my own fault, and boy am I lucky! still, a question...

[OrpingtonManor]

I know this is completely my fault, so I'm not asking for any opinions on either the dog/owner/ or my own stupidity.

I had let the girls out while I cleaned and filled their feeder and waterers. They like to wander, and when they get to the fence, they like to jump it. I try to keep them in the backyard, and have been building a tractor to give them access to grass and bugs, but keep them from the front yard. It's not quite finished.

Tonight, I was getting ready to leave, so had come inside to take care of my cats, and pack a few things. I let the girls continue to free-range for a few more minutes before I locked them in the coop. Bad idea.

I heard the chicken squawking and the dog barkingm and I flew out the front door. The dog, a black lab, had my girl, Gwen, by her right flank. Feathers were everywhere. I yelled like a wild woman, and I think that is what slowed the dog, who WAS on a leash, but could not be controlled by her owner, who was being dragged behind. The owner got hold of the dog. Gwen dove into the bushes. I thought the worst. I carefully extracted her from the bush, and could not see any blood. Judging by the amount of feathers, I thought there would be some.

I took her inside in a cage to look at her. (The dog & owner left, although the dog has been back twice off-leash since it happened.) She does not seem to have any wounds, nothing open, nor any punctures, although she has no feathers on her right flank, under her wing. Her back toe has a little blood on it by the nail, but otherwise, she appears okay. Another odd thing happened. While I was looking at her, I thought she was going to poop, but instead, she laid tomorrow's egg, completely formed, with just a hint of shell. I guess it's true, a hen will drop an egg when they are traumatized.

So, my question is this, should I be applying anything to the skin where all her feathers got pulled out? Can she get an infection through the traumatized follicles? (I do plan to put some neosporin on her toe.)

Thanks for your help.

 

[SallyF]

I don't know what the answers are to your questions. What I find appalling is that the owner of the dog witnessed this disaster (because the dog WAS on a leash) and then let the dog run free after that, knowing what it was capable of doing. My sympathy because you must have irresponsible neighbors.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I'm pretty surprised the dog came back. I'm sure it must have found a way to escape it's yard. The memory of a live chicken to chase must have been very compelling. I chased it away both times, and it hasn't been back a third. My neighbors are generally quite responsible. There is only one dog who generally runs free, and it isn't that one.

Gwen was up walking in the cage, and making cooing clucking sounds when I talked to her. I have put neosporin on her toe, and put her back in the coop. She immediately went to hunker down in the nest box. Who can blame her. It's the "safe" place. The coop is locked up tight.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I doubt that she's in any serious danger of infection if the skin wasn't broken. But you will want to keep a very close eye on her for the next few days as she could still have internal injuries that are not obvious. I work for an avian vet and we saw a cockatiel that was grabbed by the family dog. There were no open wounds and the bird seemed fine for the first two days it was in the hospital (the incident happened on a Saturday), but on the third day the bird suddenly started acting oddly. The vet took it to surgery suspecting that we had accidentally punctured the crop while tube feeding (it's rare, but it does sometimes happen especially when an inexperienced person is tube feeding). The crop was punctured, but it was clearly all trauma from the dog attack several days prior even though we hadn't seen any outward evidence of the trauma.

I'm not terribly surprised the dog came back (although I am surprised that the owner would allow it to happen twice in the same night as the incident if she is normally a reasonably responsible owner). Dogs often have a very good memory for when something exciting like an encounter with prey happens. Most of the dogs I know will repeatedly check the same area where they have previously flushed something, even if it's only happened once.

 

[mamahen923]

Gwen may very well be fine, other than a few missing feathers. Labs have a "soft mouth." That is why they make such good birding dogs. They can carry a bird without damaging it. Just keep an eye on her for a few days. The feathers will re-grow in a few weeks. There is not much danger of infection if there is no broken skin.

I can guess how awful you feel, and I'm sorry for both you and Gwen. We have had similar things happen and it breaks my heart when it happens.

Any chance you could have a chat with the neighbor without causing a bigger problem?

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I just got back from my weekend away. My dad checked on the critters while I was gone, and reported that Gwen was roosting, and doing all good *chicken things* when he was here. She looks fine tonight too. I'm glad we're heading into warmer weather, so she won't miss those feathers quite so much.

AinaWGSD, I will take a better look at her tomorrow in the daylight. I'm feeling very lucky that she wasn't grabbed in the throat.

mamahen923, I do feel that it would have been worse if it wasn't a lab (or if the dog hadn't been on a leash). If I see the neighbor, it will be to talk to her about the dog returning twice after the incident, and what we can do to prevent it.

I will be finishing the chicken tractor this week, and not a moment too soon.

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone!