5 week old chick has a sore

[haileyb9648]

Went out to their coop Tuesday morning and found one of our 5 week old chicks on the ground of the coop huddled under the step. She was very weak but waddled towards me. I put her in the house in a plastic bin with fresh food and water and heat lamp. Immediately I noticed blood on her beak and some oozing on her side. I originally thought she had fallen from the upper portion of the coop but then wondered if the other chicks had pecked her. My husband was checking her out and found a sore stretching from her under her wing to her butt. She is doing much better; walking around some and eating and drinking. Any ideas how this happened or anything that can speed the healing??

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The best thing to help her heal quickly is to provide the supportive care her body need to do what it is doing and monitor for infection. The good news is, at her age her body is already in hyper-drive when it comes to building tissue, so healing will be fast. Keep her clean, dry, fed and hydrated - she'll do the rest.
As to how it happened - could be any number of things, or even a combination (ie a small injury made worse by pecking either by herself out of irritation or by the others).

 

[azygous]

In addition to what Grey Mare has suggested, I would recommend cleansing the wound and then keeping it moist with a triple antibiotic ointment. If you have some Vetericyn, it would be a good thing to use also. I spray the Vetericyn first, then the ointment.

You could also add electrolytes to the water. It would help with shock.