Hey Guys!
I didn't want to post this on the emergencies thread because I'm not sure that it is one, but I'm pretty worried and would love some troubleshooting help from folks who have raised lots of babies. This is my second batch of chicks, and I'm pretty well read on chicken care and health issues, but this one has me stumped. I'm going to give as much information as possible just in case something rings a bell with someone.
Ruth is a 6 day old Salmon Favorelles chick. She was ordered from My Pet Chicken, vaccinated for Mareks, on medicated starter crumbles, in a brooder with heat lamp with 6 other chicks of mixed breeds. They have had water with Nutri-Drench one day, water with Save-A-Chick electrolytes another day, and always free choice plain water when I offer supplemented water as well.
The first day they arrived, her little eye was swollen shut. I've experienced this before with chicks of her breed because they are so light in color and tend to get their eyes pecked at. I assumed this was the case with her. It looked a little infected so every day I have held a warm wet compress to it, and applied terramycin eye ointment.
She is eating, drinking and pooping just fine. She has grown since her arrival.
Last night I noticed when holding her for the evening pasty butt check that she has a swollen area on her lower abdomen. She has not been pasted up a single time, and I am 100% certain that this is not her crop, which is filling and emptying daily. It is however on the same side of her body (right) as her crop. It is roughly an inch around, round, and feels fluid-like. If I part the down and look at the skin it looks a little more pink than usual. This morning it seems to have gotten a bit larger than it was last night, which has me worried.
Here are all the possible options I can think of:
1. Ascites? It seems like if this were the case the swollen area would be more gradual and the entire abdominal area extending to the vent would be swollen, which it is not.
2. Infected area of egg yolk absorbtion? I know this happens, but I don't know what the symptoms are- and I wouldn't think her GI tract would be acting normal if this was the case...
3. Punctured bowel/going septic? They are on pine shavings covered with paper towels, I usually take off a layer of paper towel a day until they are a week and a half at which time I let them be on the shavings, but they had managed to scratch up the paper towels at the corner of the brooder and were digging in the pine shavings and eating some when I came home from work Thursday. Could she have eaten a shaving and punctured a bowel as it moved through?
4. Infection related to her eye problem? I just assumed her eye got pecked- I didn't see it. The swollen abdominal area is on the same side as the injured eye. Could it be something systemic?
5. Cyst???
That's all I can think of. She seems well, but if this is going to be a problem and keep growing, I'd like to figure out if I can do something to help her. If there is some sort of infection, I wouldn't know where to start as far as which antibiotic would be effective (and I don't like to throw antibiotics blindly at something not knowing what it is).
I'm at a loss.
I can post a picture of the little sweet pea, but the swollen area is not large enough to show up in a picture yet- it's just very noticible by touch.
I would love some ideas if anyone has any!
Thanks!
Andrea
I didn't want to post this on the emergencies thread because I'm not sure that it is one, but I'm pretty worried and would love some troubleshooting help from folks who have raised lots of babies. This is my second batch of chicks, and I'm pretty well read on chicken care and health issues, but this one has me stumped. I'm going to give as much information as possible just in case something rings a bell with someone.
Ruth is a 6 day old Salmon Favorelles chick. She was ordered from My Pet Chicken, vaccinated for Mareks, on medicated starter crumbles, in a brooder with heat lamp with 6 other chicks of mixed breeds. They have had water with Nutri-Drench one day, water with Save-A-Chick electrolytes another day, and always free choice plain water when I offer supplemented water as well.
The first day they arrived, her little eye was swollen shut. I've experienced this before with chicks of her breed because they are so light in color and tend to get their eyes pecked at. I assumed this was the case with her. It looked a little infected so every day I have held a warm wet compress to it, and applied terramycin eye ointment.
She is eating, drinking and pooping just fine. She has grown since her arrival.
Last night I noticed when holding her for the evening pasty butt check that she has a swollen area on her lower abdomen. She has not been pasted up a single time, and I am 100% certain that this is not her crop, which is filling and emptying daily. It is however on the same side of her body (right) as her crop. It is roughly an inch around, round, and feels fluid-like. If I part the down and look at the skin it looks a little more pink than usual. This morning it seems to have gotten a bit larger than it was last night, which has me worried.
Here are all the possible options I can think of:
1. Ascites? It seems like if this were the case the swollen area would be more gradual and the entire abdominal area extending to the vent would be swollen, which it is not.
2. Infected area of egg yolk absorbtion? I know this happens, but I don't know what the symptoms are- and I wouldn't think her GI tract would be acting normal if this was the case...
3. Punctured bowel/going septic? They are on pine shavings covered with paper towels, I usually take off a layer of paper towel a day until they are a week and a half at which time I let them be on the shavings, but they had managed to scratch up the paper towels at the corner of the brooder and were digging in the pine shavings and eating some when I came home from work Thursday. Could she have eaten a shaving and punctured a bowel as it moved through?
4. Infection related to her eye problem? I just assumed her eye got pecked- I didn't see it. The swollen abdominal area is on the same side as the injured eye. Could it be something systemic?
5. Cyst???
That's all I can think of. She seems well, but if this is going to be a problem and keep growing, I'd like to figure out if I can do something to help her. If there is some sort of infection, I wouldn't know where to start as far as which antibiotic would be effective (and I don't like to throw antibiotics blindly at something not knowing what it is).
I'm at a loss.
I can post a picture of the little sweet pea, but the swollen area is not large enough to show up in a picture yet- it's just very noticible by touch.
I would love some ideas if anyone has any!
Thanks!
Andrea
