Should I separate injured pullet?

[mlh328]

My dog got in with my 5-6 week old chickens yesterday and killed two of my 6. 2 were found safe right away and locked back up in their house but the other 2 ran away. They came back this morning but one of them has a wound on her ankle that is bleeding a bit, nothing major but her foot looks pretty swollen and bruised, the wound is maybe 1/4 inch long across the front of her ankle. Does not appear to be broken. I have cleaned her up and bandaged it up with some antibiotic ointment. So far the other girls are leaving her alone. Is it ok to leave her in their house together or do i need to separate her until it heals? I hate to traumatize the poor girl any more, she was pretty shaken up when she finally came back home. The fence is being fixed right now to prevent this in the future and the chickens and dogs are in lock down until everything is in order and safe. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about the chick killings and injuries. Young chicks are never safe around dogs because of their prey instinct. Pictures are always welcome of injuries. If the foot cut is minor, you can spray it with Blukote in a day or so, and leave the bandage off. The other chicks should not peck at the “blue” injury.

 

[mlh328]

Thank you for the reply. I'll stop and grab some blukote on my break and try that!

 

[mlh328]

Hoping someone might be able to guide me a little here... tried the blukote and my girl was looking alot better until yesterday. Now she has a nasty infection in her foot and she's not eating, seems to be pretty weak. I did an epsom soak and was able to get all (i think?) of the puss out, cleaned her up with peroxide, and packaged her foot up with some antibiotic ointment. Does this bandage look ok or should i adjust it? The wound is in a tricky shot and her foot is pretty tiny... i was planning on putting her in a dog kennel in the porch room away from the other girls to rest for the night. Thoughts? (The white spots on the after pics are from the peroxide.)

 

[hayley3]

Is the foot hot to the touch? You are probably going to have to get antibiotics if it's infected. Hopefully @Eggcessive or someone who is well versed in infections will reply soon.

 

[mlh328]

It felt a little warm but not terrible. Thanks for the tag, i was going to include that and forgot!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that you were able to get the pus out of the abscess. I would change the bandage once a day, and apply plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment in the wound. It helps to separate the toes with the bandage. If it looks worse soak it in the Epsom salts. Here is a good video about bandaging:

 

[mlh328]

Wow they made that look easy! Thanks for the step by step video, that helps alot. I'll try again today with new bandage and ointment. Do you think i should get antibiotics at this point or hold off? Also could you clarify, are you saying to soak the open wound in Epsom if it's getting worse or do you mean when it heals over? Again, thank you for the time and advice! @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

If it looks infected or worse, I would soak it. Antibiotics can be hard to find locally. You might find FishMox amoxicillin on the shelf at Tractor Supply or online. Dosage is Refrigerated procaine penicillin G is sometimes found at some feed stores, along with syringes and needles. Dosage is 0.25 ml given in the breast muscle once a day for 4 days. Antibiotics are not always necessary for bumblefoot and similar wounds, but may help with this abscess if you can find some.