4 old chick with a very swollen comb??

[Codilynn]

I helped this little guy out of his shell after being stuck for around 12 hrs. He walks leaned to the side which causes him to walk in circles mostly. But he still gets around and fights for food just like the rest. We have never had a chick look or act like this. Any suggestions? He's also a lot smaller than the rest of the group he hatched out with.

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[Codilynn]

 

[enola]

Looks like a rooster comb to me.

 

[Codilynn]

I can tell the difference in the "rooster chicks" and the hens. They should not be this pronounced at this age. It looks swollen to the point of popping! There are other roosters in this group but they don't look anything like him.

 

[Lilacs7Hens]

Hi Codilyn,

I've not seen this before but have a couple of thoughts from my biology background.

It may be either trauma from trying to break free of the shell or fluid retention from being slightly premature (underdeveloped).

For trauma you can try soaking in salt water or chamomile (i.e. tea)

For fluid retention dandelion is a medicinal herb that acts as a diuretic. You probably don't want to feed that to a young bird so you may try grinding up the leaves and soaking them in warm water to make a soak to apply with a cotton bal

Also you could try petting his weak side to stimulate blood flow and hopefully muscle development to normalize his movement for better overall bodily fluid flushing. I'm not sure if there's training or exercises to strengthen him I know you can train a chicken to a clicker and the trainers for the movies do that with animals that star in films. You'll have to research online. One movie that used a lot of birds was 'Evan Almighty' they had a trailer on the DVD that talked about the animal training and gave the trainer's names. He may need PT (physical therapy).

Hope something works to help you out. If this does not clear up soon you might want to get a vet's opinion. Good luck.

 

[Codilynn]

Thank you!