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My dog just had a go at one of the chickens, leaving her limping and with a bit of a sore patch on her belly. I've enclosed her now with water and food but she is unwilling to move and is mainly sleeping. Any thoughts from more experienced chicken keepers? Is this sleeping just a recovery mechanism? Any signs I should look out for that she is in a 'bad way'? She lets me touch and move her leg without protest so I don't think it is too bad. Maybe it is just shock?

Many thanks!

I'm definitely NOT an expert but from previous experience she will likely be shocked and be quiet for a while. Keep her warm and away from any predators and see how things are in the morning.

I hope she recovers :)

I would leave her for a while and see how she goes. she is probably very stressed out and a bit bruised and sore. If she is not showing any improvement by tommorow, I would take her to the vet. Most likely all she needs is a bit of love and plenty of rest. :-)

I have heard that there are those who've had great success with a few drops of "Rescue Remedy " in the hen's water - put her in a pen on her own (but in earshot of the other birds), and let her rest!

I hope she will be all right.

thank you all for your posts - it helped put my mind at rest. She is far better this morning. She's actually putting the very tip of her claw on the ground as she limps instead of simply hopping. And has no problem at all holding her own in fights over food! No lack of appetite that's for sure!

That's good news!

Hi Burek
That does sound like good news. I hope she's OK.

Zoe

Glad to hear that she's improving

Hi, keep an eye on the site of the attach as it might become infected. If so, try cleaning it and you could use something like savlon or see if you can get a Terramycin/Alamycin spray ("purple spray") from your vet to clean and protect it. About £6-8 per can. Useful to have about the place anyway. How's she doing?

Thanks for the tip Tigerhair (sorry - I've not been online for days - spend every spare minute weeding the veg garden grrrrrrr).

She is doing loads better. She had a few days of just resting - either indoors in the henhouse or in nice shady patches under trees. She is still hopping and limping (not at the same time of course!) but seems fine, is eating and laying well, and there's no deterioration of the sore patch. So far so good.

Don't know what we can do about the whole dog vs chickens issue tbh. The chickens are free range and really make a fuss if we keep them enclosed for too long (they have a large enclosure for when we are out all day). And the dog lives outside (chained on a very very long wire run). We can't stop the dog wanting to snack on a chicken. And clearly the chickens keep forgetting the range of the dog's chain So all we can do is keep a close eye on them, I suppose. Sigh.

Just realised you're in bosnia!!! I might wake up eventually in this life!

Glad chicken is going OK - and I have no sympathy with you about the weeding as I am doing it too!

I suggest some training with your dog - however, one of mine has the urge to kill too. Perhaps it's something that cannot be trained out of him? I wonder if a fenced off area would be better than a chain, but either way a good walk is essential... not for the chickens!!

Good luck