Dog attacked chicken - ripped out tail feathers

[Eggscaping]

I never said she is just livestock, I said she is livestock. There is a difference for me as they are not pets, but I do want to show good husbandry. I know that my feelings of them may not reflect some of the backyard chicken community, but I posted to get help as I do care. Posting in all capitals and giving the solution of killing her when I don’t share the same feelings about my chickens is why I am sure many people have left the site. I am not intending to offend anyone so I hope you, and anyone else who reads this, remembers that although we all might not share the same opinions, we all are chicken owners who are doing the best we can.

I'm sorry...I can see your feelings were hurt a bit, and I understand. Remember that text is horrible for portraying the real feelings of the poster. Words do not carry emotions or facial expressions. Chickens are livestock by definition, but can also be beloved pets, or anything in between. Both sides of the scale are fine...no one deserves blame or censure for how they feel about their chickens. We are all individuals. Hugs to you, good on you for asking...I'm sure it was very distressing to have happen! Do the best you can, whatever you can, and read the replies here with a filter on, realizing that everyone is different.
Let us know how your girl is doing, and please do not be upset...again, text doesn't reflect the actual feelings of the poster...it can't.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

Once she is asleep, you should be able to pick her up without much fuss. Even my biggest a-hole rooster will let me handle him at roost time.

If you need to, you can wrap her in a towel to keep her wings immobilized. Some chickens will lay still if you lay them on their back in your lap with something covering her eyes. Since you cannot bring her inside, bring a bright flashlight and look her over outside.

If she shows any signs of stress - like she just won't calm down after a couple of minutes, is breathing hard - put her back in the coop and try again later.

If she isn't too severely injured, do as @MurrayAP suggests. You can keep her in a crate in a room where the dogs do not go. Like the bathroom. She could just be sore and bruised, but you need to know what you're dealing with first.

So I was successful with getting her from the roost and looked at her and sprayed heavily with vetericyn. It looks pretty not great in terms that there is blood and some (1/4inch?) skin peeled back above her vent. I think that and the other thing that I thought was a puncture bite but think instead now it’s where I found that chunk of skin attached to a feather. It’s hard to tell. She had pooped so I tried to get that out as much as I could as well. If she makes it through the night I’ll try to get pictures in the morning.

I put her in the dog crate with blankets (I don’t have anymore bedding right now for a whole different reason of mites and having to replace all bedding just 2 days ago - not been an easy first week of having chickens) in the shed. It is insulated and it’s going to be 50 degrees tonight, should I do anything else for her to stay warm? I figure it’s warmer in there than in the coop?

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

You could give her some aspirin for the pain. Here's a dosage chart: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/aspirin-dosing.1198396/

Edited to add: Chickens are resilient. With even the most basic care some recover from the most horrific injuries.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

You could give her some aspirin for the pain. Here's a dosage chart: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/aspirin-dosing.1198396/

Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely make sure to do that for her. Do you think the temperature will be okay?

 

[HippieAtHeart]

I'd put her in the crate and put that in the pen with your other birds if you have space. Not sure how big the dog crate is but if its large enough that she can stand up and move around it should be fine. Make sure to put some shavings in there for bedding to keep things dry.

I have a large dog kennel in my bird pen that I've affectionately dubbed "the victory cage." Winners of any squabbles go in there by themselves for a couple weeks until they simmer down. I also use it sometimes for injured birds and pullets until they're old enough to be integrated with the older birds.

Unfortunately I have a smaller sized coop/run and an extra large dog crate. I decided to just put her in the shed for now, it’s not going to be too cold tonight, I figure I can get a space heater for later in the week if need be.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

If you had a heat lamp and were comfortable turning it on over night, I'd do that, just because she could be in shock. If not, no worries - 50 is good and it sounds like she has some blankets to snuggle down into.

 

[MurrayAP]

I've also been known to put a cage in my basement when "the victory cage" is occupied.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

If you had a heat lamp and were comfortable turning it on over night, I'd do that, just because she could be in shock. If not, no worries - 50 is good and it sounds like she has some blankets to snuggle down into.

I don’t as of yet, will be getting on in a week or two for chicks though so may get it early.

 

[HippieAtHeart]

I've also been known to put a cage in my basement when "the victory cage" is occupied.

Do you think I should try and get a smaller crate to put her in the coop? I’m a little worried about her being reintroduced to the flock if she is away for a little while.

 

[MurrayAP]

Do you think I should try and get a smaller crate to put her in the coop? I’m a little worried about her being reintroduced to the flock if she is away for a little while.

If it were me I'd rather she had more space to heal up. If she's fully healed there shouldn't be any serious issues reintroducing her. The others might bully her a bit in the beginning like they do with all noobies, but as long as they're not harming her I wouldn't worry. Just keep an eye on her when you do.