Traumatized Chicken after dog attacked another. Panting, lethargic

[Libbazoid]

Hi all,
We had a death this morning when my dog got in and killed one of my ladies. The other 3 seemed to be physically fine except Vera (black australorp born in August). She has been lethargic and panting, easy to catch. I don't THINK she was even touched by the dog, but I was holding her when the dog got into the enclosure, I kind of threw her back into the pen quickly and then everything happened so fast, I didn't see where she went but was not part of the dog melee.
I've isolated her, she doesn't seem to want to walk much, though she can activate all of her toes. Left side seems to be injured somehow? She's in a crate by herself with a heat lamp and water right now. I'm hoping she's just extremely stressed and doesn't feel very good? Any thoughts??? I'm so sad as she just started laying and has been a happy lady

 

[Alberta Crystal]

Hello, sorry for your loss, I have just had a similar situation last night but it was a fox not a dog 3 of my hens were killed 2 carried of somewhere and 1 left on the ground the rest of my hens seem fine ( and the cockerel who stayed in the pen and didn't do anything to help his poor terrified lady's) but on of them was very traumatized and panting heavily so we gave her very watered down brandy this helps with the shock and to calm her but don't give her to much then you could try giving her some water with a bit of poultry tonic in this will give her some strength and hopefully she should pick up a bit I hope this was helpful if she is seriously injured I recommend taking her to see a vet.

 

[User690263]

I recommend giving her sugar water, that will help with her shock and give her a little boost of energy.
Sorry to hear that this happened!

 

[FunClucks]

What is your weather like where you are? I would not do a heat lamp - she's acclimated to your outdoor temps and that might over heat her. Keeping her in a dry, draft free area, like an unheated garage or shed, and giving her appealing food (regular feed, possibly mixed with raw egg or yogurt, or just moistened with water is often appealing), and some fresh clean water, may be all you need to do. Sounds like she's suffering from shock. Indirect sunlight, quiet, and a calm place to recover would be good for her. You can put electrolytes in her water if you want, but clean water is all you really need.

The other thing you can do is dribble some Nutridrench into her beak. That will help perk up her appetite, it's basically molasses water, and has some nice vitamins.

I would not do brandy. But i've never tried brandy either, and have no idea how that would impact your bird.

Also, run your hands and eyes over her everywhere, and see if you can see any skin discoloration (green or blue is bruising on pale skinned chickens), broken areas of skin or bones, or puncture wounds. Make sure she is not actually injured. If it's just shock, she should recover in a day or two just fine, as long as you have her in a quiet safe place.

When you threw her in the air, she may have landed hard. Unless she broke or sprained something, she may just be bruised. That type of injury ought to clear up in a week or less, depending on severity. You can give her an additional water source with B-vitamins in it (poultry cell or human B complex vitamin ground up and put in water). This might help a bit with the curled toes, or it might not. Won't hurt, as she will eliminate with no problems anything her body doesn't use.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sugar water is your best bet to treat for shock, this is what the Educators here always recommend. Put 1 tsp sugar and 1 pinch each of salt and baking soda in 1 c warm water, then hold some up in a small cup to her beak so she can drink. If possible keep her in a quiet, dark place. Do not add heat. Let us know how she does.

 

[Libbazoid]

What is your weather like where you are? I would not do a heat lamp - she's acclimated to your outdoor temps and that might over heat her. Keeping her in a dry, draft free area, like an unheated garage or shed, and giving her appealing food (regular feed, possibly mixed with raw egg or yogurt, or just moistened with water is often appealing), and some fresh clean water, may be all you need to do. Sounds like she's suffering from shock. Indirect sunlight, quiet, and a calm place to recover would be good for her. You can put electrolytes in her water if you want, but clean water is all you really need.

The other thing you can do is dribble some Nutridrench into her beak. That will help perk up her appetite, it's basically molasses water, and has some nice vitamins.

I would not do brandy. But i've never tried brandy either, and have no idea how that would impact your bird.

Also, run your hands and eyes over her everywhere, and see if you can see any skin discoloration (green or blue is bruising on pale skinned chickens), broken areas of skin or bones, or puncture wounds. Make sure she is not actually injured. If it's just shock, she should recover in a day or two just fine, as long as you have her in a quiet safe place.

When you threw her in the air, she may have landed hard. Unless she broke or sprained something, she may just be bruised. That type of injury ought to clear up in a week or less, depending on severity. You can give her an additional water source with B-vitamins in it (poultry cell or human B complex vitamin ground up and put in water). This might help a bit with the curled toes, or it might not. Won't hurt, as she will eliminate with no problems anything her body doesn't use.

Thanks so much. She's in a dark crate in the garage now, just added some treats with her water, she's still panting, but was able to stand on her own so that's good.
I"ll try to report back. Damn bird dogs.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is she not drinking on her own yet? She can die of shock. Please try to get some sugar water in her ASAP. See my post #5.