4ish month old hen rescued from mouth of Great Pyrenees advice needed. New to chickens. Please help

Hey all. Grateful for any good advice you can give. Young Buff hen taken from the mouth of a Great Pyrenees about 15 min ago. Acting a bit schock-ey. Found one small puncture wound on her side but she is missing a bunch of feathers from her rear quarter area. Can't not yet see any other visual indications of injuries , as far as I can tell wings seem okay, but she is very quiet. Tried putting her back in the coo-p and she did not even have the strength to hop up on a very low perch. Currently have her in a dog carrier on a bunch of clean straw with a water bowl available. She is just shoving her self in the corner. I feel so bad and am new to chickens and more ignorant than I would like. How can she be best helped?

I think you're doing the right thing keeping her separate from the other chickens.  Just let her be quiet; if she's going to recover, she will.  If not, there's nothing you can really do except provide for her quiet comfort.  Chickens are tremendously tough, so she may recover.

My daughter had something similar happen. She separated the injured hen from the others. She kept it inside and warm. She lived and is laying eggs again. As for great pry, how old is it and was it trained to guard chickens. Unless trained with stock they are not reliable. If well trained they will die for their flock. I belong to a Facebook Akbash Dogs group. Groups exist for GPs as well. Members are knowledgeable and respond quickly.

Barbara Clowers wrote:My daughter had something similar happen. She separated the injured hen from the others. She kept it inside and warm. She lived and is laying eggs again. As for great pry, how old is it and was it trained to guard chickens. Unless trained with stock they are not reliable. If well trained they will die for their flock. I belong to a Facebook Akbash Dogs group. Groups exist for GPs as well. Members are knowledgeable and respond quickly.

Thank you, Barbara. She was given her own little apartment (not far from me -in order to check on her). Treated the wounds with a veterinary spray, and gave her electrolyte water. Held her and petted her and talked to her til she was warm and comfortable and no longer in shock-she even fell asleep! Keeping an eye on her and waiting til she's 100 percent to go back to her fllock. The GP is fiercely loyal to his goats and people but was not trained to guard chickens and can not be trusted with them. This has happened on occasion in the past before they became mine but it didn't end well as no one was around to catch him in the act. The chickens sometimes wonder into his paddocks. Fortunately, as we have bonded, he dropped her on stern voice commands. Planning to get my own pups soon and train them to protect all the livestock.

How is she doing today?

Looks like you are giving her good care.  

The only real challenge now is avoiding depression.  That's our number one killer in our flock.  We've had hens loose eyes and half a chest (with the lungs poking out through the visible rib cage - way ickier than it sounds) and they came through fine.  Others stub their toe and keel over because they get depressed.

Do you have a companion chicken that would keep her company?  Occasionally we get a chicken that has sympathy for others instead of trying to eat them like a normal chicken would.  They seem to treat injured chickens like they would chicks - get them eating, keep them happy, keep them warm.  These are usually chickens that have suffered some injury themselves in the past.

If no companion chicken, keeping her near the flock (so she can hear them) or near you so she can see and hear you, while she recovered will make a huge difference to how well she does.  

Please keep us up to date.  So glad you were able to save her.  Training your own chicken guardian from a puppy sounds like a lot of fun.  I think it's wonderful that your dog respects you enough to obey the drop command - I know so many dogs who don't consider the human the pack leader and that would make things much more difficult.  You're doing a great job!

R Ranson wrote:How is she doing today?

Looks like you are giving her good care.  

The only real challenge now is avoiding depression.  That's our number one killer in our flock.  We've had hens loose eyes and half a chest (with the lungs poking out through the visible rib cage - way ickier than it sounds) and they came through fine.  Others stub their toe and keel over because they get depressed.

Do you have a companion chicken that would keep her company?  Occasionally we get a chicken that has sympathy for others instead of trying to eat them like a normal chicken would.  They seem to treat injured chickens like they would chicks - get them eating, keep them happy, keep them warm.  These are usually chickens that have suffered some injury themselves in the past.

If no companion chicken, keeping her near the flock (so she can hear them) or near you so she can see and hear you, while she recovered will make a huge difference to how well she does.  

Please keep us up to date.  So glad you were able to save her.  Training your own chicken guardian from a puppy sounds like a lot of fun.  I think it's wonderful that your dog respects you enough to obey the drop command - I know so many dogs who don't consider the human the pack leader and that would make things much more difficult.  You're doing a great job!

R. Ranson,

Thank you very much for the encouragement. Being raised in suburbia makes one wonder if some of the compassion for one's newly acquired farm animals is a misdirected desire for more pets, but compassion for the hurting  is alright. All the hens were part of the same lot and I removed her because the few around her made me nervous. She was in our room in a dog carrier last night. May just bring her back in tonight. Had her in a big carrier where she could hear the flock today. Will indeed keep you posted. Thank you again.

How is the hen?  Did she make it?