Good morning!
Today would have been the third full day of my broody hen and her chick being integrated with the flock. I watched incredibly closely for the first two days and while there were some minor power scuffles between the hen and the other hens, they all seemed to mostly be ignoring the chick. Last night the last thing I saw was the chick cozying up with her mama in their nesting box.
This morning at 7am, I came in to find the chick on the ground, one wing open. I thought she was dead, but she is not.
Here are the injuries I can observe:
Her neck is bent to the side
She has a very swollen right eye.
There is a little blood on the right side, but I cannot tell if it is coming from the eye or from her mouth.
For lack of a better word, she just looks trampled.
I have not had a bird emergency like this before. Here is what I've done, and I'd appreciate thoughts on moving forward:
1. I put her in a medium sized box on a towel so that the towel is supporting her body (ie her head is raised a bit above the rest of her body)
2. Just grabbing what I could figure out from other threads, I mixed together some sugar water and added a little electrolyte to it. I gave a little to her orally with a little syringe by letting it drip through her beak. I was too scared about her neck to try to open her mouth for her. She seemed to drink a bit of it.
3. I got out a broody plate and put it at its tallest height and set it over her to keep her warm. The broody plate is probably about 4-5 inches above her.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is the first chick I've ever hatched with a broody hen and I feel especially bad because I thought the integration with the flock was going so well. There were three different "escape" rooms (spaces with openings the chick could get through but the adults couldn't) and I guess she just didn't make it in time.
Today would have been the third full day of my broody hen and her chick being integrated with the flock. I watched incredibly closely for the first two days and while there were some minor power scuffles between the hen and the other hens, they all seemed to mostly be ignoring the chick. Last night the last thing I saw was the chick cozying up with her mama in their nesting box.
This morning at 7am, I came in to find the chick on the ground, one wing open. I thought she was dead, but she is not.
Here are the injuries I can observe:
Her neck is bent to the side
She has a very swollen right eye.
There is a little blood on the right side, but I cannot tell if it is coming from the eye or from her mouth.
For lack of a better word, she just looks trampled.
I have not had a bird emergency like this before. Here is what I've done, and I'd appreciate thoughts on moving forward:
1. I put her in a medium sized box on a towel so that the towel is supporting her body (ie her head is raised a bit above the rest of her body)
2. Just grabbing what I could figure out from other threads, I mixed together some sugar water and added a little electrolyte to it. I gave a little to her orally with a little syringe by letting it drip through her beak. I was too scared about her neck to try to open her mouth for her. She seemed to drink a bit of it.
3. I got out a broody plate and put it at its tallest height and set it over her to keep her warm. The broody plate is probably about 4-5 inches above her.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is the first chick I've ever hatched with a broody hen and I feel especially bad because I thought the integration with the flock was going so well. There were three different "escape" rooms (spaces with openings the chick could get through but the adults couldn't) and I guess she just didn't make it in time.
