My chicken flock just was attacked by a dog

[thoeffel1994]

My flock of chickens just was attacked by a neighbor dog that got under the fence. 4 chickens are missing, im guessing they are hiding/injured somewhere in the yard. But cant find them yet because its dark out and my foot is messed up and killing me from chasing the dog so cant really get out their yet..... if i have a chicken that has bite wounds/bleeding what is the best treatment? Id like to be ready for possible ways to treat them once i get to them.

 

[Toddrick]

Sorry to hear that. When it comes to skin wounds, I would treat them very much like human wounds: Clean with water/saline, disinfect with iodine or H2O2, add Bacitracin ointment, and wrap in sterile gauze if necessary. One thing to watch out for is that you don't want to apply any product containing LIDOCAINE, as it is supposed to be poisonous to birds. Perhaps the single best thing to do would be to isolate the injured bird(s) in a crate in the garage or somewhere with a controlled climate while they heal.

I keep super glue, suture kits, and steri-strips on hand in case of severe lacerations, but luckily I haven't had any type of predator incidents yet.

 

[AV8RChick]

I did a search for wound care on this site when my flock sustained an attack by a fox. I used diluted hydrogen peroxide to clean the wounds and triple antibiotic ointment. Depending on how deep the wounds are, you might want to consider oral antibiotics. My hens had some pretty deep wounds. It took about 6 weeks for them to heal. I kept them seperated and cleaned and applied the antibiotic ointment daily. They didn't get their appetite back for about 2 weeks. I gave them water with electrolytes. They did drink the whole time. I also gave them cooked egg. They gradually began eating. They made a full recovery but it was a process.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Toddrick gow would you suture a chicken wound wouhdnt it be going crazy while you try to do that? Oh and good news no injuries just some ruffled feathers. But it doesnt hurt to know this stuff if it does occur.

 

[Toddrick]

Toddrick gow would you suture a chicken wound wouhdnt it be going crazy while you try to do that? Oh and good news no injuries just some ruffled feathers. But it doesnt hurt to know this stuff if it does occur.

Glad everything is fine. I've seen videos on youtube of people doing crop surgery on chickens by simply holding them on their sides. They don't struggle that way, and covering their heads helps too.