Dog attack, I need advice/consoling

[OldManDan]

Hopefully encouraging news! I watched the coop cam today, and when the auto door from the coop to the run opened this morning, all the girls came out. And, Peggy, the attacked chicken, was the first one out!

There's another auto door that let's them into an extended run area, I had thrown some scratch and mealworms in there last night. All four went in and scratched and pecked and ate, so I'm taking that as a positive sign!

What does everyone think?

 

[coach723]

Even if the feathers were pulled, they will grow back. Sometimes it can happen fairly quickly, but sometimes it won't happen until they molt. As long as there are no wounds, it should be ok. Dogs have a habit of squeezing and shaking, which can do a lot of damage internally. I would go over the one in question thoroughly, look at the skin everywhere, part feathers, make sure you haven't missed any injuries. Punctures can hide in feathers. As someone else said, bruising may show up later and make look greenish. They are very resilient and tend to recover well. It does sound like she was lucky and it was superficial, so hopefully that's all it is. I hope you have a good neighbor who does treat it responsibly, that is always much easier to deal with.

 

[OldManDan]

Our other three chickens are molting, Peggy was the only one that hasn't molted yet. We are planning on checking her out better today to check for any hidden injuries. I know there was no blood visible or staining her feathers, but a better look underneath is definitely warranted.

Thanks!

 

[OldManDan]

Here's an update: I was watching our coop cam and didn't see Peggy this morning, she didn't even show up when our auto door opened that allows them into an extended run. I was so worried.

I went out, couldn't find her, then thought, wait, there's no way.

But there she was, in the nesting box - she had just laid us an egg! I was so proud my injured, traumatized girl laid us an egg so quickly after the attack.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

yay, Peggy, you go, Girl!

Chickens are amazing. Is why we loves them.