Dog Attack

wickedwings · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:23 pm

Hi All,

Our little bantam wyandotte got cornered by the 2 &(%&#$# dogs next door today, they dug under the fence and chased her around the yard. She has lost her tail and a patch of feathers under her vent. My concern is there is some blood around her vent, it appears to be external like a couple of lacerations, she managed to lay this afternoon after the event and the egg wasn't significantly stained. I have applied an antiseptic cream around her vent and she seems to be moving around ok, still alert etc... Do I need to do anything else for her apart from keeping up the treatment for a while? I mean, I can take her to the vets if it's neccesary but she seems ok. Is she likely to deteriorate?

Thoughts please.

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

NASTY DOGS

Keep the wounds clean and dry and use Betadine. Maybe she could sleep in your laundry where she would be safe and warm?

Our neighbour has feral Jack Russell's who have a taste for chickens feathers and all, they've already killed one poor innocent chookie, their owner blamed the fox, and then they maimed another one. They tunneled under our fence but lucky our chook's wings aren't clipped and they flew up a gum tree to safety. They keep getting out and biting people on our road too

What if those dogs attacked your children!

People should be responsible pet owners and responsible for their actions.

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Wickedwings,

If the wounds aren't deep then applying a disinfectant like betadine as Petite Poulet has suggested should be enough or you can use your antiseptic cream- just be careful not to stain too many feathers with ointments or creams.

Responsible dog ownership has been the topic of discussion previously. Report them to your local council I say!!

Hens and Hobbits · **Posted:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:45 pm

Sorry to read of the attack, wickedwings,

Report the dogs to the council, next time the dogs could go for your children. They have been too many dog attacks recently on small children, sadly with dire outcomes. People are very irresponsible.

Is the hen in any shock or showing signs of distress? Keep her warm and follow the previous advice for the wounds as you don't want any bacteria entering the site and secondary infections occurring.

wickedwings · **Posted:** Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:53 am

parvo wrote:

Hi Wickedwings,

If the wounds aren't deep then applying a disinfectant like betadine as Petite Poulet has suggested should be enough or you can use your antiseptic cream- just be careful not to stain too many feathers with ointments or creams.

Responsible dog ownership has been the topic of discussion previously. Report them to your local council I say!!

I will keep an eye on her for the next few days of course, I looked in on her after nightshift this evening and she looked alright. I'm mostly just concerned about infection so I will keep applying the cream. Is there a problem with staining the feathers? She's not a show bird or anything, just the boy's pet.

Thanks for the advice and concern everyone.

hobbychook · **Joined:** Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:27 pm **Posts:** 5

She sounds like a surviver and I think she will live to play another day

Sebducks · **Joined:** Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 812

Shock takes over pretty quick and if she were to die from shock related problems then she would have done so possibly overnight. Shock shuts down their systems and poultry in shock show things like being hunched over, hiding, closed eyes, slow breathing (and others) they then need to be taken in to a warm spot put in the dark and left alone for a period of time to recover in quiet.

Dogs teeth are full of bacteria which is generally killed by betadine, except if its deep lacerations then you may need some antibiotic to put in the water. If she's just lost feathers and has minor scratches which it sounds like she does, then your treatment of betadine will do her good, warm salty water can also help in the cleaning process.

Just watch that she continues to eat and drink and get around with the rest of the flock, if she starts to slow down and not be her normal self then you have internal infections. If it were me I would try to source a broad spectrum antibiotic and add it to the water so she has a dose or two of it just to boost any failing immunity after the attack, it won't hurt any of your others.

wickedwings · **Posted:** Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:13 pm

Sebducks wrote:

Shock takes over pretty quick and if she were to die from shock related problems then she would have done so possibly overnight. Shock shuts down their systems and poultry in shock show things like being hunched over, hiding, closed eyes, slow breathing (and others) they then need to be taken in to a warm spot put in the dark and left alone for a period of time to recover in quiet.

Dogs teeth are full of bacteria which is generally killed by betadine, except if its deep lacerations then you may need some antibiotic to put in the water. If she's just lost feathers and has minor scratches which it sounds like she does, then your treatment of betadine will do her good, warm salty water can also help in the cleaning process.

Just watch that she continues to eat and drink and get around with the rest of the flock, if she starts to slow down and not be her normal self then you have internal infections. If it were me I would try to source a broad spectrum antibiotic and add it to the water so she has a dose or two of it just to boost any failing immunity after the attack, it won't hurt any of your others.

Thanks Sebducks, she is getting around fairly well this morning with the other girls, I honestly thought she would be more traumatised, she just looks odd without her tail.

Karen_H · **Posted:** Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:37 pm

*hugs* - Not nice!!! :cry:

We had a neighbours dog kill one of our dogs (Lab x) a few years ago - was very traumatic :!:

Never found out whose it was (we were out at the time) but we did report it to our local council and the ranger came out and did a full report etc. When we used to live in town a neighbours dog dug under the fence and ate the kids guinea pigs.

We have four dogs and know the huge responsibility we have - it's one of the reason's we don't let our chooks free range in the garden but still make sure they have a big enough enclosure to wander around.

Glad to hear she is doing okay - I hope she keeps that up

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

Hope that your little chook is better. [smilie=a_cookiemonster.gif]

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