- May 31, 2016
- 108
- 33
- 119
Last Friday 2 loose dogs (11 month old puppies) came bounding into my yard and started terrorizing my free-range chickens. My husband tried to grab one, while I tried to grab the other - by the time we chased them off, I had 2 injured chickens. One was lightly bitten on the butt - we quickly treated her, she is fine. Our rescue chicken Dusty had 6 wounds on her back and butt. My vet was booked - so I had to bring her to an emergency clinic (lucky me - they charge twice what my vet charges.) Xrays showed no broken bones and clear lungs but the vet said she still felt she would die because she had labored, wet breathing and she suspected internal bleeding. I said "clean her up and give me antibiotics - I will take her home to die with her peeps!" We kept her inside with us in a large dog cage. She survived the first night - making raspy breathing noises. The next day she seemed better and started to eat. On the 3rd day, I put her in a pen next to the flock and she jumped up and started scratching and acting normal in every way. 5 hours later, she was acting tired and sick again. We brought her back in. 2 days later, she is still alive - eating pellets, hamburg, boiled eggs. I have not seen her drink water at all - so I have been giving her A LOT of watermelon to keep her from getting dehydrated. She will be fine for hours - then will close her eyes and look sick. I brought her out to the flock today - she hung with them for 15 min - then walked back into our house and into her cage! She was breathing heavy again - but it is over 80 degrees out. She was fine within minutes of coming into the AC - then she followed me all over the house. The ER vet recommended I follow up with a visit to my vet but her darn bill was $350! It will cost me another $100 to take her for a follow-up with my vet. What else should I be looking for - if she is bleeding internally? My chicken is on Bactrim - 480mg - I give her 1/4 tablet every 12 hours. I have been shooting B12 liquid into the watermelon slice to boost her energy. I kept her wounds cleaned - then sprayed them with bluekote before putting her out to keep flys away and others from pecking her. BTW, her poop is normal. This girl went through hell BEFORE she came to live with us - I really want to save her. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.