Please help now! Chicken attacked by dog, First Aid advice needed!!!

[Granolamom]

Our neighbor's dog escaped from his pen, came over into our (fenced) yard and attacked our chickens. He got a hold of "Pearl", she's a BR mix and almost 2 years old.
He got her on either side of her rear end, and the skin on on side is completely torn off (there's a hole about the size of an egg, and the muscle is showing). I cleaned the wounds with warm water and Calendula essence, but don't know where to go from here.
She's eating and drinking right now. Please help!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Those don't seem too bad at all, of course scary to look at.
Separate her with clean food, vitamin water & a low stress environment for a few weeks.

That is all I ever do for injuries, and likely all I will ever do.

 

[jenjscott]

rinse several times a day with saline solution 1/4 tsp in a cup of water(non iodized) and keep her in a cage or pen by herself for a while. The problem is that you can never tell how deep the bites were. If there were no internal injuries sustained, you will be amazed at how fast she heals.

 

[FlightsofFancy]

How does everyone feel about antibiotic ointment? Or Blue Kote?
Should she start a course of antibiotics?

 

[FrustratedChickenmomma]

We have some geese that were attacked by a neighbors pack of dogs. Those that were alive when we got to them all survived and they looked much worse. I cleaned them well and applied scarlet oil. We use it for the horses when they get cuts and such. Actually we use it for most of the animals. Just keep it clean.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I would definitely use some antibiotic ointment (withOUT pain reliever).

But i agree, if you keep her clean, and she doesn't have any other injuries, she should come out really great on the other side.

eta: she has beautiful coloring!

 

[Granolamom]

...Beautiful coloring? Thanks, Punkinpeep, even though I think you're just
trying to be nice (she looked more like a wet, mangled rat at the time I took that picture, because it was pouring down rain when the dog got her, and she was already soaking wet).
My son and I rinsed her wounds with a mixture of boiled water, peroxide, and colloidal silver (which acts like an antibiotic) several times, and so far she seems okay. I tried to pull the skin together, to see if we could possibly stitch it or glue it, but there seems to be a large piece of skin missing (darn dog!!!).
She started yelling when the Peroxide started working (I used a mix of half peroxide, half water), and I felt horrible because of her discomfort. Can't use the Neosporin I bought, because it has a pain killer in it. Good thing I checked on here before I applied it (apparently the painkiller is hazardous to chickens...). Will get the regular kind tomorrow morning. She is eating scrambled eggs and a bit of catfood (won't touch the layer pellets...), and she's had a tiny amount of water. I have her in a rabbit cage in the house.
We'll see what the morning brings.
Thanks to you all!!!

 

[jenjscott]

Granolamom, I would recommend no more hydrogen peroxide. It is great for initial cleaning, but very destructive to the new tissue you are trying to form. Good luck.

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
Got it, won't use it any more tomorrow! Somewhere I heard about putting DE on open wounds, to help close them up. Any thoughts on that, anyone?

 

[DawnSuiter]

Honestly, to me, I would treat it NO differently than if I had skinned my knee. She's not missing anything and only has torn skin. The muscle underneath looks great.

It'll close up on it's own. The problem with closing wounds prematurely is that you have to be 1000% certain there is no bacteria inside, otherwise infection will set in. Open wounds that are that clean (not jagged or torn muscle) heal better if left open.

I wouldn't use anything on it, as I've already said. She needs to stay clean, well hydrated & fed and stress free. Her body will do the rest.