A newbie from Temuka

Hi everyone, I didn't even know this place existed until someone suggested i come over here for some advice for my poor chook who got attacked by a dog today. Vet was able to stitch/staple the wound on her back, so fingers crossed she will recover. She is in a covered in dog crate with food, water and a heat pad under the straw. I was told to keep her in a warm, dark area for a while so she will be less stressed. Any other suggestions?
Yes, it was probably easier to knock her on the head and get two more, but Gladys is one of my girls and I just couldn't do that to her! I have 2 red/brown shavers; Gladys & Doris, 2 white shavers; Mavis & Phyllis and 2 black minorcas; Beatrice and Clarice. I'm hoping to get 2 blue girls of some variety soon.
We also have 5 dogs, 2 cats, a horse and 5 goldfish in an outside pond. hence the name - the-menagerie.

Welcome to the site, the-menagerie, and good luck with your chook, sounds like you are doing all you can. Hopefully others will be along soon with any other advice they can offer...

welcome to the site The-Menagerie , am sure the chookie experts will be along soon to advise
I hope your chokkie comes out of this ok ... and yeah i know, there are times when shoot or knock on head just don't cut the mustard ... i exhaust every avenue my very limited budget will stretch to when one of my animals gets hurts

I guess that you know that if your chook was on your property, then you can charge the vet bill to the dog owner.

Hi and welcome the-menagarie and welcome to Chooks anonymous, you are not alone!

Your chook should be fine, they seem to heal with horrendous tears, even without vet assistance, so no doubt she has had antibiotic spray or dust in the wound too.

Just carry on as you are doing, offer her a bit of temmpting high protein food as well as her usual pellets. A bit of wet cat food, or mince or crumbled hard boiled egg wouldn't go amiss.

She probably doesn't need a heat pad, just a draught free, quiet place will do for a fully feathered chook in summer! She can have a peck around in the sunshine as long as other birds don't peck at her wound until it is healed properly.

The only danger is that the pressure of the dogs mouth hasn't caused internal damage or punctured the air sacs, which are extensions of the lungs just beneath the flesh around the body.

Feel free to ask any chooky related questions if you feel unsure.

Hi and welcome the-menagarie and welcome to Chooks anonymous, you are not alone!

Your chook should be fine, they seem to heal with horrendous tears, even without vet assistance, so no doubt she has had antibiotic spray or dust in the wound too.

Just carry on as you are doing, offer her a bit of temmpting high protein food as well as her usual pellets. A bit of wet cat food, or mince or crumbled hard boiled egg wouldn't go amiss.

She probably doesn't need a heat pad, just a draught free, quiet place will do for a fully feathered chook in summer! She can have a peck around in the sunshine as long as other birds don't peck at her wound until it is healed properly.

The only danger is that the pressure of the dogs mouth hasn't caused internal damage or punctured the air sacs, which are extensions of the lungs just beneath the flesh around the body.

Feel free to ask any chooky related questions if you feel unsure.

Hi and welcome to lsb

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Gladys.

Cheers
Kate

LongRidge;308778 wrote: I guess that you know that if your chook was on your property, then you can charge the vet bill to the dog owner.

Um, it was one of my own dogs She was where she shouldn't be, as were the birds! It was just a really unfortunate accident.

Sue;308782 wrote: Hi and welcome the-menagarie and welcome to Chooks anonymous, you are not alone!

Your chook should be fine, they seem to heal with horrendous tears, even without vet assistance, so no doubt she has had antibiotic spray or dust in the wound too.

Just carry on as you are doing, offer her a bit of temmpting high protein food as well as her usual pellets. A bit of wet cat food, or mince or crumbled hard boiled egg wouldn't go amiss.

She probably doesn't need a heat pad, just a draught free, quiet place will do for a fully feathered chook in summer! She can have a peck around in the sunshine as long as other birds don't peck at her wound until it is healed properly.

The only danger is that the pressure of the dogs mouth hasn't caused internal damage or punctured the air sacs, which are extensions of the lungs just beneath the flesh around the body.

Feel free to ask any chooky related questions if you feel unsure.

It's really mild here tonight, so i will turn off the heat pad. I have got some dog roll for them, so will offer her some of that tomorrow for breakfast.
Will i need her to be fully healed before i can put her out with the others? Her and Doris are the 'top dogs' so will she return to that position?
And how will i know if any internal damage has been done?

Hello , I hope Gladys will be ok.. Will The others peek at her wound if you put her back with the rest?? Chook experts will know the best solution .

All the best

An update on Gladys - she survived the night, so it doesn't look like shock will kill her. I am surprised at the resilience of these birds! Both her and Doris laid eggs today! i thought they would have had a few days off given their terrifying experience yesterday.
Gladys is now set up in the laundry with her 'house' and a puppy pen so she has some space to move around. I have put some straw in the pen area, so she has something to scratch in. She is eating and drinking well. Loved the silverbeet i gave her for dinner!
Hopefully it will be warm enough that i can take her outside for a while tomorrow so she can have a scratch in the garden.
Will I have to wait for the wound to heal before i can put her back with the others?
I have a photo of her injury, but need to work out how to post it here.

Might be easier to do it this way
images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/43/124896443_full.jpg

Thats wonderful news . Im blown away also they laid eggs for you , They obviously take their jobs of egg layers very seriously []

I'd have to say the drainage tube is a bit excessive, and how does it drain upwards?!
The other birds would probably peck at that but leave the wound alone. So better not to let her in with them until it is removed
It looks fine and I have seen much worse tears that heal unstitched. As Gladys is top chook she will proably cope fine and if you could spray something bitter on it even better. Does she have to have stitches out or are they dissolving?

I would think another couple of days of TLC and she will be back to normal.

Invoicing yourself is a wee bit of a hassle. My dog just about got invoiced and despatched this morning after getting a bit enthusiastic with a daft lamb. He's now on his final, final, final ..... etc ..... last warning. He loves chooks but fortunately for him we don't have any.