Puppy injured a hen and plucked out feathers on her back

[slu7597]

My six month old puppy got one of the hens who escaped the coop. He plucked out lot of the feathers on her back. Along with some flesh. It’s been a week, and she was isolated in a dog crate inside because it was snowing out. During that time, she actually laid an egg. Because her back was scabbed over I put her back in the coop, and the other chickens appeared to not mess with her but when I checked later in the day, her entire back was bloody. One of the chickens was pecking at her. I put her back in the dog crate inside last night and now it looks like this. Any suggestions? So far I’ve been rinsing it with saline and putting triple antibacterial ointment on it.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

It sounds like you are doing good. I would suggest keeping her away from the flock until the injury has healed almost fully. Keep doing what you are doing for her and she should heal up nicely!

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

@Wyorp Rock

 

[Certified Chicken Lover]

I would recommend using vetrycine on it. She NEEDS to be isolated till she recovers. This is a great article on caring for open wounds:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-care-for-injured-chicken-and/

How's her apatite? It sounds like you are doing a great job already! keep us updated

 

[Tonyroo]

It takes a month for injuries that severe to heal correctly.

 

[StinkyAcres]

You can apply Blu-Kote after she has healed a bit to keep the other chickens from pecking at her wound.

 

[slu7597]

I would recommend using vetrycine on it. She NEEDS to be isolated till she recovers. This is a great article on caring for open wounds:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-care-for-injured-chicken-and/

How's her apatite? It sounds like you are doing a great job already! keep us updated

Thanks for the article! She’s eating and drinking. I may need to get a bigger dog crate to isolate her - the one she’s in she can move around but it’s not much space. I used it when my puppy was very young and only 10 lbs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My six month old puppy got one of the hens who escaped the coop. He plucked out lot of the feathers on her back. Along with some flesh. It’s been a week, and she was isolated in a dog crate inside because it was snowing out. During that time, she actually laid an egg. Because her back was scabbed over I put her back in the coop, and the other chickens appeared to not mess with her but when I checked later in the day, her entire back was bloody. One of the chickens was pecking at her. I put her back in the dog crate inside last night and now it looks like this. Any suggestions? So far I’ve been rinsing it with saline and putting triple antibacterial ointment on it.

I'd clean her wounds with Chlorhexidine, trim the feathers away from her wounds so it stays cleaner.
Apply a thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment to the wound to keep it moist.

It takes time for wounds to heal. So she needs to be healed over completely before putting her back, otherwise the flock will pick at wounds.

 

[slu7597]

I'd clean her wounds with Chlorhexidine, trim the feathers away from her wounds so it stays cleaner.
Apply a thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment to the wound to keep it moist.

It takes time for wounds to heal. So she needs to be healed over completely before putting her back, otherwise the flock will pick at wounds.

I went to Murdoch’s and got some spray antibacterial solution. They also had a good suggestion and said to put the dog crate near the coop so the chickens can see each other - and omg she perked up immediately when I did that! It will have to be weather permitting but it will be warm enough this week!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I went to Murdoch’s and got some spray antibacterial solution. They also had a good suggestion and said to put the dog crate near the coop so the chickens can see each other - and omg she perked up immediately when I did that! It will have to be weather permitting but it will be warm enough this week!

Glad you were able to get something for the wound and yes, keeping her near the others so they can see one another can be helpful.