Our Buckeye attacked by dog

[cgmccary]

You should NEVER stitch up the wound on a chicken. It will likely become infected.

Once I had a hen tore up by a neighbor's dog. I refused to let an avian vet stitch her up based on what experienced poultry people had told me. Instead, I had liquid Baytril as an antibiotic that was mixed in the water (which is why I needed a vet). I cleaned the wound each day with hydrogen peroxide and put antibiotic ointment on it. It healed right up. She was laying again in a few days. The wound was horrible. Some of my Buckeyes have healed up on their own from terrible wounds that I would not see until finding the scar later. One particular hen had what used to be a baseball size scar under her wing. Apparently something had grabbed her and tore a hole in her. She had hid the wound so as not to attract attention.

Another time, I had an opossum grab a Buckeye hen on the roost by the head. Her head was so cut up and swollen I thought she had lost her eyes. That was four years ago and I still have the old hen. I only kept her isolated and cleaned her head off everyday. She ate and drank water when i showed her where it was in the small cage I put her in.

 

[powellchicks]

Lavender Update:

It has been over a week now and Lavender continues to do well. Her wound opened up a bit which the vet said he kind of expected considering the skin is so thin. She has a good large scab on it now. Almost jerky like. She is still limping but nothing like before. We let her out on her own for a bit. She had a bit of interaction with the other girls walking about but it was short lived by one hen trying to jump on her and peck her. Still too early for sure. Lavender's buddy Trelawny (salmon favorole) is a bit out of sorts with out her so I might put the two of them together in the bunny hutch in a couple weeks to see how that goes first and then introduce her back to the other Henwarts clan.
Vet keeps asking how she is and wants me to send pictures. Pretty impressed I must say.
Thanks for your words of encouragement for Lavender and nice comments.
BTW, my daughter is fine. She takes things too well sometimes (like water off a duck's back) but I do like to use it as an example to listen and follow the rules. A little bit of guilt tripping but not too much. Just enough to remind her that her actions have consequences. Might have been a different story if Lavender was not doing so well.

 

[powellchicks]

Lavender Update:

Lavender continues to do well and is healing quite nicely. She mingles with the other girls in the yard but I have tried to slowly introduce her back into the run and it is not working out well. One hen in particular is going after her. At night, she is welcome to go into the coop but chooses to isolate herself and wait to be lifted into the bunny hutch where she has been since being wounded. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just let the pecking happen and hope it subsides eventually?

 

[ronott1]

Lavender Update:

Lavender continues to do well and is healing quite nicely. She mingles with the other girls in the yard but I have tried to slowly introduce her back into the run and it is not working out well. One hen in particular is going after her. At night, she is welcome to go into the coop but chooses to isolate herself and wait to be lifted into the bunny hutch where she has been since being wounded. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I just let the pecking happen and hope it subsides eventually?

Yes, let the pecking order establish itself again. If the one hen starts pulling out feathers, you can get some plastic beak clips.

 

[powellchicks]

What do the plastic beak clips do?

 

[Harrisheart]

I can't advise what the clips do (I am curious myself!) but I am so glad your chicken seems to be doing well. My grandfather recently lost the three young hens I raised for him because of a visiting dog - the family member who owned the dog simply did not care enough to lock him up and went ahead and let him out -.-;. It's nice to know things balance out though, and you fared better . Gives one hope!
Also what an amazing vet that seems to be! I wish I knew of just one around here who was that kind. If there is one, I've not met them yet XD.
Best of luck to you and your chickens ^^.

 

[powellchicks]

She is back into the group and no worse for wear. She still roosts on top of the bunny hutch at night and therefore needs to be taken to the coop every night. She is doing well. No eggs yeat and I think it probably won't happen until spring now.