken and some of them were wet, so my daughter thought the chicken was dead and lit into the Eskie with a solid scolding. Then she scooped up the chicken and brought it into the house. It was still breathing hard, so I thought that was a good sign. We don't know if it is a hen or a roo.
We checked it all over, and found a little blood near the left ear. We put a little peroxide on the spot with a q-tip- it looked like a tiny tear in the skin. The chick is now on pine shavings in a rubbermaid tub locked away from the household. It has food and water available. I did put a little apple cider vinegar and a little sugar in the water. I don't have the raw vinegar. Was that the right thing to do?
Should I give it some Rescue Remedy?
The room is 88 degrees and the ceiling fan is on to circulate the air (we don't have air conditioning). I have a mesh fabric over the top of the tub to reduce the air on the chick and to discourage it from jumping out if it feels better in the morning.
We tried to get the chick to drink, but it doesn't seem to want to. We dripped one drop of water at a time into its beak and it swallowed some, but we stopped giving the water when it stopped swallowing the drops.
It is very limp all over. It can hold up its head, but lets it flop off to the side or backwards onto its back when it tries to move. We have it setting on its keel with its feet under it like it was sitting normally. It did let loose some watery bowel movements a couple of times.
I told my daughter that we need to let the bird rest overnight and see what to do tomorrow. If the chick is in shock, how long will it take for it to recover? If it is paralyzed, I am prepared to cull, since it would not have a good life, and I am not able to be a caregiver to a paraplegic chicken.
Have I done the right things? Is there anything else I should or could be doing? How can I stop the dogs from chasing the birds? My last dog was a border collie and she never bothered our chickens. Our yard is too small to cross fence. I was hoping to continue to let the flocks roam the yard all day, but now I guess I may be asking my husband to build me some large pens (Hmm, or maybe just pen the dogs)
Or I may be re-homing the dog if she is guilty of chicken snatching and won't stop.
UPDATE: The chick is still rather floppy, but can flex its feet and wings a little and has shuffled forward in the bin. The feet are warm so I am thinking that is good.
It is acting like its back is strained. I have it propped up with shavings to keep it from falling over on its side.
(Yes, I know I am stupid for allowing the dogs and chickens to mix. I just need some advice, please?)
Can anyone give me any suggestions of what else I can do besides wait?
We recently got ducks and chickens, and our 4 year old American Eskimo and 5 month old chihuahua had never seen chickens or duck before. We let the birds range in the back yard all day, and let the dogs out while supervised periodically during the day (they usually only want to go out when I go out to care for my flocks). The dogs are fascinated by the ducks and chicks and love the excitement of flapping wings. The reason I usually supervise them.
The dogs were let out in the yard around 6:30 pm unsupervised while the ducks and chickens were out in there (thanks to my 5 year old grand daughter).
Usually the dogs will run past the birds looking for poop to eat (eew - how do we stop them from doing that?). Once the Eskie tried to tackle my big drake, but I stopped her, thinking she would quit.
At 7 pm, my daughter found one of the 9 week old silkies laying in the grass and the dog was laying next to it. There were some clumps of feathers next to the chicken and some of them were wet, so my daughter thought the chicken was dead and lit into the Eskie with a solid scolding. Then she scooped up the chicken and brought it into the house. It was still breathing hard, so I thought that was a good sign. We don't know if it is a hen or a roo.
We checked it all over, and found a little blood near the left ear. We put a little peroxide on the spot with a q-tip- it looked like a tiny tear in the skin. The chick is now on pine shavings in a rubbermaid tub locked away from the household. It has food and water available. I did put a little apple cider vinegar and a little sugar in the water. I don't have the raw vinegar. Was that the right thing to do?
Should I give it some Rescue Remedy?
The room is 88 degrees and the ceiling fan is on to circulate the air (we don't have air conditioning). I have a mesh fabric over the top of the tub to reduce the air on the chick and to discourage it from jumping out if it feels better in the morning.
We tried to get the chick to drink, but it doesn't seem to want to. We dripped one drop of water at a time into its beak and it swallowed some, but we stopped giving the water when it stopped swallowing the drops.
It is very limp all over. It can hold up its head, but lets it flop off to the side or backwards onto its back when it tries to move. We have it setting on its keel with its feet under it like it was sitting normally. It did let loose some watery bowel movements a couple of times.
I told my daughter that we need to let the bird rest overnight and see what to do tomorrow. If the chick is in shock, how long will it take for it to recover? If it is paralyzed, I am prepared to cull, since it would not have a good life, and I am not able to be a caregiver to a paraplegic chicken.
Have I done the right things? Is there anything else I should or could be doing? How can I stop the dogs from chasing the birds? My last dog was a border collie and she never bothered our chickens. Our yard is too small to cross fence. I was hoping to continue to let the flocks roam the yard all day, but now I guess I may be asking my husband to build me some large pens (Hmm, or maybe just pen the dogs)
Or I may be re-homing the dog if she is guilty of chicken snatching and won't stop.
UPDATE: The chick is still rather floppy, but can flex its feet and wings a little and has shuffled forward in the bin. The feet are warm so I am thinking that is good.
It is acting like its back is strained. I have it propped up with shavings to keep it from falling over on its side.
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