I have had writer’s block recently and haven’t known what to write about. So I decided to try to move past that by writing about what happened to my chicken, and what I learned!
Dog Attack
My parents came to visit for a month with their two dogs. One of them, a little Boston Terrier named Willow, is a super sweet super snuggly little thing. We love her. She was doing great getting along with the kids and my dogs and was even listening while she was out in the yard. She must have been out with us and then when we went inside, no one noticed that she was out.
Travis saw her through the kitchen window and let her in. She jumped on my dad’s lap and her face was covered in blood. After a quick check we realized- it wasn’t her blood.
So I jumped up and ran outside and did a head count. Sure enough- two of my favorite chickens were missing. Both named, both friendly and love: Sofia and Bella. We called and searched. We found evidence of each chicken’s struggle in the form of feathers all over the yard. No sign of either one.
I was upset but that was life with chickens. Dog attacks happen. I locked everyone up for the night and left the yard of the coop open in case anyone came home.
The Chicken Returns
The next morning was when Dexter was at his worse. I spent so long with him that I was running very late. I went outside to let the chickens out for the day and Sofia was there, trying to get inside the coop! I grabbed her and saw that she was bloody on her back end so I literally opened the door to what we call the brooder room, an extension of the shop, and threw her in with nothing else.
I went to work for a half day and came home after and went to go check on her. She was missing what looked like half her body. She had lost her tail and all the flesh on her back. I could see the muscles of her rectum/cloaca moving. It looked horrible.
I knew I needed to euthanize her, but I was euthanizing Dexter that night and just didn’t have it in me. So I cleaned her up and sprayed her with some Alu-spray. We set up a pen for her in the Brooder room, filled it with straw, got her some food and water and let her be.
Benign Neglect
Over the next couple days I would check on her, trying to keep her comfortable until the weekend when we could put her down. But by mid week she was doing pretty well. She was flying around out of her pen, she was roosting, she was eating and drinking, and she seemed happy. I started to wonder if I could save her.
I picked up more supplies and ordered some oral antibiotics. I started giving her her meds twice a day, keeping her clean, and putting antibiotic spray on the area. She developed an infection in a puncture wound I had missed. I brought her inside, cut all her feathers off in a huge area, and cleaned and sprayed over and over. We kept giving her her antibiotics.
The antibiotics started to make her stressed. I could see her going downhill again. She stopped eating as much, she was losing weight, she wasn’t as bright and lively. I thought we would have to call it quits. I went outside on a Saturday morning and she had a huge prolapse. Her entire cloaca was essentially inside out.
Stuck Egg!
A few hours later I grabbed her and brought her inside. I started by cleaning her up in the sink, and then I went to push the prolapse back in. Turns out there was an egg stuck there. I was able to push the egg and the prolapse back in but then she would try to lay the egg and push everything back out again.
I tried again and again to manipulate the egg and the prolapse, turning the egg, trying to get the muscle around it, everything I could think of. After an hour we decided we probably needed to drill a hole in the egg and drain it to get it out. There was one problem though- it had snowed the night before and we needed to get the snow off the driveway before we could go to Ace and buy what we needed.
So Travis went off to snow blow the driveway and I stayed inside and kept working on Sofia. I let her soak in the sink in warm water with a laundry basket over her to keep her from flying while I got the kids lunch and then down for a nap. I had watched a video of a lady that got a stuck egg out with the chicken on its side, so I soon had her wrapped in a towel on her side trying to get the egg out. I kept alternating between soaking and manipulating the egg getting more and more frustrated.
Finally I decided to push everything in, stand her up, and let her push the egg out while I pushed the prolapse in. Sure enough, with me putting pressure inside and her pushing against me she was able to shoot the egg out onto the floor!
I think we were both so relieved. I could literally just imagine what she felt like. I pushed everything back in and dried her off and brought her outside to sit in a bin by the fire in the shop until she dried off. Then we moved her back into the brooder room to watch her.
Sick Bay Round Two
I think the antibiotics had caused more stress and diarrhea which is the perfect combination for a prolapse. So I stopped the antibiotics and I actually took away her layer pellets and she only had access to water, corn and oyster shells for extra calcium. She sat in there for another week and I checked on her daily – no more prolapse.
After another week inside and about 3 weeks since she got attacked I let her out. That day I let her out when everyone was free-ranging. She wasn’t welcomed back right away, it probably took another week. They would yell at her and she was alone a lot, often hiding under the coop. I didn’t know if she was laying but she wasn’t prolapsing so I left her alone to figure it out.
Back with the Gang
These days shes back in the flock. She seems to be accepted and getting along. She runs around the yard and eats and comes when called. Shes still friendly and happy, she just has no tail! I don’t know if the tail will grow back some day or if it is gone for good.
A couple of times we have found an egg in the coop with a soft shell. It’s essentially just a sac of liquid with no hard covering. We suspect it is from her. I’m continuing to keep an eye on her but shes still acting normal. Yesterday I found another malformed egg but this time it had a bit of a shell on it! I think she is starting to form eggs again- and she is still not prolapsing.
I learned a lot from this chicken and it absolutely reminded me why I became a vet in the first place. I am so happy we were able to save her. The skills I learned from this one chicken will help me in the future as I care for this little backyard flock of mine!
Willow is so happy that she is doing well. ❤️