Injured hen will not drink, wounds significant

[Sarah Leighty]

Hello all- One of our girls got attacked by the neighbors 2 little dogs, and they pulled her skin off pretty good from neck down between wings, and on one side. She also got a bite on her chest. This was Tuesday 9/26. We cleaned with betadine solution/warm water spray, and have treated for several days with Vetericyn gel, and now we are applying neosporin liberally once a day. She is excited to eat, though a bit picky. She is pooping, though runny and stinky but no puss or anything (sorry for that grossness if it bothers you).
My concerns are: She only drank on her own the first day after her injury, once. Since then its been one drop at at time. We simply cant get her enough water. We are getting it in her food, and dropping on her beak- she is getting about 20cc a day but i read she needs 100cc... And the longer time goes on the more difficult it is- she is turning away from me and shaking her beak, refusing it, and as of 2 days ago she is panting on and off, a lot. She is also doing a very weird thing where she is chomping at the air (?!)... I'm starting to worry if she has neurological or brain damage.
The Vetericyn coated some of her feathers around the wounds and made them stiff and I think it might be uncomfortable to her. I was thinking i should wash her off now that the wounds have healed- should i dip her in the sink in warm water?
And lastly- It is October and just starting to get cold here in Eastern WA. ... I am really torn with worry about if she will be able to get her feathers back in time to cope with winter.

Any advice or thought s are welcome. Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If she's eating she's probably drinking. I would not be giving her water by force as the risk of aspiration is high.

After a dog attack a chicken will often just sit for the first few days than start to show interest in water after a few days than food.

Chomping at the air? Is she adjusting her crop perhaps?

Sounds like she's doing well considering what happened. I would let her be at this point. She should grow her feathers back before winter.

 

[Sarah Leighty]

If she's eating she's probably drinking. I would not be giving her water by force as the risk of aspiration is high.

After a dog attack a chicken will often just sit for the first few days than start to show interest in water after a few days than food.

Chomping at the air? Is she adjusting her crop perhaps?

Sounds like she's doing well considering what happened. I would let her be at this point. She should grow her feathers back before winter.

Thank you for the positive advice- that eases my heart quite a lot.

I certainly don't want to force her. I have been watching her close and the water level and I don't see her drink, and water level doesn't go down. Her neck was hurt so bad she didn't want to get low to the feeder, so i have been holding a bowl up for her to eat out of, even using a spoon to stir and get her excited like i was digging something up. Today, she started dipping down to a bowl to eat- so maybe we are getting to a turning point where she'll drink from her waterer (we have one on the ground and hanging up with a drop nipple). Everyone has scared me telling me dehydration will kill a chicken fast and I have been so worried- especially since she started with the panting.

I have never heard of a hen adjusting her crop- I hope that is what it is. She literally bites bites bites, so much - it is weird and i have watched our chickens pretty close and never seen any of them do that- but- they have never been through the stress she has been through. She is holding her head down close to her body because of the injury, and that could disrupt her flow.

I'll try to post some pictures later in case anyone has advice on better treatment. I am new to this... dressing on any type of wounds. I have read so much before getting our babies and all along as they had grown up (our poor baby just started laying eggs a few weeks ago). I think we are doing OK, but I have read some weird things about picking scabs and stuff and man, that sounds terrible. I don't want to hurt her- I want to help her heal though. Seems a wound would heal, and skin would grow back, and then we would start seeing those little feather spikes pop out. That's what i'm hoping for.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have had a few chickens manhandled by young dogs over the years. Most feel terrible for about a week. I generally don't interfere with wounds except to spray some bluekote on them. Chickens are wonderful at healing. Our instinct is to try to help them, but for the most part they don't generally need help. Just a quiet comfortable place to heal. They all eventually started to eat and drink well into the second and third week.

You could try offering her a dish of water up higher to see if she's interested. Otherwise offering her moistened feed can help too.

The movement you are seeing could be because of her pain. Hopefully it disappears as she feels better.

 

[Sarah Leighty]

Update: We are on day 9 now. Her panting actually has a dry sound now. Her comb and wattle are definitely paler and a bit shriveled. She still will not drink, as far as I can see and I have her in the living room where i can keep an eye pretty close through the day. I did raise her waterer up to see if that helps...keeping it fresh and added a mark for the water line so I can watch the level. I am putting water on her food and giving her some watermelon also, to increase water intake.
Her wounds are healing, but slowly. still 2 places about 2"x 3" with no feathers and no skin.
I don't want to overdo it but I also feel pretty certain she is dehydrated and getting worse in that regard. When I drop a drop on the tip of her beak, she will swallow it- is there still a chance it is going down the wrong pipe?
I am going nuts about it- not sure if I should help her or leave her alone. All i have read says get her to drink. But I certainly don want to stress her.

 

[Mistyrstone]

Hello all- One of our girls got attacked by the neighbors 2 little dogs, and they pulled her skin off pretty good from neck down between wings, and on one side. She also got a bite on her chest. This was Tuesday 9/26. We cleaned with betadine solution/warm water spray, and have treated for several days with Vetericyn gel, and now we are applying neosporin liberally once a day. She is excited to eat, though a bit picky. She is pooping, though runny and stinky but no puss or anything (sorry for that grossness if it bothers you).
My concerns are: She only drank on her own the first day after her injury, once. Since then its been one drop at at time. We simply cant get her enough water. We are getting it in her food, and dropping on her beak- she is getting about 20cc a day but i read she needs 100cc... And the longer time goes on the more difficult it is- she is turning away from me and shaking her beak, refusing it, and as of 2 days ago she is panting on and off, a lot. She is also doing a very weird thing where she is chomping at the air (?!)... I'm starting to worry if she has neurological or brain damage.
The Vetericyn coated some of her feathers around the wounds and made them stiff and I think it might be uncomfortable to her. I was thinking i should wash her off now that the wounds have healed- should i dip her in the sink in warm water?
And lastly- It is October and just starting to get cold here in Eastern WA. ... I am really torn with worry about if she will be able to get her feathers back in time to cope with winter.

Any advice or thought s are welcome. Thank you!

Did your chicken recover ??? This just happened to mine. Same injuries it sounds like.