Injured chick gasping

Date sort Score sort
Neverdone

Neverdone

In the Brooder
Sep 7, 2015
21
1
24
Cahokia IL
My little RIR chick (feathered, about 2 or 3 months old I guess) has one injured leg. She lays with it straight behind her. I cant feel a break or any warmth over a particular area. There is no visible injury at all. She's been in a birdcage since I noticed. She is not moving much, but is doing a gasp type thing and resting with her eyes closed. When she gasps, she stretches out her neck. None of my other 20 chickens are having any problems. Is the gasping from the stress of the injury? Or does this sound like an illness? I'm terrified of gapeworm! She eats fruit/ veggies, but doesn't seem interested in chicken feed, and I havent seen her drink, so I gave her some water in a dropper.
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
Thanks so much for the info. I called the store, and their chicks ARE vaccinated for Mareks. The leg injury came first, then the gasping. I thought maybe the pain would make her do that.....
 
It is possible that she would be gasping from the pain, but usually that is from severe acute pain. Birds are really tough when it comes to pain tolerance.
 
Last edited:
I looked at the diseases and their symptoms, but none match up. She's not GASPING gasping, just stretching her neck a little and opening her mouth. She's eating, went crazy over some grapes and cheese, and drank drops of water out of my hand. There's nothing I can hear when she's breathing,no rattling or anything, her eyes & nostrils are clear, no discharge.
She CAN move her hurt leg, but she's keeping her toes curled up. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I thought I would be able to feel if something was broken/ not in the right place....I've had chickens for a few years and this is my very first injury/illness/concern. I've been very fortunate so far to have super sturdy, unstoppable birds.
Anyway, if something were dislocated, would there be heat/redness or some sign? I wish I knew some chicken people around here, but there's only one and he is the waitandseeandthenputitdown type.
 
Start her on some poultry vitamins that include riboflavin (vitamin B2) since that can caused curled toe paralysis. That also can be a sign of Mareks. It's rare that farm stores get vaccinated chicks because of the extra cost, but yours may well have been. Make sure that she can lie down and reach her food and water. Confining to a crate or basket to force her to rest her leg would help.
 
I took her to the vet this morning. The vet said she had badly twisted her leg, that her patella slides around some. Eek. As a result of being sedentary, she developed a respiratory infection in her left lung (but this was not something contagious), which is the same side as her injury.
Little Helen is on an antibiotic, and of course has her own bird cage to be kept separate, and will be inside at night.
I have all the chickens on some probiotic stuff added to their water, and now extra vitamins for everyone.
Thank you for your help!
 

Similar threads

H
9wk cream legbar wheezing and gasping
2
Replies
10
Views
667
n8ivetxn
n8ivetxn
K
Cinnamon Queen gasping
2
Replies
16
Views
2K
Joyce S
J
P
Is this gapeworm?
Replies
1
Views
846
Wyorp Rock
Wyorp Rock
S
Chick cant stand normal
Replies
3
Views
178
Wyorp Rock
Wyorp Rock
T
Injured Brahma, severe limp
Replies
1
Views
185
Eggcessive
Eggcessive

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom