Our dog mauled our duck - Reintroduced to the flock this afternoon!!

[QueenPeppermint]

My dad didn't shut the new coop last night and early this morning the dog broke free of her choke collar and killed two and severly injured one. One of them is extremely frightened but not hurt. The dog will be going to the pound today as this is just one more thing this dog has done (destroyed property, pushed people down, barks constantly).
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The hurt one has a few cuts on the right wing and bone is exposed on the chest, like a large flap of skin is torn loose. I can't take and pictures since I sprayed her with Blu-Kote and bandaged her as best as I could. She does strech her neck out, she does peep (weakly), she has escaped her box once already and ran off behind boards (back in box now), and she is drinking a little.

What else can I do for her? Since she is somewhat active do you think she will live? We just lost twenty five chicks to the neighbors dog a week ago so this is a huge blow.

 

[veronicasmom]

Sorry for the problem. Sad that the dog will have to go to the pound though. Hope your duck gets better.

 

[Amiga]

Give her a bath, and look closely at her wounds. Keep her away from flies. Really.

Give her a sniff. Any rotting smell?

I would get her on oral antibiotics. You may want to irrigate (rinse) the wound with saline solution once a day for a few days, to wash off dirt if you have not yet.

Exposed bone is a big infection risk, that is why I suggest oral antibiotics.

Give her vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics in her water. Give her TLC, which I am sure you are already doing.

We have all made dreadful mistakes, either with our ducks or other areas of our lives. It is awful to contemplate. I pray your duck will recover, and you will be able to work out a system that prevents such mistakes in the future.

 

[QueenPeppermint]

Hi, I am giving her vitamins and electrolytes in her water plus the Blu-Kote is an antibiotic spray. I want to get her oral antibiotics soon but I can't for a few days.

She is active, she can peep again, and I have seen her eat but... I am terrorfied to take off her bandages. Literally her skin on half the breast was hanging off the bone and when we got her out of the fence she was stuck in, her chest made a *sqaush* sound. I know I HAVE to but I am really dreading it. The bandage has bled through and I am sure her chest hasn't scabbed over.

I can't take her to the vet either since no one around me takes birds.

 

[cskotek]

I would get the bandage off to look, im sure it wont be pretty but you dont want crap being in there and causeing more damage or infection. You should call a vet that takes birds to see if their willing to recommend any treatment and or procedure. I hope the best for you!

 

[Nyowpotopop]

I think it's pretty shameful that you're getting rid of an animal you chose to bring into your life and very likely sending it to it's death at the pound just because you won't bother to take the appropriate time to train it... And I sincerely hope that if you go through with that, that you never try to own a dog again because no matter what situation you get it from every dog will have it's issues and if you're not completely willing to do what it takes to care for the animals you bring into your home you should never bring them there in the first place. It is not like the asked to come live with you and you need to take responsibility for the fact that it was your choice for them to be where they are. And I also hope you reconsider and instead put some effort into the dog instead of just turning it out of your home for doing what it doesn't know is wrong. I've seen too many dogs thrown away or put down because of people who didn't want to bother.

That being said a wound opened to the bone needs to be held closed. And I do mean needs to. The bone will begin to decay if it continues to be actively exposed and if the wound is not closed over the bone there's a chance it could heal wrong while exposing the bone. If you don't have a vet capable of putting in staples or stitches you could try butterfly stitches. Despite the name these are a form of specialized bandaid for holding wounds closed in place of stitches and the good news is you should be able to find them at a drug store. Make sure the wound is clean and dry and if you can remove or cut the feathers around the wound without distressing the bird it'd be for the best... Since they need to be on the skin, not feather fluff.
Oral antibiotics are essential. I don't know anything about your particular dog but I'd look at your dog's mouth. If the dog has bad teeth or bad breath it's more likely to be carrying serious bacteria and increases the risk of infection. I'd suggest two weeks on a duck-safe antibiotic ASAP. I have seen dog bites go very bad very quickly from bad teeth... And if your dog has behavior issues you're unwilling to work through I doubt you're cleaning (or even checking) it's teeth regularly.
For washing the wound you can flush it with saline, but another, stronger option is Iodine. It's a more powerful antiseptic than peroxide and doesn't sting. It is also capable of penetrating skin. You can get Betadine Solution which is a %5 iodine solution that works well for pets at CVS and various other drug stores. I would use that as your antiseptic for any wounds the duck has. Because it penetrates the skin it can even be used on scabbed over wounds so don't hesitate to apply it just because the wounds are already closed over.

I hope for a speedy recovery for your duck and a proper mediation for your dog.

 

[Childwanderer]

I'm sorry about your ducks, here's hoping the injured duck heals.

I feel that I ought to speak up after that last post about the dog.
A dog with a history of bad behavior doesn't belong with small and sensitive creatures. I think that last poster came down much too hard on you for a difficult decision that very likely had to be made. It is sad and unfortunate that the dog didn't receive proper training in his formative years, but that doesn't change the fact that he has proven himself a danger to the other animals in your care now. I suggest that you put some real effort into finding a shelter for him that gives him a chance of proper corrective training and re-adoption.

Good luck!

 

[QueenPeppermint]

You do not know the full situation with the dog. We had her for almost two years, she never fit in with the family but we tried so dang hard to make her fit. She was starting to get so much better at leash training and listening to commands but was getting worse in other areas. She had caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, she bit my other dog on the face (he was covered in blood but it was a minor puncture), and my siblings were too afraid of getting knocked over by her or their hands being bitten to get at the food they were holding to get near her. We tried rehoming but no one wants an adult dog. We looked into no kills and rescues, there were non in my area (hours away). We looked into specialized training but we couldn't afford 5,000. We were warned by a family friend that she would more than likely try to kill our small animals but we didn't listen because we wanted to make it work.

The duck is the same today. I will pick up those butterfly bandages today as suggested and in the meantime just letting her be, not getting her worked up. The dogs teeth were clean. Her breath was not very bad and they were nice white healthy teeth.

 

[larkflying]

We had a dog that didn't fit with our family either - he was born with the kind of personality that needed a particular situation - one that wasn't ours. Luckily, the breeder managed to find someone to take him that was experienced with his behaviors and exactly the kind of home he was fitted for. It was so hard on our family, we'd researched the breed, trained many, many dogs before, found a very reputable breeder and yet, it was the personality that made it just not a good fit. If people or the other animals are in danger from the dog, then you don't have a lot of options . . . you make the decisions you need to do for the good of your family. Sounds like you had reached the end of what was possible for you to do with him.

 

[Nyowpotopop]

"Specialized training" is just training. Frankly I have trained lots of dogs and it really comes down to knowing how to train a dog. And considering that shelters are backed up it's very likely that an adult dog will be put to sleep just for not having gotten the right training. There are ways to keep the dog away from other animals and to teach any dog to be fine around most childeren. My sister owns a very dog aggressive terrier shepherd mix that was completely trying to destroy every dog in sight but they wanted another dog. So they looked up how to train that behavior out of the dog and worked on it for many months. Now they own four dogs including that one. So I doubt the right effort has been put forth (in particular by ALL the familly members since it MUST be a group effort) and a dog who never asked to be in this position will now be sent away to death row for just doing what it's instincts tell it. You wouldn't put your child up for adoption if it was angry a lot (or autistic) and punched it's little sister or something. Personally I would rather go without in order to care for my pets because I put them where they are... And I think if you're not willing to do that then you shouldn't own pets like dogs because the result is something like this. And it's very sad.