dog attack!

[golfdiva]

For the last couple of years,I guess I've been a "fair weather" forum member...all has been going well with my flock and I've only lurcked now and then. Well, now I got a question!

A dog attacked my flock a couple of hours ago. Fortunately, not much damage was done. A 3 yo barred rock hen got the most of it. She disappered for about an hour. When we finally found her, we saw she lost a bunch of feathers and has a big cut on her back. There wasn't any blood. I washed it with warm water and sprayed Pet Care liquid bandage on it. She seems worn out, but ok.

(Actual question coming now...) The cut looked like it went through the skin. But what is under the skin? It was smooth and light colored. Is this her muscle, or is there another layer of skin? The second layer was uninjured. Does she need the top layer stitched back together? (The cut is about 1/2 inche, clean edges, but does pull apart.)

Thanks!

[Evy]

She's lucky it's still too cold for flies. I assume the spray you used is an antibiotic. She'll be fine & you'll be amazed at how rapidly she'll heal.
What you were seeing is probably a layer of fat. I've had birds ripped open where you could see muscle. They recovered with no more care than antibiotic ointment & a few days isolation to prevent picking.
What about the dog? This was great fun & it'll be back. I hope your neighbors, or whoever owns it, knows you have a legal right to put a permanent end to its fun if you catch it again.

[Glenda L Heywood]

You may want to read the experience of Nathalie Ross on when her geese got torn up badly
Also if the skin ca be taken up by a few stiches or use some of those tuck strips that the medics put on in emergency room
with neosporum ointment
it will help it heal together
keep her seperated from other birds so they do not pick at her flesh
I will look up the Goose article of Nathalie Ross as she has a good article on wound care I posted in her behalf, when I read she had dogs kill and wound some of her geese
Glenda L Heywood
http://www.gkpet.com
click on pet forum

[threehorses]

I'm sorry to hear about the dog attack. I just hate that this happens to us poultry fanciers. But I agree that the dog will be back, and they often bring their buddies, so it's best to figure out how to protect your babies because unfortunately dog owners don't seem to want to try to help us by doing more to keep their dogs up. Especially once their dogs get the taste of attacking.

On the flies, I'd still be careful. You can actually get a spray at the feedstore that will protect the wound from flies. It only takes one to lay eggs and cause a mess. Thankfully, in cooler weather the larvae hatch/grow more slowly so you could clean them out and start over. "Swat" ointment (for horses, also at the feedstore) is readily available and also repels flies and would be good to pack that wound with.

Personally, when you check it next time, I would clean it out again (no hydrogen peroxide pls - just warm water possibly with enough iodine to make it tea colored) and pack it with antibiotic ointment. That way the antibacterial properties are working 24/7 so that you don't have to. The gap shouldn't be a problem really. I like glenda's idea of the little butterfly bandages. Also, flip away feathers that might droop into the wound. That makes it easier to keep clean. Good thing it's on her back! Also make sure and check that there aren't any other puncture wounds you didn't catch, especially towards her preening gland. Those are the tricky ones. If you find them, flush them out with iodine water, dry, and pack with antibiotic ointment.

Weird as it sounds, smell that wound daily. While sometimes it's hard to see infection, you can sure smell it. Wounds when 'ok' don't smell awesome -but they do have a sort of sweet non-nasty smell that (unfortunately) you will learn to recognize. But that's a good thing.

She'll probably be just fine. If things look worse, just say on the board and maybe we can help you figure it out from there. In the mean time, best-wishes and prayers heading your way. :)

Nathalie

[Glenda L Heywood]

Good to see Nathalie still checking topics onTPC
She is a good one to email with as she has had great experience as a vet tech and taking care of orphaned birds of all kinds

Also her telling you not to use hydregen porixide is great advise
they say use it once at most to clean a wound out BUT no more
As H peroxidedestroys new skin growth and you defeat your purpose

Also you may want to keep Nathalies" wound care" article for when you might need it again

Also on the note of flies laying eggs and maggots getting in a wound here is a good way to clean them out of the wpound
take and put honey generously on the maggot infested wound and they will all back out and die
then clean the wound up.

Some times people have setting hens which do not get their feathers cleaned up good in heat of setting in summer time
then the owner sees them with maggot infested bottoms.
use the honey on the maggots and then with warm water clean them up and put neosporum on the would.

Glenda L Heywood
http://www.gkpet.com
click on pet forum

[threehorses]

Thanks, Glenda. I had the other one set to notify me when someone said something, so I caught this one.

Another added bit of advice if you do have to clean out maggots.... If you can, it helps to do it at night under a red infared light if you're squeamish. You can see the wiggling, but it makes it not seem as gross. Tweezers, honey to flush it out, etc. You can even use screwworm sprays actually in the wounds - that's what they're there for. Depends on how deep the wound it (reading the label is advised).

I know when my geese were injured, I had one with a seepy wound. The old addage is "Dry wound, wet dressing. Wet wound, dry dressing." After packing his wounds necessarily with the ointment, I topped with a dry spray. It seeped, because it was healing, which drew flies. I bought the livestock wound spray and used on top. It neither distubed the dry dressing or underneath, bubbled a bit which made him fidgety, but it worked VERY very well. We have flies here all year long, so it was necessary. Not one issue with it and it was a very fly-attracting situation.

Anyway, just some more yucky but very helpful when needed info. :P

Nathalie

[tinag210]

I had a pheasant with a gaping wound one summer. No matter how often I tried cleaning it out fly maggots were a problem. Ended up going to the vet. He gave me some yellow horse ointment (not sure of the name & at work so cannot check). Told me to keep it packed on the wound and any maggots missed would be suffocated by the ointment. Worked great and bird was healed in no time.

[Evy]

I had a pheasant with a gaping wound one summer. No matter how often I tried cleaning it out fly maggots were a problem. Ended up going to the vet. He gave me some yellow horse ointment (not sure of the name & at work so cannot check). Told me to keep it packed on the wound and any maggots missed would be suffocated by the ointment. Worked great and bird was healed in no time.

Bag Balm...square, green tin, linament smell? Good stuff, including chapped hands.

[Bresis]

I'm sorry to hear of the attack! From the size of the cut I wouldn't bother with stitches. It's only 1/2 inch in length correct? The pale substance you saw was fat, it exists below the skin but above the muscle. On birds with similar injuries I've cleaned them out and put honey on the site. It worked :) Never underestimate the healing properties of living things I guess!

[threehorses]

I had a pheasant with a gaping wound one summer. No matter how often I tried cleaning it out fly maggots were a problem. Ended up going to the vet. He gave me some yellow horse ointment (not sure of the name & at work so cannot check). Told me to keep it packed on the wound and any maggots missed would be suffocated by the ointment. Worked great and bird was healed in no time.

Yellow ointment is nitrofurazone ointment if it's for horses. http://www.durvet.com/prods/NITROFURAZO ... Sheet.html (http://www.durvet.com/prods/NITROFURAZONE_224/DetailSheet.html) is one picture - use the info to google or find it at the feedstore.

It's great stuff for wounds.

And yes, it doesn't officially repel flies but nothing can live in that stuff. It's probably the quickest ointment I've ever used for wounds. It'll heal nearly anything. Incidentally I bought more of this when my geese were injured, but the tube of human stuff was easier for me to use one handed. :P

The spray I used to use was the same, awesome stuff, but there were problems with aerosolizing it and I can't find it anymore. Man, it was great!

Nathalie

[Evy]

I had a pheasant with a gaping wound one summer. No matter how often I tried cleaning it out fly maggots were a problem. Ended up going to the vet. He gave me some yellow horse ointment (not sure of the name & at work so cannot check). Told me to keep it packed on the wound and any maggots missed would be suffocated by the ointment. Worked great and bird was healed in no time.

Yellow ointment is nitrofurazone ointment if it's for horses. http://www.durvet.com/prods/NITROFURAZO ... Sheet.html (http://www.durvet.com/prods/NITROFURAZONE_224/DetailSheet.html) is one picture - use the info to google or find it at the feedstore.

It's great stuff for wounds.

And yes, it doesn't officially repel flies but nothing can live in that stuff. It's probably the quickest ointment I've ever used for wounds. It'll heal nearly anything. Incidentally I bought more of this when my geese were injured, but the tube of human stuff was easier for me to use one handed. :P

The spray I used to use was the same, awesome stuff, but there were problems with aerosolizing it and I can't find it anymore. Man, it was great!

Nathalie

Used to be able to get that in a ''puff bottle'' powder form. Haven't seen it in several years.

[tinag210]

Yes, it was nitrofurazone. It is great stuff. A little messy, but worked great. It was the middle of summer and I was at a loss on the fly/maggot problem. This not only took care of that, but helped the wound to heal quickly too. I now keep some on hand just in case of injuries.

[threehorses]

Evy wrote: Used to be able to get that in a ''puff bottle'' powder form. Haven't seen it in several years.

I ended up getting a wound powder in a puff bottle this time, but hated it. It really was impossible to get into the areas I wanted. The spray wound dressings commonly used for livestock now are all way less powdery. The Furox (nitrofurazone) spray sprayed wet and dried into a powder. Awesome for catching some seepage and drying it up to make it less attractive to flies. Ahhhh alas. Maybe I'll find it online somewhere. I'd order it!

Nathalie

[golfdiva]

Thank you all for your helpful replies! I have not been ignoring you. Right after I posted, I updated my email address in my profile. My account was immediately de-activated! I finally emailed Tim today, and just got re-actived a few minutes ago! (Thanks Tim!)

Anywho here is the update:

The hen is doing fine! She has a bald spot but her skin is healing up fine! It is too cold for flies -it still gets below freezing at night- so that hasn't been a problem! Thank goodness!

The other girls aren't pecking at her, she is eating etc. just fine. However Rooster, in his typical male "sensitivity" (grin, ducking and running :twisted: ) is still mating with her! That must smart!

Thanks all again!~

[daisyduck42]

We had a pesky Jack Russell neighbors GF's dog grrrrrrrr.When We first started our ducks.I got up one morning to find 14 dead ducks just laying.Runners and Pekins we bought from hatchery and they arent exactly cheap.We finaly figured out the culprit! Glad she left with that dog even after hubby shot the thing twice with his 22 it lived.But apparantly he had gotten one that lived.Her back was really bad.I sprayed antibacterial on it kept her bandaged and warm for about 3 weeks she did good. I think the only thing that saved her was cold out.So the flies didnt get on her.We had to put 2 other's down in the process of finding out what was getting them.NY day O7 we came home around 3 there was that dog dragging one of my ducks up the hill!Hubby had to put the duck down as well grrrrrrrrr so bad.It's gettin harder and harder to have anything!Gettin too suburanized out here too much traffic and stuff.Looks like We may be moving anyway just hope I can find good homes for all my bird's.Im sure if you put the bird up keep her warm and dry and try Lanacaine ANTIBACTERIAL spray on her once a day she should recoup.Get some MACE for those dogs or call animal control if you have lease law!

[Evy]

.Get some MACE for those dogs or call animal control if you have lease law!

Were your birds contained / protected & the dog managed to get in ? It's YOUR responsibility to protect your birds from the natural instincts of predators. If you've done YOUR best to keep them safe, then you have the right to be angry & take action against the animal & owner.

[ultasol]

If you are easily nauseated or grossed out, it might be best to do something to prevent the maggots from climbing up your arm.

I remember growing up my parents had a hen that was broody in the heat of summer. Since they wanted them to hatch and she had never been reliably broody before, she was let be as much as possible. Not sure what happened, but one day my mom walked in retching and told me that she was covered in maggots.

I brought her in and found a sore on her bottom covered in the wee beasties. While cleaning her up they were racing up my arms, down my legs, down my shirt. I never knew they could move so quickly! I ended up finding maggots in my hair later.


Also, curious, you know why maggots leave a wound covered in honey? Is it lack of oxygen/being smothered? If so, might an oil work?

[Glenda L Heywood]

It might well work we always used honey and it ran into the vent also
honey does have healing powers
but you can try oil if enough stayed on the maggots and wound
Glenda L Heywood
http://www.gkpet.com
click on pet forum for articles

[golfdiva]

Just an update, the hen seems to be fine, but she does stay in the coop a lot more than the other chickens. We haven't seen the dog again, so I don't know what happened with it!