Dog attack! Neck exposed...help!

[leeyuh]

Thanks for the advice everyone. We decided the best thing would be to put her out of her misery and cull her.

The vet said she would definitely need surgery and antibiotics. The infection risk is very high. The antibiotics would render her meat and eggs useless. And it would be "iffy". And it would cost $100 plus.

Her body cavity was not punctured at all, but there were some nerves in the neck that were damaged...one that controls eye movement and pupil dilation (which you can tell from watching her eyes) and one that controls swallowing. Although she drank a little bit of water for us, it looked like she was having trouble and didn't drink more than a teaspoon.

We can at least get meat from her if we act now. This will be my first chicken slaughter and I'm actually looking forward to learning how to do it.

Guess I need to change my signature!

 

[Snowygirl]

oh....

 

[Gersbud]

So very sorry that about your dog attack and the fact that you had to put her down. Hope your missing one comes back soon.

 

[leeyuh]

Actually, the missing one did come back! So we still have 5 laying hens, so that's not bad. we got 8, because we figured between dogs, raccoons, and hawks, we would loose a few. such is life i guess...i do feel a little wiser today for making the right decision.

When we plucked her, we realized there was a very infected puncture on her breast that we couldn't see earlier. Needless to say we didn't eat any of the meat...but I definitely feel like putting her out of her misery was for sure the right thing. Had her neck healed, the other infection would have gotten out of hand.

 

[CapricornFarm]

You probably made the right decision, though it is hard to do. Sorry it had to come to that, but I am glad she is not suffering any more.

 

[Daisy668]

Its ounds like she was in quite a bad state. Probably best for her. Very sorry to hear about it.
Daisy. xx