Lavendar Orpington attacked by dog, back of neck has no skin

[Ursuline Chick]

We kept our girl in a dark area with a towel over her box, so she could rest as much as possible. And we did try to interact with her at times when we weren't treating the wound. We had no problems with integration, by the way. Chickens remember faces for one year with out seeing the other being.

 

[BastyPutt]

Oh, thank you for all your support and information! She is lifting her head up once in a while and then goes back to sleep. I am encouraged ever so much! I will keep on treating her twice a day and keeping the neosporin on her exposed meat. I am in hopes I will have your luck and blessings from the Lord. I don't have prepared saline solution on hand and its a long way to town. How much salt should I mix in a gallon of water?

The Lord is good

Praying for you and the little one, and looks like you've got some good help here.

Side note - I'm not sure exactly where the attack happened, in terms of who's property (may have missed it in your OP) and I know how neighbor dynamics are, but I'd file a sheriffs report or something along those lines to make sure the owner takes this seriously, and/or you have something to fall back on if this continues. A lot of NORMAL folks, don't understand how people can love chickens as much as we do - dog owners especially

One thing to caution, I know in our county, the person who had the livestock attacked can elect to have the dog put down (if they didn't shoot it already, which is likely), but the county next to us - a sheriffs report (that is confirmed true) automatically requires the dog be put down. Depending on how you feel about it, you may want to make sure the latter isn't the case where you live prior to filing a report, if that isn't something you'd be prepared to follow through with.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Good advice.
I'd keep her warm and get the electrolytes or sugar water into her.

Trim the feathers away from the wound that is near her backside (Circled below). This will help keep the wound cleaner and easier to see.
Does she have any more on the other side?

She's going to be very sore for a while and she may not be too keen on lowering her head to drink, so I suggest that you raised the water (and feed) station off the floor so she can reach them better.

Hopefully she'll make it through this period of shock. Keep us posted.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Be of good cheer, chickens are amazingly resilient. You're getting good advice. One of our hens was injured by a dog last year; some of her skin and muscle were torn off her back and we also thought we were going to have to put her down, especially as we didn't see the damage for a couple of days and she got flystrike. We did what you're doing (after removing the fly eggs): flushed twice daily with sterile saline, coated with original Neosporin (no pain reliever) and coated with Veterycin. As I recall, it took about two months for the wound to heal, but she was then as good as new.

 

[blairsgarden]

Good advice.
I'd keep her warm and get the electrolytes or sugar water into her.

Trim the feathers away from the wound that is near her backside (Circled below). This will help keep the wound cleaner and easier to see.
Does she have any more on the other side?

She's going to be very sore for a while and she may not be too keen on lowering her head to drink, so I suggest that you raised the water (and feed) station off the floor so she can reach them better.

Hopefully she'll make it through this period of shock. Keep us posted.
View attachment 3495633

Thank you so much for adding more pertinent information. I will trim the feathers away from the area circled to be able to keep it clean and see it better. And that makes total sense to me to raise the water for her; I will do that as well. I will try to keep everyone updated with new pics and condition improvements.

 

[blairsgarden]

Be of good cheer, chickens are amazingly resilient. You're getting good advice. One of our hens was injured by a dog last year; some of her skin and muscle were torn off her back and we also thought we were going to have to put her down, especially as we didn't see the damage for a couple of days and she got flystrike. We did what you're doing (after removing the fly eggs): flushed twice daily with sterile saline, coated with original Neosporin (no pain reliever) and coated with Veterycin. As I recall, it took about two months for the wound to heal, but she was then as good as new.

Amazing! I am so encouraged!!

 

[blairsgarden]

Oh, dear, she just passed away...I just turned around from the computer to look at her as I have all afternoon only to see her flapping very hard, and scooting around on her side but with eyes closed, and I ran and held her close thinking it was a nightmare of the incident. And then the flapping stopped, her head flopped limply over and clear fluid ran from her mouth. I knew it was just too much trauma for that poor girl. I will make her a proper grave in the morning.

 

[blairsgarden]

Oh, dear, she just passed away...I just turned around from the computer to look at her as I have all afternoon only to see her flapping very hard, and scooting around on her side but with eyes closed, and I ran and held her close thinking it was a nightmare of the incident. And then the flapping stopped, her head flopped limply over and clear fluid ran from her mouth. I knew it was just too much trauma for that poor girl. I will make her a proper grave in the morning.

Thank you to all those of you who took your time to give me so much good information.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

@blairsgarden She may have had internal damages we didn't know about. At least she knew she was loved and cared for, as you did everything you could have. And she passed while being held lovingly in your arms.

 

[Lor]

Sorry to hear she didn't make it. Poor girl.