Carnage on Home Turf - Hens Attacked by Dogs!

Notice Buff's feathers in mouth!

Last Thursday, about 7.30p my husband & I returned home from dinner to hear one of the hens "screaming" in the back yard. We both ran to the backyard where we discovered 2 dogs had been tearing our hens apart. The one large dog had Buff in its mouth, the other smaller dog was in the middle of the yard. The big dog dropped Buff and took off out of the yard as my husband tried to chase it down. I cornered the smaller dog (who had feathers in its mouth) and restrained it so it could no longer harm the hens. My husband tracked down the dog to a home 2 doors down and confronted the owners. I called my neighbor and asked her to call animal control; she then came over to see if she could help out.

 A short while later 2 gals came looking for the smaller dog, which we still had restrained on our property. Eventually the smaller dog was released to the owner who was warned to keep both dogs in their own yard. (incidently, the dogs has been in my back yard the previous Saturday, as I found out later by another neighbor; the nearby gas station had also notified these people that their dogs were loose!)



all of Buff's tail-feathers

When I was able, I checked on Buff - she was on her back, barely breathing, her neck appeared to be broken and I knew there was nothing I could do for her. My husband was able to get Daisy - who was huddled in a far corner of the yard - and put her in the coop. We could not find Red and assumed she was also dead. There were feathers EVERYWHERE; from the locations of the piles of feathers, it was evident that Buff had been chased and caught in 6 different locations around the yard. There were 2 piles of feathers from Daisy in the yard in close proximity to each other. **Keep in mind that the hens have free run of the (fenced) back yard - aprox 4500sf **




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Daisy all bandaged up



The three of us roamed the property looking for Red - who eventually came out of hiding from underneath the steps of our back deck. She was visibly shaken and upset, but appeared unharmed. We put her in the coop and scooped up Daisy. We brought her into the house and my neighbor and I started cleaning her up and tending to her wounds. She had large patches where her feathers had been ripped out and a large open gash - about the size of a 50cent piece - on her back between her wings. By this time is was after 9.30p; I told my husband to go out and "take care of Buff". If she was still alive, I did not want her to suffer any more than she already had. He grabbed a shovel and headed back to where the hen had been. He came back about 15 minutes laster and said he couldn't find Buff! Oh, hell... We did all we could for Daisy and put her back in the coop with Red. Again, the 3 of us grabbed flashlights and searched the back yard in the pouring rain for the missing hen. After 10 minutes, my neighbor left for home and said she would check back in the morning to get an update on the 2 remaining hens.

I was devastated - 1 hen dead, 1 hen badly wounded... I went back outside to search the property again for Buff. At this point I assumed an animal had taken her (owl, or Raccoon) and she was better off. As I headed back to the house in tears, I happened to look over at a storage tote against the house and walked over to see if maybe...

my poor hen so badly injured!

HOLY S#1T!!!! Somehow Buff had managed to upright herself, and get around the other side of the house (aprox 45') and wedge herself in this 5" space between the house and the tote. I  ran back into the house and yelled at my husband I had found her! She was in terrible shock and SO badly injured, but after being brought into the house and given a chance to warm up and calm down, she was able to stand and walk a bit. The puncture wounds, scrapes and cuts on her back were filled with dirt and debris, and she had a gaping hole in her neck where the dog had grabbed her. I was up until after 11pm tending to her and getting her cleaned up best I could. She was missing about 30% of her feathers and I was preparing myself to find her dead the next morning.



gash on Buff's neck





I turned on the heat lamp and tucked the hens in for the night, knowing that there was a very good chance I would only have 1 surviving hen the next morning.



Every day has been touch-and-go; the hens are on antibiotics and vitamin/electrolites. The first couple days were really rough and I was shocked Buff and Daisy were still alive. Red immediately became the protector and would stand guard while the other two hens rested. Friday morning, I even got a egg! It was extremely fragile, but at least those parts were still working! Once they made it thru the weekend it seemed they were doing better - at leat they were eating, drinking and pooing!

1st egg after attack (laid Friday morning)

They continue to get better day-by-day, although Buff's feet appear swollen and may be hurting her. I'm not really sure what to do about that. I put ramps in the coop so the hens would not have to jump up and down over the center divider but I'm not sure that's helping. The punctures and gashes on both hens are healing, although Buff is pulling the scabs off her back. I'm going to have to Neosporin her again...

Amazingly, all 3 hens are laying... sporadicly, but still laying! As the hens are on antibiotics, the eggs are not to be consumed so it is unfortunate that they go to waste.

Will keep you posted on their recovery.

~GP