sadly, this is my second post to the community with my intro being just recently posted (5 minutes ago).
on Saturday morning, two of my girls encountered a dog that got into my back yard. thankfully my daughters saw and heard what was going on outside and let me know that there was an issue. I promptly went out and grabbed the little dog (15-20 pound mutt) and removed her from the situation.
initially I thought that she only got to one of my girls, but I found another trying desperately to hide under a bin in the yard. I had hoped that it was only feathers and time would take care of it, but that was quickly dispelled. I will chronicle the injuries by noting them as #1 and #2. all of this started roughly at 0930 my time Saturday morning.
#1 - initially I thought that she was the worse off of the two. much of her left side was bald. upon further inspection, I found that it wasn't just feathers that were missing. I am struggling to figure out how to describe it without being too graphic, so for those squeamish, just know it was bad. for those not squeamish, keep reading. I discovered that it was not just feathers missing. a patch of skin, roughly the size of my hand (about 7" from palm to end of ring finger and 3" wide) is gone. for lack of better terms, it was almost as though I was looking at a skinless chicken thigh at the supermarket. her right side was missing feathers as well as the base of her neck on the left, but clearly the worst part is her left side. not only is flesh visible but also pieces of fatty tissue. I thought she was going to die later that day of pure shock if not her wounds. surprisingly though there was very, very little blood. I am assuming that the bleeding would have occurred at the edges of the torn skin but quickly stopped.
#2 - this girl's injuries seemed to be less severe than #1. after looking her over though, she is missing feathers on both her left and right sides as well as the neck area. she, however, was bleeding much much more. her vent (I think) was exposed and there was blood around it. she was bleeding underneath, but I could not find the source. I am now believing that it was either small puncture wounds that I could not find due to the dog's size or perhaps a tear connected to her vent or rectum. sorry if that's wrong. don't know about terms.
my actions so far - I washed both with a mild saline solution to clean the wounds and get a better view of things. I also promptly removed them from the other two chickens as I had read (here) that they could be pecked/picked on if I didn't separate them. I began researching healing salves with essential oils in an attempt to keep things from becoming infected. I also saw suggestions of using blu kote and went to Big R and purchased their comparable product. I sprayed their wounds and put them to bed for the evening inside my garage. I did not expect at least one to survive the night. I read on here that chickens are hardy, but I had no clue. I went out at 5am to let the two chickens out and check on my wounded cluckers. when I opened the garage I was greeted with some half hearted clucks and quizzical sounds. to my surprise both were still alive. #1 had laid an egg but it was without a shell. I honestly figured that neither would lay for a couple of weeks due to the trauma if they survived. once again I applied the anti-everything spray gave them food and water and went to work.
I returned from work on Sunday and discovered that they had both eaten (very slightly) and drank some (albeit very little) water. #2 had also laid an egg, but this one was fully intact. I once again cleaned things up and put more spray on. Monday, same thing without either laying an egg (again, expected) but also neither had eaten or drank anything (from what I can tell). more of the same this morning. my issue is this......
these chickens are not pets. although I have become attached to them, I cannot justify a vet visit/bill in the amount that would be required (in my opinion), which is why I've been treating it as best I can. I had determined that if they survived 48 hours after the attack that the biggest concern would be infection moving forward. the girls have not expressed any discomfort or "screamed" other than when i'm applying the spray as I believe that the alcohol content might be the issue. it's very difficult for me to determine if they're in pain at this point. having read some posts, I know they are very hardy animals and have returned from punctures to the head or neck to continue to live a "productive" life. due to the extent of the loss of skin on #1 though I am concerned that she won't be able to re-grow the skin, and if that's the case, her quality of life would be greatly impacted, if not ultimately end up in death. #2 I am still unsure of the extent of her injuries as she was bleeding or "leaking" until Monday morning. I should trim their feathers to keep them clear of the wounds, although to this point it hasn't been an issue. my concern with #2 is what I can't see and I do not know how to proceed on trimming the feathers or what the best way to do this is.
so, the questions are thusly. does anybody have experience with torn/lost skin to this amount being regrown on a chicken (roughly 2/3rds of her left side)? outside of them flapping and squawking when I put the spray on them, how do I know if they're in discomfort/pain? without wanting to sound callous, I am attempting to determine if it's better to let them go or continue to encourage their healing. I would guess that if they're not eating/drinking, things will take care of themselves, but I don't want them to suffer if that's going to be the ultimate result. sorry for the long-winded post, but I am looking for feedback.
on Saturday morning, two of my girls encountered a dog that got into my back yard. thankfully my daughters saw and heard what was going on outside and let me know that there was an issue. I promptly went out and grabbed the little dog (15-20 pound mutt) and removed her from the situation.
initially I thought that she only got to one of my girls, but I found another trying desperately to hide under a bin in the yard. I had hoped that it was only feathers and time would take care of it, but that was quickly dispelled. I will chronicle the injuries by noting them as #1 and #2. all of this started roughly at 0930 my time Saturday morning.
#1 - initially I thought that she was the worse off of the two. much of her left side was bald. upon further inspection, I found that it wasn't just feathers that were missing. I am struggling to figure out how to describe it without being too graphic, so for those squeamish, just know it was bad. for those not squeamish, keep reading. I discovered that it was not just feathers missing. a patch of skin, roughly the size of my hand (about 7" from palm to end of ring finger and 3" wide) is gone. for lack of better terms, it was almost as though I was looking at a skinless chicken thigh at the supermarket. her right side was missing feathers as well as the base of her neck on the left, but clearly the worst part is her left side. not only is flesh visible but also pieces of fatty tissue. I thought she was going to die later that day of pure shock if not her wounds. surprisingly though there was very, very little blood. I am assuming that the bleeding would have occurred at the edges of the torn skin but quickly stopped.
#2 - this girl's injuries seemed to be less severe than #1. after looking her over though, she is missing feathers on both her left and right sides as well as the neck area. she, however, was bleeding much much more. her vent (I think) was exposed and there was blood around it. she was bleeding underneath, but I could not find the source. I am now believing that it was either small puncture wounds that I could not find due to the dog's size or perhaps a tear connected to her vent or rectum. sorry if that's wrong. don't know about terms.
my actions so far - I washed both with a mild saline solution to clean the wounds and get a better view of things. I also promptly removed them from the other two chickens as I had read (here) that they could be pecked/picked on if I didn't separate them. I began researching healing salves with essential oils in an attempt to keep things from becoming infected. I also saw suggestions of using blu kote and went to Big R and purchased their comparable product. I sprayed their wounds and put them to bed for the evening inside my garage. I did not expect at least one to survive the night. I read on here that chickens are hardy, but I had no clue. I went out at 5am to let the two chickens out and check on my wounded cluckers. when I opened the garage I was greeted with some half hearted clucks and quizzical sounds. to my surprise both were still alive. #1 had laid an egg but it was without a shell. I honestly figured that neither would lay for a couple of weeks due to the trauma if they survived. once again I applied the anti-everything spray gave them food and water and went to work.
I returned from work on Sunday and discovered that they had both eaten (very slightly) and drank some (albeit very little) water. #2 had also laid an egg, but this one was fully intact. I once again cleaned things up and put more spray on. Monday, same thing without either laying an egg (again, expected) but also neither had eaten or drank anything (from what I can tell). more of the same this morning. my issue is this......
these chickens are not pets. although I have become attached to them, I cannot justify a vet visit/bill in the amount that would be required (in my opinion), which is why I've been treating it as best I can. I had determined that if they survived 48 hours after the attack that the biggest concern would be infection moving forward. the girls have not expressed any discomfort or "screamed" other than when i'm applying the spray as I believe that the alcohol content might be the issue. it's very difficult for me to determine if they're in pain at this point. having read some posts, I know they are very hardy animals and have returned from punctures to the head or neck to continue to live a "productive" life. due to the extent of the loss of skin on #1 though I am concerned that she won't be able to re-grow the skin, and if that's the case, her quality of life would be greatly impacted, if not ultimately end up in death. #2 I am still unsure of the extent of her injuries as she was bleeding or "leaking" until Monday morning. I should trim their feathers to keep them clear of the wounds, although to this point it hasn't been an issue. my concern with #2 is what I can't see and I do not know how to proceed on trimming the feathers or what the best way to do this is.
so, the questions are thusly. does anybody have experience with torn/lost skin to this amount being regrown on a chicken (roughly 2/3rds of her left side)? outside of them flapping and squawking when I put the spray on them, how do I know if they're in discomfort/pain? without wanting to sound callous, I am attempting to determine if it's better to let them go or continue to encourage their healing. I would guess that if they're not eating/drinking, things will take care of themselves, but I don't want them to suffer if that's going to be the ultimate result. sorry for the long-winded post, but I am looking for feedback.
