Urgent Injury

ChickensnBoys

Hatching
5 Years
Apr 10, 2014
6
0
7
Hi,

a little devastated right now. our dog broke into the chicken coop and tore two of our hens. One hen was done for and we had to euthanize her. It was brutal.

our other hen, ironically named stitch, has several puncture wounds and is missing a substantial amount of feathers. She is quiet, not making any noise. I'm sure it hurts but she doesn't look like she is in agony or anything. Should we try and save her? How??? We isolated her from the rest of the pack and smeared coconut oil on her, I couldn't think of anything else to do.

Wait? Euthenize? Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. We've owned chickens for a grand total of two weeks and we are all so sad right now.

Thanks in advance….
 
It would be a good idea to keep her in a warm and stress free environment right now, if you are able I would suggest she stay in your home..you should apply something to her wounds, maybe a betadine solution to reduce any bacterial infection.

Tempt her with scrambled eggs, tuna fish or any other tempting feed, she will most probably be in shock and need some TLC and kept in a darkened place where she is comfortable.

Wishing your all the best!
 
Oh man. I'm so sorry that's happening to you and your birds. My little dog has a very high prey drive and picked off a pullet from my first batch, so I know how hard it is to lose one of your flock to your own pet.

If your bird doesn't look like she's hurting badly, I would be inclined to try to save her. I isolating her from your other birds is a good move, those wounds could be an easy target for curious beaks--to keep her away from the rest of the flock until she heals up some. Also, get a little disinfectant on there, (i'd be inclined to try iodine) and check every day to make sure the not becoming inflamed/infected. Chickens are remarkably tough animals, I think you stand fighting chance of pulling her through this one.
 
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I had the same thing happen... my puppies played with my Houdans and broke some skin (with small bites) and had feather loss.

The only thing that saved them was an antibiotic from the vet and pain med / anti inflammatory.

ANYTIME we've had a dog bit a bird it died... no matter how small unless we gave an antibiotic. The vet told me it was due to the bacteria of the dog bite.

Here's what they gave me:

Primor 120mg one tablet every 24 hours for 5 days
Metacam for the pain.... I think it was .15 per 10 pds of bird.

Ironically... both are meds for dogs. I now keep both on hand for those emergency situations.

I wish you luck... I know it's a sad day.
 
Thank you everyone.

Yes, it was definitely shock. Once it wore off she let us know she was in pain. We had to euthanize. Thank you all for your prompt responses and advice.
 

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