Stray Dog Attack: Wounded Hen!

khind

Crowing
11 Years
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I had to put down my beloved rooster because of his injury. 😭 One of the hens has many wounds. So far I've gently flushed them with commercial saline solution, but I also have betadine, and also some Vetericyn that i've had for a few years and that might have spent more time than it should have out in the sun. She's in shock but she's alert, and she appears to be taking comfort in sitting close to me. Her panting stopped and she's been breathing normally for a couple of hours now.
-- I have videos, but they're taking forever to upload. So these are just photos wirhout explanation that I took Before I flushed with saline, and before I cleaned her bottom. She does have two puncture wounds on her cloaca. My hands were washed and I had not put gloves on yet to work on her. --
MY IMMEDIATE QUESTIONS ARE:
** Do these wounds look like something I could manage without a vet, isolating her in a crate in either the garage or an adjoining coop, while I'm gone for work for 9.5 - 10.5 hrs/day? ( I'm usually gone longer but I would make an adjustment.) (I'm off work for 3 more days, returning Monday.)
** If so, any idea about how long it might take before I could place her in the adjoining coop so she could see her flockmates daily?

Several years ago, when I first got chickens, there was a hen who was attacked by a dog. She had some wounds that were much deeper. At that time I did a lot of research and administered wound care. Then l soon also found a vet who agreed to look at a chicken (that vet office has since removed anyone who will look at poultry), and she told me the wound care regimen looked effective (it was a long time ago so I don't remember what exactly I used). And sure enough, that hen healed well over time. But it was also summer, and I skipped summer school to stay home and give her attention in the house. I don't remember how long it was before she was walking around on a little leash to get reacclimated to the flock though.

If it looks like this would require a lot more care than I can offer her, i can ask my neighbor who has chickens and who works at home if she would be interested, but I don't know that she would say yes, or that she would have a separate space for her. She has dogs and cats in the house so that would probably be out of the question.

Thank you for any help!
 

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If you or the neighbor has a wire dog crate to keep her in, and can put her in a quiet room away from the dogs during treatment, with a towel over the crate, she should do fine. You should wear gloves when handling her like any good nurse.
 
Spray the wounds thoroughly with the saline or Veterycin to cleans them. Do you have any triple antibiotic ointment that does NOT have pain reliever in it? Like original neosporin, something like that? The pain reliever is not good for chickens. If not that's okay. If yu do, blot the wounds dry with a clean towel, then smear some ointment on them. Leave them open. Don't try to bandage or cover them.
 
These wounds look survivable with care. First, treat for shock. Give her some sugar water. 1 c water, 1 tsp sugar, 1 pinch each salt and baking soda. Shake or stir till dissolved. Hold some up to her beak to drink. Report back.
Something i just noticed is is not showing up in these photos ,but is in the videos, is that there are a couple places where her fat under the skin is exposed. I think that still might be workable, but I want to put that out there. It's really too bad that those videos seem like they're going to take forever.
 
Don't worry about the fat. You cannot believe how tough chickens are! We had a hen that a dog got a hold of and took a chunk out of her back and I nearly fainted, I could see inside her! But she pulled through and in three weeks she was back out with the flock, so have faith. Did you give her sugar water?
 
Spray the wounds thoroughly with the saline or Veterycin to cleans them. Do you have any triple antibiotic ointment that does NOT have pain reliever in it? Like original neosporin, something like that? The pain reliever is not good for chickens. If not that's okay. If yu do, blot the wounds dry with a clean towel, then smear some ointment on them. Leave them open. Don't try to bandage or cover them.
Yes, i do have the correct kind of antibiotic ointment. And I put gloves on when I flushed with saline. Thankfully i've got a whole box 🙂
 
Don't worry about the fat. You cannot believe how tough chickens are! We had a hen that a dog got a hold of and took a chunk out of her back and I nearly fainted, I could see inside her! But she pulled through and in three weeks she was back out with the flock, so have faith. Did you give her sugar water?
Giving her the sugar water now
 

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