need recovery advice from dog pack attack on small mixed flock

[pamelajy15]

I have four survivors of a dog pack attack from a neighboring property. Lost six girls. Dogs chewed through welded wire to enter a 12 x 16 foot coop and run. One Leghorn, dirty, traumatized, but seems okay, one araucana, missing some of her feathers, limping but eating and drinking, black jersey giant in bad shape, cannot stand for long, missing 50% of her feathers, mouth gaping breathing. Mixed breed Buff Orp/aracauna roo is exhausted, missing 50% of his feathers, all tail feathers, covered in mud. Both have large areas of skin with no feathers. After collecting them and getting them a safe quiet place, araucana and leghorn are eating and drinking. Roo and jersey have eaten some of the watermelon I have given them. Watermelon was the only thing I could think of to try and get water into them and maybe some sugar. Any advice on how to clean them up and treat them would be appreciated.

Broken hearted, all my girls were sit on your lap girls.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Check all of them over for any bite wounds or signs of internal injuries. The limping chicken most likely hurt herself running away, so its probably just a strain.

Your Jersey Giant sounds like she is in shock. Keep her warm, calm and still. Don't force her to eat right now, but you can offer some water. Do the same for your roo, keep them inside if you can, keep them calm and warm and quiet. Giving them sugar sounds good.

They may be stressed and stop laying for behave differently for weeks, but hopefully they will make a full recovery. Best of luck!

I hope this will help: http://www.communitychickens.com/treating-shock-in-backyard-chickens/

 

[babyturken]

Bummer, it is why I do not use wire mess. I am not much of a believer in aid products, however one I like for wounds is made by epicare,lmt called poultry aid. The oil in this are great for wounds. I always clean with H2O2,rinse then spray on, brings much relief & faster healing. Watermelon is the way with stressed/dehydrated birds. I try to get them to eat kale as soon as they will. Good luck!

 

[Sjisty]

I use a Betadine bath. Fill the sink with warm water. Add enough Betadine to make a "weak tea" color. Lower chicken in bath. Make sure you support them. In my experience, they calm right down and seem to like the bath. That way the Betadine gets into all the wounds. Afterward, place them in a cage with a heat lamp to help them dry. If possible, keep them in the house until the wounds start to scab so flies don't get in the wounds.

Good luck!

 

[Akrnaf2]

Sorry for your chickens. I would reinforce the perimeter of the yard of the chickens,
I would ask for compensation, if there is any one to blame,and would prepare my gun.
I recommend you Check for wounds, if you fined some open wounds act according to this advises:
1. Isolate the wounded hen.
2. you should clean the wound with worm water and antiseptic soap,disinfect with Iodine and spread antibiotic ointment, repeat this daily for 5-7 days. If there is any lung puncture it ( look carefully at the Jersey Giant hen) could be a problem, it will need some vet advice.
3. I would give all of them some vitamins an electrolytes, and some rich food(crushed boiled egg, some tuna fish) to relief som of her stress levels.
4. In this period I would check the wound daily if You saw any sign of infection, puss, oozing liquids, etc, you should give her some antibiotic orally or by injection. Baytril or Tylan are good choice.
Reed this links
http://www.drugs.com/vet/tylan-soluble.html

http://www.drugs.com/search.php?searchterm=Baytril&sources[]=

Don't eat the chicken and her eggs if you give her this antibiotics.
Good luck.

 

[pamelajy15]

Thank you for the links, and advice. My Jersey Giant is still in sad shape. I have washed her and given her a betadine bath. treated her wounds with triple antibiotic ointment. She has bite wounds on her back, unknown what is hurt internally. No punctures on her underside. Wings and legs not obviously broken. She will only stand for a few minutes at a time. She will take 6-8 bites of watermelon at a time when offered but not self feeding. Sleeping much of the time. Eyes are bright when she is awake and takes vigorous bites of watermelon, then back to sleep. I guess only time will tell.

tomorrow I will bathe the my roo. Hercules has proven to be a true hero. He is badly beaten but he stands over the last two hens...He is exhausted, he stands with his wing tips on the ground and refuses to rest. the others a battered and missing feathers, but they are eating and drinking on their own. I fed minced kale, in a pie plate with a water rinse, watermelon along with free choice feed and water. Everyone sleeps quite a bit. Is this normal with a big trauma?

Thank you again to everyone that offered wisdom and support. Such a good community here.

 

[MakelaNJoe]

so sorry about your chickens! sounds like you have a stand up guy for a roo sounds like he did his very best protecting those girls and is probably still keeping an eye on things! best of luck and my best wishes are with you!

 

[Sjisty]

The sleeping is to be expected - they are probably in shock. Make sure they stay warm and have plenty of liquids available. Some scrambled eggs would be good; the protein helps with the healing. It sounds like you are doing all the right things.

It's amazing what they can survive. We have a chicken that survived a pit bull attack and was pretty much skinned alive. Two years later she still has patches where the feathers won't come back, but she's happy and healthy. She earned her name that day - Hope!

 

[Two Chicksahs]

Quote:
I was wondering if you got any compensation from your neighbor regarding their dog attacking your chickens. We have dogs that roam our neighborhood and were concerned about the such a thing and I've seen cats 20 feet or so away from our pen. In WA I believe you have a right to protect your livestock by force and I hope I never have to take such action. I shoo them away but our light comes on quite often outside our garage which is about 20 yard from the coop. Some people put a light electrical current around their pens but my dog comes up with me sometimes (she gets chained outside the pen) and I don't want to hurt her and as it is stands,she's been pecked at several times. I am so glad to hear that some of your flock survived!

 

[MakelaNJoe]

Quote:
I was wondering if you got any compensation from your neighbor regarding their dog attacking your chickens. We have dogs that roam our neighborhood and were concerned about the such a thing and I've seen cats 20 feet or so away from our pen. In WA I believe you have a right to protect your livestock by force and I hope I never have to take such action. I shoo them away but our light comes on quite often outside our garage which is about 20 yard from the coop. Some people put a light electrical current around their pens but my dog comes up with me sometimes (she gets chained outside the pen) and I don't want to hurt her and as it is stands,she's been pecked at several times. I am so glad to hear that some of your flock survived!

you have the right to defend your livestock in immediate danger meaning if that dog is literally killing your animals then you can shoot him! some states are different and you have the right to defend your prosperity no matter what. cats are considered "wild" and i dont believe you can be compensated for any deaths by a neighboring cat..