Air Filled Chick!!!!!!!!

[DrinkTheRainbow]

I NOTICED THAT WE HAD THIS REALLY FAT AND ADORABLE LOOKING CHICK!!!!

At first I thought it was just fat cute but then as it got older it got NASTY!!! It's wings got pushed off to the side (barely could flap) it's legs are pushed to the side soo bad that it waddles... Its head is stuffed with air too!!!! The side of its head (I think just the right side) is filled with air all the way down to its butt. You can't even see meat! It's just air and the crop is kind of hidden too! HELP!!!

 

[Mahonri]

Obviously we need pictures.

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

I wish I had pictures but my camera is missing its batteries...

It looks really fat though...

 

[hcppam]

search air in croop, here.

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

Okies

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

I looked but it really wasn't the same...

 

[Blue_Myst]

I did a quick search and did find something that sounds almost exactly like what your chick is going through.

It's called Air succulitis or subcutaneous emphysema . It causes the chicken to swell with air, even in the back of the head, and is caused by a ruptured air sac or injury that pierces deep into the body.

I'm afraid I can't tell you right out how to treat it without veterinary help, but I found this thread from BYC that shows how one member treated her chicken for this condition: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=171121&p=1

I hope this helps, even if it's just elimination other possibilities!

Please keep us posted on how she's doing!

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

I read that and I think it's really scary

I will ask my parents how she's doing as I stayed home to clean up today but she does free range so do you think that she could've gotten injured that way or something? Wouldn't it be harder to breathe after popping and airing them?

 

[Blue_Myst]

Quote:
I'm afraid I don't have many answers for you. The chicken has, I *think*, two abdominal air sacs, four air sacs around and behind the lungs, 2 in the neck, and one across the chest. One of them rupturing would be enough. I think the problem is that once you drain the air, the chicken still breaths, and so the air circulates into the punctured air sac and fills the cavity again. Hopefully someone will come along who knows a little more about this, and how to treat it!

It may not even be air at all. I would mention a fluid condition called ascites, but I think your chick is way to young to develop it.

She could have gotten injured, but I would think there would be other symptoms, too. A wound that deep would likely have become infected by now.

Good luck to your girl! I hope she pulls through for you!

 

[DrinkTheRainbow]

Thanks for all of your help!

I just hope that the chick would be able to live longer.