My dog injured my chicken :(

[Ilona]

Today would have been a happy day, for the first time since we got our 3 girls we found two eggs!! But today I also got a text from my neighbor that my German Shepard is torturing my chicken!!! She got the dog away from the chicken and chicken escaped. Actually amazing that chicken didn't get killed. There is a lot of feathers missing and two wounds on her back. I am not stitching the wound as bite wounds have to heal by themselves. I am soooo mad at my dog! I placed chicken in the box, and gave her sunflower seeds which she loved, and few grapes. I cleaned wounds and put antibiotic ointment on and put her back with the others. She seems to be ok. She is sleeping in her nesting box now (her usual night spot). I could have been such a happy day

 

[shober]

I am so sorry that this happened to you!

I just hate when things like this happen. This morning my cat caught a hummingbird! She didn't kill it, but it was scared and so small! I took a picture of it and then it flew away!!

I was so glad! Your hen will heal very fast.

 

[dantodd]

If your other hens see any blood on the injured bird they are likely to peck at her and cause further injury. I am sure some more experienced folks will chime in but I would segregate her ASAP and look for a solution to this issue. I think folks use either a blue coloring to hide the red blood or a jacket of some sort.

 

[Pinky]

Quote:
I would separate her too if possible, if not keep a close watch over her.
I am sorry that happened to you.

 

[Cattitude]

I'm thinking a hen apron would do the trick. /comfort

My Husky/Rottie got off his chain the other day and killed a couple of my free-range roos. I know what has to be done. *sigh* I can't have him teaching the other dogs to kill chickens. If I can't rehome him soon, he'll have to go to doggy heaven.

 

[Ilona]

Quote:
take your dog to SPCA, may be someone will adopt him/her. It really sucks that they have this instinct to kill.

What is hen apron? Do I make one?

 

[Farm_Maven]

Use Blue-Kote. It is a wound dressing. The blue color will not attract the attention of your other chickens to the wounds. But If she is not wounded real bad and is ok, I would leave her in with the others.
Segregating could cause a disruption with the pecking order after she is returned to the flock, and that may cause her more stress.

 

[Ilona]

So my hen seems to be doing fine, after feathers dried off from dog spit her wound is pretty much covered with feathers. She acts normally but they all are more skittish now, and when the dog got close to the coop they all freaked out. We dog proofing the coop now.

 

[abejita]

Quote:
You are setting your dog up. What do you expect to happen if a dog is chained outside with chickens running loose around him?

 

[pipsmom]

I am so sorry but have you thought about a fenced kennel for your dog instead of a chain? That would keep him and the chickens safe. We have a Viszla that my husband hunts with. She is completely safe with the chickens. She ignores them, due to good training. But if one of our quail gets loose, she goes nuts. But brings them back to us unharmed. Hate to see a dog die because of his instincts. I agree with taking the dog to the SPCA if you don't want to have the dog in a fenced in run though.