Roo attacked by dog; has rather large hole in back

[Nuzzy]

Our one dog is the guarder of the chickens, walking among her flock everyday, all day. It's that other, bigger dog... Our German Shepherd broke through her cable run and had the afternoon free to "play" with our free range flock

If we're around, she leaves the birds alone, but if she's bored, you get the idea. Came home to three dead birds that I know of, and a Cochin roo in shock, huddling in the coop. Inspection revealed a pretty bad puncture/bite out of his back; I didn't expect him to live through the night. Yet tonight, there he was on the coop floor again, still somewhat alive! Now I'm not going to go to some crazy surgical lengths to save him, but I do really like him and would like to do anything I can (again within reason) to help get him through this. I've brought him inside to avoid the cold, but have not treated the wound in any way (wasn't sure if pouring peroxide or the like into such a large wound was advisable...?).

It's hard to see the whole thing, but best I can tell, it's at least one hole 1" x 1" where muscle tissue is visible. Maybe a few other spots close by. I haven't found any other damage elsewhere (other than he's limping), but checking a Cochin has proved rather difficult to navigate the fluff.

What should I add to his water? Sugar or something better?

Do I even attempt to clean the wound, and if so, with what?


Thanks for any help or thoughts!

 

[KLRA]

I had the same experience with one of my hens and my little brother's idiot girlfriend's puppy (my hens were free ranging when she brought her dog over). Basically we just cleaned the wound (which looks to be about the same size as your roo's) out really well and disinfected it. After, we kept her isolated in the quiet garage under a heat lamp and did a warm damp compress to keep the wound clean a few times a day for a week until it scabbed over. If you want to you can add electrolyte/vitamin powder to his water (buy it at feed/pet stores). I gave my hen yogurt and whatever else i could just to get her to eat.

To disinfect, you can use either chlorhexidine or betadine. You should be able to find those at drug stores. Dilute chlorhexidine with water until it's a light sky-blue color. If you use betadine, dilute it until it's a watery tea color. Just make sure you get all that junk out!

My hen's wound scabbed over within a few days and she grew all her feathers back in after molting recently. Today she's perfectly happy and healthy. Good luck! And let me know how he does.

 

[mallory2013]

Hi Nuzzy
The same thing happened to my hens, my next door neighbor's lab killed two of my chickens and I found one hen, under a bush, in shock. She had severe bites as well, one of the bites was so deep I could see her intestines. First, I clipped away the feathers from the wounds, to prevent the feathers from sticking in the wound. Especially with him being a Cochin, trimming the feathers would probably help lol. Then I flushed out the bites with peroxide. This is very important because dog saliva has a lot of bacteria in it. Then I put triple-antibiotic ointment (without painkiller) in and on the wound. I put her in a dog crate, just as you did. I put a sheet over the crate as well because it kept it dark as possible which seemed to help keep her calm. I put her crate in the basement, where no one could bother her and where it is also very quiet. I did the same thing as you and put food and water in the crate with her. I put electrolytes in her water, but I don't think its necessary, but it may give him an extra boost. I also did not reapply anything after the first application, I didn't want to smother the tissue She was down in the basement for literally two days, and I kid you not the wound had started to heal and was almost completely closed after that amount of time. She was acting completely normal after those two days. She is now very happy and there is no evidence of the wound. I wish you luck and I hope your roo makes it through, he is beautiful!

 

[KLRA]

By the way if he's not too happy about you cleaning him up, cut the foot of a sock off and stick that over his head. Mine actually didnt need anything because she was still sort of in shock.

 

[CMV]

I would trim a lot of the feathers around the wound so they don't hang into it and germ it up. Clean it very well. I like betadine tea, but peroxide works well for the initial cleaning too (don't use peroxide after the first cleaning, switch to something milder like salt water). Apply your wound dressing of choice- Neosporin/Bag Balm/Triple Anitbiotic/Blukote. Keep the wound clean and re-apply wound dressing as needed. Keep him separated until he heals or is close enough to healed to not be picked on by others in the flock. Blukote hides a multitude of ills, so the other birds may not notice a small wound under a coat of Blukote. Up his protein intake for a few weeks to aid in healing. As long as the wound doesn't go any deeper than the musculature, he should be OK.

Good luck.

 

[FlaRocky]

I use Vetericyn it works wonders. Used it on my chewed up roo. Back good as new in about a week. Had 4 very deep bites, hard to find on him now.


Maye

 

[Nuzzy]

Thanks all for the quick response

I made use of what I had immediately available: did a good bit of trimming, poured on some peroxide, gooped on a bunch of Neosporin, and bandaged him up. He's warm, and has the whole kennel to himself to ponder about how lucky he is to still be one of the living! I'll get some more supplies tomorrow and hopefully get this guy back up and running.

 

[CMV]

The bandages won't stay in place. Pick up some Vet Wrap/Coban (for humans, much more expensive) to keep any dressings in place. They shouldn't be necessary, though. Birds heal up very quickly and cleanly with minimal intervention.

 

[Terrik]

I had the same thing happen to one of my hens a couple months ago. I keep her inside and let the wound heal on it own. I did use triple antibiotic ointment and blu-kote. After it was healed over I put her back with the other hens. She is still doing well. I hope your Roo heals quickly also!

 

[KLRA]

In my experience it's been better to leave the wound to dry after you disinfect. Letting it dry out and scab over reduces the wound's susceptibility to further contamination & infection because a natural barrier is created. At least this is my reasoning

but I'm no expert!