Araucauna/Americauna Chicks side under wing is full of air????

Date sort Score sort
Tandera

Tandera

Hatching
10 Years
Jul 24, 2009
3
0
7
I have a young approx 1 month old Americauna chick. This afternoon she looked a bit scruffy so I caught her up and she is all puffy. Seems to be on R side only, under wing. You can see thru the skin to the muscle underneath. It is full of appears to be air or if not air then very clear fluid but it feels like air to the touch to me.
Her crop was full and is gradually getting smaller thru the evening. Poop appears normal. She does not feel good.
Can anyone help??
 
This really sounds like an air sac inflating. Airsac inflation can be caused by an injury to the airsac, or an infection causing inflation of the airsac.

Sometimes the infection is respiratory and spreads to the air sac, or sometimes it's environmental.

First thing I would do would be make good and sure that all their bedding, etc, is very clean, free of droppings, dry and fluffy. It sounds like the thoracic air sac. From front to back, is it somewhere between where the wing connects to the body and the middle of the spot under the wing?

Without being able to tell what exactly is causing the air sac inflation, you can actually deflate it daily while you try to determine a cause. Clean the area with iodine and water or alcohol. Use a hypodermic needle, prick the air-blister and pull air out. Repeat for a couple of days and let us know if it gets LESS inflated daily.

In the mean time, we need to figure out what happened. Any chance of an injury there? Any signs at all of respiratory illness?

When you say she's puffy, do you mean all her feathers are ruffled? Or just that area?

I would wonder if she doesn't have a systemic infection that is manifesting itself through the inflation of this air sac.

But your answers to the questions about will greatly help us go further from here, so I look forward to your reply. Thanks!
 
Thank you for your responses. After reading several items talking about deflating chicks I figured it was worth a try. I am a vet tech and have dogs and horses so I have supplies. I used a 25g needle and deflated most of the areas late Wed night after sending my original post. I isolated the chick in a box with chick starter and water with vit/elec. She was still alive and a bit better in the AM. She had not reinflated so I got another sterile needle and got the rest of the air out. Her crop was empty so it is working. This AM she had not reinflated was brighter and had food in her crop. I released her to wonder around with her sister(my birds free range on our farm). I have checked on her thru the day and she is carrying her wing a bit lower on the R side and will limp a bit on the R leg but otherwise is doing OK. She is bright eyed and much more alert.
Stool have been normal and no sign of respiratory issues.
By 'Puffy" I meant she was puffed up full of air but it was isolated to the R side only. Her feathers are a bit more "rumpled" in appearance than her sisters but not fluffed as a sick birds are.

I just went out to the barn and caught her up. No sign of anymore air. Her Crop is full of grain she is pecking and eating bugs and grain. Still carrying her wing (esp R) lower, slight limp in R leg. She will occasionally throw her wing out like she is catching her balance. Could be an injury altho I see no outward sign of one.
 
Thanks for the links. The info and her progress make me wonder if this wasn't some kind of injury but I sure don't see a mark on her.
If it was a ruptured air sack hopefully it has healed and she will continue to improve.
Thanks for your help
 
she is carrying her wing a bit lower on the R side and will limp a bit on the R leg

I suspect whatever caused the injury is what caused the air sac emphysema.​
 
Well I guess we won't know about the injury, but it's good that she's improved. Good job on that. Thanks for letting us know.
big_smile.png
 

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