my girls were attacked...

[chickiegal]

Thank you all for your well wishes! To update: yesterday Bettyann had to have some surgery due to an infection in her terrible wound. She is home now and doing well. In fact all are coming along nicely and quickly responding to the new and improved wound treatments now 3x's a day...up from 1. (I knew that was wrong!). They are happy to be together again. They have all dropped some weight but are eating again since they are off the pain meds which was appetite suppressing. Baby steps. Thank you for being there yall!!! Very validating and nourishing to the soul!!!

 

[MikaylaSD]

So sorry to hear about your chickens. A neighbor's dog broke into our yard 3 weeks ago and killed 3 of my four hens, I know how difficult it is. It's unfortunate when people don't keep their dogs under control. My hen that survived didn't have any wounds but I have used Blu Kote spray in the past and it works great. Best of luck.

 

[mmartis13]

So glad to hear they are doing well!!!!

 

[chickiegal]

MikaylaSD so sorry for your loss of 3!!!! The 4th must be so lonely!!! Glad she had no wounds to care for!! Sending healing light and love your way!!!

 

[Phoenixxx]

Organic, unpasteurized honey straight into the wounds. I had a girl that survived a dog attack and the wound on her back was so deep I could see the outside of her lungs. I spiked her food with turmeric and dripped honey into the hole twice a day and she healed up just fine!

This is already a day or two after the attack.

 

[chickychicka]

Can I use coconut oil in liquid form to spray onto an open wound? Would this be to protect the wound or other reason? One of my hens got attacked today by a dog and lost feathers with chunks of skin and fat still attached from her back/top of her tail. She is bloody as the wound is still open and is now oozing liquid, I've sprayed colloidal silver on after I rinsed her back twice with hydrogen peroxide shortly after the attack. I have read about aspirin for pain and will start that, too. I am really worried to hurt her any more than she must be already hurting, but what's the best to do? She's eating treats and drinks water, and was even very persistent on finding a new spot to roost (I separated her from the others) She's now under a heat lamp (still cold outside!), would that help dry up the wound/blood and form a scab? Thanks!

 

[frw1985]

This may sound kinda harsh but I had a guinea attacked by two little rat terriers and they had him down eating his tail off. It was horrible I dint think he would make it.
I used horse iodine on him you can get it at the feed store in a sprayer bottle.he hated the treatment and would scream when I came in the barn. But after he healed he soon forgot and quit screaming at me, I knew maggots would be in it next and I knew the iodine would kill the maggots. . I put him up in a coop in the barn and sprayed him daily. In two months you couldn't tell there was anything wrong with him. Except his tail was just a little short. LOL
He was my only male out of 22 and went on to sire many babies after this.

 

[chickiegal]

So sorry to hear about your girl getting attacked! I don't know about coconut oil sprayed directly into the wound as I'm just learning about the healing powers of the coconut. If there is flap-age as in skin/fat/etc. it sounds as if she may need stitches. If you have a vet she could see that's what I would do due to the severity of the wound. At least she's eating which says so much! Doesn't sound like she's in shock from the trauma. My vet had me use a silver ointment and antibiotics. Bettyann got a bad infection but I'm convinced that was from wrong direction from a different vet. One thing I've learned from having been through 3 attacks now is there is no one way to treat wounds! I agree with the honey remedy. Honey has amazing healing qualities to rebuild healthy tissue. It definitely works best on puncture wounds. Honey bathes with warm water 3-4 times a day works great indeed but I'm still concerned about the disconnection of tissue on your girl. If you don't have a vet then I might try doing stiches myself. You tube? It shows almost everything! I saw Bettyann's wounds, which sound quite similar to your girl's, heal up so much quicker than my other girls and hers was the worst of the lot. I also heard Blu Kote works very well. She definitely needs to be crated if possible and kept warm with no contact with dirt and dirt bathes until her wounds are completely closed. Turmeric is also great for inflammation. I kept my girls in our front room with the tv on during the day to keep them from getting bored and going stir crazy grumpy. They were in 2 big dog metal crates that I put poles through for them to roost. After 5 weeks of 'wound therapy' they were more than ready to get back outside to their coop and were having much needed dust bathes within 5 minutes! I must say we were ready to have our front room back as well! Until all skin was healed they would go out to a grassy part of the yard in a playpen out of harms way as a rehab to get sun and scratch and exercise a bit. Each day was a little longer. Be patient and give her lots of tlc. My vet said that chicken skin is the best bandage nature has to offer. I was amazed that there were not even any scars! All of the feathers came back lovelier than before. Keep me posted on her progress and hang in there!....carla

 

[chickychicka]

Thank you for your reply and great tips. I've taken her inside and she's been in a big rabbit cage today. She's eating and drinking well and not too bored yet. I live in Italy and my farm-neighbors are laughing that I am trying to save her, so would probably the vets here. Chickens are not considered pets (I am the only "fool" in the neighborhood) so just culling a sick or hurt bird is the norm. Yet I am here and want to save a chicken life if I can! And she's been looking better today, her wounds look awfully painful though. Working on it!

 

[Indiana hens]

I had a hen that I gave 50 stitches to. That is the entire sides of her were peeled back. I gave her combi-pen shots every 2 days 3x. She lived 2 healthy
years before coyotes ate her.