My family really enjoys its fresh eggs, not to mention the entertainment factor from having a few chickens around. But by default, we do play it fast and loose, considering we also have 32 sled dogs within 50 yards of the hen house. Every once in a while, a free-ranging dog homes in on a free-ranging chicken, with the typical result being a very contented canine, on the one hand, and a pile of feathers on the other.
Yesterday, our most ferocious and unrepentant chicken killer, Adidas, bolted from the dog yard while our hens were out munching on grass and bugs (which makes their yolks turn the richest shade of yellow). For some reason, the stitching on Adidas’ collar gave out at that moment, and she ran over to the house.
At first, she was just happy to be over here, sniffing around. I went to get a new collar from the pole barn, but as I grabbed it I heard Bree yell, “NO ADIDAS!!” and I knew exactly what was up. She’d seen chicken. I sprinted up in time to see our white Brahman hen firmly in Adidas’ mouth. I assumed the chicken as dead, and even said it out loud. Chickens, being birds, will die if you so much as look at them the wrong way.
We commanded Adidas to drop the chicken, and after shaking it a bit, she actually did. I put a new collar on her and Bree and I watched the Brahman run off, to our surprise, trailing feathers as she turned the corner around the house.
Wherever she went to hide, she hid well. We couldn’t find her, and we had to go out for a July 4 picnic at the beach.
Long story short, the wounded bird was hanging out at the coop when we got home, looking pretty tattered on her left rear leg. Aside from puncture wounds, her skin was torn from her thigh in an arc up to her arm pit (wing pit?). So we broke out Bree’s sewing thread and scissors, and spent the late evening putting 14 stitches in the bird. We washed the wound generously with a mild Betadine solution.
-
- Bree and chicken
-
- stitched up chicken
The alternatives were to do nothing, or butcher her for the stew pot. But I’ve never had the need to stitch up an animal, and it could happen someday on the race trail. So the wounded chicken was an opportunity to practice. Besides, we like her.
The Brahman was a good sport while she got stitched up, even snapping at the buzzing mosquitoes as she rested in Bree’s arms while I tied up the wound.
It makes me realize that I need to look into basic suturing supplies for the future. I doubt standard black thread is ideal for tying up wounds on dogs (or people in wilderness situations, for that matter.)
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 6, 2008 at 7:53 am
Laurie
Too funny. At least they are your own chickens. Anvik, and Moose when he was alive, made a beeline across town to eat OTHER peoples’ chickens anytime they escaped. The first I realized huskies were chicken lovers was when I came home from school one day and there was a dead chicken in my driveway. I didn’t connect it to the dogs at first, as they were, by that time, back inside the fence, and silly me, thought they had gotten loose and spent the day running around the yard. Good dogs!! Not. (We did wonder if someone in town had taken up voodoo worship or something – weird). So I go to school the next day, and one of my students writes in his journal that morning that the day before, a dog had gotten into his chicken coop and eaten his mom’s favorite chicken, “Miss Hen.” Oops. Bad dogs!
How very resourceful to think to stitch her up. You’re right – it’s not like you can take a chicken to the vet. The only other solution would have been soup on Sunday. Hope she lives a long and happy life -
July 14, 2008 at 10:24 pm
kasilofmusher
UPDATE — Sadly, the Brahman didn’t make it. The wound quickly got infected and she died. On the bright side, we had four chicks hatch on the same day under another chicken.