Dog Attack Injury [GRAPHIC PICTURES]

[StardustChicken]

Came home from work on the 26th to see one of my hens injured. I'm thinking she might've flown into the neighbor's yard and been attacked by their dog. Picked out the debris and made a saline solution to flush out the wound and applied a generic triple antibiotic ointment (no pain relief).

The stripped skin includes the back of one of her thighs and the bottom portion of her vent, causing her to leak occasionally what looks like urates.

She has had a healthy appetite and been drinking since the initial day and is alert. Her poops have been surprisingly "normal" considering what she's been through, maybe a slightly higher moisture content. She laid an egg on 2/27 and today (3/1). Both clean and intact, no blood or anything.

Picture from today 3/1/2025

I was finally able to get my hands on some poultry Vetericyn spray and soaked poor ol' Margo's wound down (much to her dismay). Her poops have been liquid today. I should note she's also been eating an egg daily to give her a protein boost

I've only ever dealt with this one other time and she had passed away on the third day as I was unaware of the toxicity of Neosporin with pain relief. I'm not quite sure how it's supposed to look during the healing process.

Does this look okay so far?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor Girl!

I think the wound looks pretty good. I'd continue to keep ointment or Vetericyn on the wound daily.
Watch for signs of infection, red angry tissue, pus and/or a bad odor, you will be able to tell it's getting infected.

You had mentioned that the vent was damaged too, but she was able to lay an egg without problems, so that's a bonus. Hopefully it will heal up o.k. in time too.

Just keep up with the good job you are doing.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I agree, yes. It looks good. You might trim feathers away from the margins of the wound a bit so you can see where you're treating her. You'll be able to see the wound healing from the margins inward. Watch for angry red coloration that means infection, but with the care you're giving, if you're doing it twice a day, I wouldn't expect to see any. Good job!

 

[Sondraa]

Hard to believe what injuries are survivable. Must have been a very healthy well cared for chook to begin with to survive that. Good Job!

 

[StardustChicken]

Update:

So apparently, now that there's more contrast, it looks like her vent isn't actually apart of the large wound (still a little damage? Kinda like a small puncture on the vent). On the initial day I mistook her bare plucked backside as part of the wound (I only handle her to spray her down in an effort to limit stress). Whenever I treat her, if I take longer than 2 seconds she'll flail and squirt out liquid urates like a terrible skunk

This is what her typical poops look like right now with the urates kind of having the consistency of raw egg whites (perhaps I should lay off the daily egg?)

Picture of her face to show her current comb color.

Additional info: She is a 3 year old Silver Phoenix and Old English Game Bantam mix

 

[Wyorp Rock]

On the initial day I mistook her bare plucked backside as part of the wound

Were her backside feathers ripped out during the attack?

Can you get a photo of her actual vent?

 

[Sondraa]

I am so sorry this is a tougher case than initially expected. I stand by my positive assessment of your amazing care for healthy poultry.

 

[StardustChicken]

Were her backside feathers ripped out during the attack?

Can you get a photo of her actual vent?

Yes, she only has 4 tail feathers

After much struggle I finally managed to get a decent picture. The stripped skin is at the corner of the vent, it seems

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, she only has 4 tail feathers
View attachment 4065002
After much struggle I finally managed to get a decent picture. The stripped skin is at the corner of the vent, it seems

You're right, it does look like the corner is damaged.
I do think that would affect control of the poop and urates, so you may see some leakage and discharge. As time goes by and tissues heal, muscle retention improves, etc. she may have more control.

The wound looks to be healing well. You don't detect any odors?

She's eating/drinking o.k., alert and responsive, moving about a little?

 

[StardustChicken]

The wound looks to be healing well. You don't detect any odors?

She's eating/drinking o.k., alert and responsive, moving about a little?

Besides the urates, no I don't think so.

She is still eating/drinking/alert. Whenever I take her out of the rabbit cage to replace the puppy pad she likes to explore the room and study her foreign surroundings