Baby chick injury

huntingirl said:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/healing-a-severely-injured-baby-chick I found it!!!!!!! Follow her instructions and PM her for guidance. The admin @sumi had the same problem and her chick lived. YOU CAN HELP HER!! DO NOT PUT THAT SWEET DARLING DOWN PLEASE!!!!!!!

and ITS NOT YOUR FAULT! Your doing what you can an you couldn't of stopped her from doing that! Have faith in yourself! Do what you can to help her! Best of luck and many prayers!

Click to expand...

sumi said:

Hey, huntingirl told me about this, so came over to have a look. The article she linked for you above has some really good info in and pics, please do have a look there. I'm sure you feel bad that this happened, but I had a look at the pic you posted and I think that chick will be o.k. with some treatments and can make a full recovery. If you're up to it! First you need calm down and get to work on her. When the same thing happened to a pullet I had years ago (she got scalped BAD by a mongoose), we dabbed some antibiotic cream on the area and left it open. So I would say start with antibiotic cream or ointment (one with NO painkiller added) and then try and keep those little claws off it. I think in this case I may consider trimming those claws a little, if she reinsures herself. As for separating her, unless the other chick pecks at her wound, you can keep her in the brooder and just keep an eye on the wound. We kept my pullet separate from the flock for about 2 days only, before she wanted out, so we let her free range with them. She was fine! She made a full recovery though she had a bit of a bald spot on the back of her head. Here's a pic of her some months after the incident

Click to expand...

azygous said:

Scratching her head with her feet is a symptom of pain. She's instinctively trying to rid her head of what's causing her discomfort. This is extremely temporary. Don't worry about it. She won't hurt the wound at this stage. After 24 to 48 hours, she won't be having any further pain. Right now, though, you can give her a half a baby aspirin, or a quarter baby aspirin twice a day. That should relieve her pain and she should be more comfortable and not want to scratch it. As much, anyway.

Don't try to get all the dried blood off. Just keep cleaning the wound twice a day, very gently, with soap and warm water, the objective being to flush out any newly accumulated bacteria before it has a chance to take hold, then coat it with the antiseptic ointment. Another terrific product I didn't have when I treated my injured chick is Veterycin. It's a spray or gel that encourages tissue replacement. Spray some on after you clean the wound and then smear on the ointment.

You can find Veterycin in the feed store or Walmart where the pet first aid products are.

Keep her with her brooder mate. It helps overall to keep her as calm as possible. Stress inhibits healing.

I just thought of something else. If her brooder mate is picking at the wounded chick's head, use Blue Lotion on it to help disguise the red tissue. I usually spray on Veterycin, then Blue Lotion, let that dry, then put on the ointment. As long as the wound isn't red, the other chick may do no more than taste the ointment, then she'll quickly lose interest.

Click to expand...