Chicken attacked by dog - no open wounds

[callmehaley]

Hi all - brand new to this thread as I'm not actually a chicken owner, but my mom is. I'm tasked with taking care of the chickens while she is out of town, and I am also caring for their two dogs plus my own dog. This morning, I let the chickens out into the backyard because I was getting ready to clean their coop. As I was exiting the house to go into the backyard, my dog shoved past me and charged out into the backyard. He began chasing the chickens and eventually caught one. I had to pry his jaws open to get her out, but she was only in his mouth for probably five seconds and he wasn't chewing although he initially did chomp down to grab her of course. I am absolutely beside myself - my mom has had this chicken the longest out of any of them and I will never forgive myself if she passes. She has no open wounds, blood or anything like that, but did lose quite a few feathers. After I got the dog inside, the chicken moved away from the spot of her attack but then stayed in one spot in the backyard not moving for about ten minutes. She did poop over in that spot, which looked normal. I approached her and she started to run away, no limp that I could see and she pooped once more as she was running from me, which looked normal to me. This only happened about an hour ago. I put her inside the nest box so she could be in a safe dark space but I'm completely panicking that she may have internal bleeding or other injuries I can't see and frankly I'm so upset with myself and my dog. I did just walk out there and opened the nest box and she left to go out into the coop and even jumped down from the ramp/flew up to the ramp after so she seems to feel okay. I put out worms but she didn't want them and is just hanging out in a corner of the coop now by herself, although she seems alert. She's been in the corner spot for 5 - 10 minutes now. Naturally, it's a Sunday and our vet's office is closed. What should I do to help make her as comfortable as possible? My friend is bringing over chicken electrolytes later... she's in with the other three hens because she has no open wounds and they are not messing with her at all (in fact they were all hanging out in the nest box together so I like to think they were comforting her). I've read past posts and some said to separate her into a small dark space but others said if there are no open wounds then separating her from the flock may cause even more stress so I'm torn at what to do. At this point, I feel like if there's anything wrong it's internal bleeding and nothing can be done but I just want to help make her as comfortable as possible, if I can

 

[CluckerFamily]

She could be in shock or have internal damage.

 

[Geckolady]

She may come through this OK, but keep a close eye on her.

 

[coach723]

Shock is very common. Make sure she's drinking, put her in a quiet place with low light, and let her rest and calm down and feel safe. If you have a crate, then a crate in a quiet room works well. And it lets you monitor how she's doing, make sure droppings are normal and she's drinking and eating. If being alone stresses her then leave the crate in a cool place with the other chickens so she can see them and they can see her, but remain safe. As long as there are no internal injuries, she should recover fine. She may be sore, depending on where and how hard she was grabbed. She may be nervous and easily startled, and hide for a while, all normal behaviors after an incident like this.

 

[callmehaley]

Shock is very common. Make sure she's drinking, put her in a quiet place with low light, and let her rest and calm down and feel safe. If you have a crate, then a crate in a quiet room works well. And it lets you monitor how she's doing, make sure droppings are normal and she's drinking and eating. If being alone stresses her then leave the crate in a cool place with the other chickens so she can see them and they can see her, but remain safe. As long as there are no internal injuries, she should recover fine. She may be sore, depending on where and how hard she was grabbed. She may be nervous and easily startled, and hide for a while, all normal behaviors after an incident like this.

Thank you so much for the advice. I've not stopped crying for two hours now... I can't even look at my dog. The chicken is already nervous around me in general and I've gone in to check on her so much in the last hour, I don't want to make it worse. She is calm and alert, but only standing in one spot... I think I will give her an hour to calm down while I set up a crate inside for her. Thank you again.

 

[coach723]

You're welcome. While not good, it's normal behavior for a dog (predator) to go after a chicken (prey). Unless a dog has had specific training to be around birds, I'd not let them near. Unfortunately things like this happen frequently. Luckily you were there and able to intervene right away. Hopefully she will be fine. Lesson learned, and everyone that has chickens has things like this that we all learn from. Don't beat yourself up.

 

[callmehaley]

You're welcome. While not good, it's normal behavior for a dog (predator) to go after a chicken (prey). Unless a dog has had specific training to be around birds, I'd not let them near. Unfortunately things like this happen frequently. Luckily you were there and able to intervene right away. Hopefully she will be fine. Lesson learned, and everyone that has chickens has things like this that we all learn from. Don't beat yourself up.

Yes, we are just staying here while my parents are out of the country so he is definitely not used to chickens although there are ducks in my neighborhood and he leaves them alone 95% of the time, although he is never unleashed near them. He must have seen them in the backyard because as soon as I opened the door, he just shoved right past me and took off. Thanks for the advice and being so kind... my mom said she is not upset with me or my dog but I just feel terrible since I was left in charge of them. Anyways, I just made up a very beautiful chicken hotel inside using an old dog crate, but when I went outside to grab her, she started walking around the coop and then took herself up into the nest box so I may leave her there for now and just bring her in overnight. I want to disrupt her as little as I possibly can because in general, she is very nervous around me and runs away from me even before the attack. Thanks again.

 

[coach723]

It sounds like she's doing fine. I would just check on her periodically, by the end of the day she may be over it. If she seems OK, and goes to roost normally, then I'd just leave her with the rest of the birds rather than stress her out more.

 

[John2510]

Yes, we are just staying here while my parents are out of the country so he is definitely not used to chickens although there are ducks in my neighborhood and he leaves them alone 95% of the time, although he is never unleashed near them. He must have seen them in the backyard because as soon as I opened the door, he just shoved right past me and took off. Thanks for the advice and being so kind... my mom said she is not upset with me or my dog but I just feel terrible since I was left in charge of them. Anyways, I just made up a very beautiful chicken hotel inside using an old dog crate, but when I went outside to grab her, she started walking around the coop and then took herself up into the nest box so I may leave her there for now and just bring her in overnight. I want to disrupt her as little as I possibly can because in general, she is very nervous around me and runs away from me even before the attack. Thanks again.

My thought would be to keep an eye on her, but generally leave her be. Extra excitement and stirring her around isn't something she needs right now.

Don't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. I left a door open an let one of my huskies get out and get hit by a car and killed. It's hard to live with mistakes like that. You have to own the mistake, but move on.

My huskies killed three cats that got into our fenced-in back yard. They were very sweet dogs, but some just have a strong prey instinct. To them, it's like a cat with a mouse. You can't judge them by human standards.

Good luck. I hope everything turns out okay. Sounds like it is.

 

[callmehaley]

My thought would be to keep an eye on her, but generally leave her be. Extra excitement and stirring her around isn't something she needs right now.

Don't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. I left a door open an let one of my huskies get out and get hit by a car and killed. It's hard to live with mistakes like that. You have to own the mistake, but move on.

My huskies killed three cats that got into our fenced-in back yard. They were very sweet dogs, but some just have a strong prey instinct. To them, it's like a cat with a mouse. You can't judge them by human standards.

Good luck. I hope everything turns out okay. Sounds like it is.

Thank you for your kind words and the advice - and I'm so sorry about your Husky. I will plan to leave her alone unless she starts acting differently - if she does, I have a beautiful chicken suite inside with her name on it. And yes, it makes sense he'd go after them... I'll get over it eventually but right now it's hard to look at him LOL. I will definitely update here with what happens.