Rooster attacked by dog

[Asolei]

Hey everyone. My neighbor seems to have accumulated a great deal of animals, including 5 dogs, 2 hens and a rooster. Every morning for the past 2 weeks the rooster (about 3 months old) has been flying into my chicken's run and eating their food. I wouldn't have an issue with it if she seemed to at least try to keep him confined but she keeps claiming they are 'free run' chickens. Her 2 hens used to come around 2 weeks ago but have stopped now. Frankly I think her dogs ate them. 2 days ago my husband brought him back to her and she waved him off saying she was tired of taking care of chickens and only keeps them because her children are attached. We left the rooster there but in the morning he was back again. This time poking outside the fencing trying to get in. I opened the gate and let him go in. He seemed healthy enough but the whole day he remained in the run and wouldn't fly out. I asked my daughter to take a look at him (she is studying animal science in college). When she did she found his wing had a bite in it. It was scabbing but still pussy. There was also a section just above his tail that was missing feather and a was scabbing a bit. I got out neosporin and sprayed it on and then again that night. I left him in the coop with my hens. You may say this was unwise but watching them together they simply ignored each other. No aggression whatsoever. This morning I poked in there and there is blood all over his wing. I initially thought the girls did it to him but watching them they still don't show any aggression. I separated them anyway but I think he may have done it to himself. I have a separate smaller coop and fencing that I plan to keep him in but what am I supposed to do about it? If I send him back home the dogs are going to get him. They already run around my property every morning. Would it be unwise to cut away some of the feathers around the wing wound? I want to clean it out but it is matting pretty badly. Advice please!

 

[N F C]

You should have the roo in a separate place away from your birds. There are biosecurity issues to consider as well as his injury to deal with.

If your neighbor's dogs are running freely, call animal control. Keep calling them until the dogs are either properly cared for by the owner or animal control picks them up. They are a menace to other animals plus people that live in your area. If they get on your property, you could end up with dead birds, destruction to your personal property or a bodily injury. If you don't want to call animal control to have them picked up and the dogs get on your property, there is always the s-s-s alternative (shoot, shovel, shut up).

 

[Asolei]

They have already caused us problems but we are only in this home a year and don't want to create enemies with our next door neighbor. The oldest dog has eaten one of our chicks already (pawed it out from the fenced in area). I've cleaned his wing, cut some feathers around the wounded aread and sprayed it with neosporin. He is in a dog kennel in my garage with a heat lamp, newspaper and straw. His wing looks significantly better. I saw one of the hens peck at him this afternoon so I'm rethinking my previous theory about who is hurting him. I wish i could just shoot the dogs with an air-soft gun but really it's not their fault, it's their owner. So another problem with the roo. When I was cleaning him I found a small chunk of flesh in the wounded area hanging on by maybe a 1/4 inch thick of skin. No feathers on it, just hanging there. I read that you should cut off pieces of skin that won't heal but I feel this should stay on. It's held on enough that it would injure him. Am I right?