2-3 week old chick with beack/upper head injury

[madornato]

Hi. I have a 2-3 week old black australorp chick who has a beak/upper head injury. When I got him, he had already been pecked by a bigger bird but had been removed from the situation. His beak area had already scabbed over and looked like it was healing. For the last 2 1/2 weeks he has looked the same. However, it happened during the time that I was running erands today--the scabs are now gone and his beak looks really bad--one small area is sill red/bloody. I noticed that in his brooder box he is shaking his head back and forth and is having a little trouble opening one of his eyes all the way. Also, his upper beak growth has been stunted, apparently, because his upper beak is shorter than his lower beak. I read some information about blue kote and other treatments. I do not have any blue kote. Should I run out to get some? Just a few minutes ago I took a q-tip and applied some antibiotic ointment to the wound area. I didn't know if I should do anything about the eye or not. How many times a day should I apply the ointment? By the way, he is in a brooder box with 11 other chicks, but I have not noticed them picking on him. They all seem to get along really well. Of course, they seemed curious, after I put him back in the box, about what he had on his beak area.
Thanks,
Melissa

 

[Wynette]

Melissa, he REALLY needs to be separated asap. Chickens will peck at blood when they see it, and continue to do so...sometimes they will continue until the injured bird dies.

Without seeing a picture, it's difficult to give suggestions on how to handle...is there any way you can post a picture?

 

[madornato]

Alas, I have taken a couple of pics of the bird and his injured beak area, but the pictures are blurry. Maybe it will give you some idea as to what I'm talking about. I have now placed him into a box by himself. As soon as the bloody spot on his beak is healed, he'll be able to go back with the others, right?

Thanks,
Melissa

 

[dlhunicorn]

ditto on separating him. Pity that the pics are so blurry.
I suggest you get a depep dish and moisten the feed (if possible do this by adding some baby parrot hand-feeding formula to the the feed > this is a powder you mix with water and can be purchased at pet stores > beak injuries are painful and when the feed is moist it is easier for him to scoop up out of the deep dish. This will also help concentrate the nutrition as he may be eating less at the moment)
You will need to change the water at least twice a day as feed will stick to the beak and come off in the waterer and you want to keep all as clean as possible.