Abandoned by hen at hatching

[smbarber85]

We were surprised by a hen and three chicks the other morning in the corner of a horse stall... When I investigated I saw she had a clutch of about 8 other eggs. I waited a day and when I looked again she was elsewhere in the barn and the nest was partly covered in dirt, I'm not sure by her or by the horse in the stall. I dug the eggs out and found one with chirping and pipping so I set it back over by the hen, it eventually hatched but the hen must have ignored it all night because I checked again this morning and it was laying pretty lifeless but still breathing. It had a little blood on its head where the hen or chicks must have been pecking at it so I brought it in the house, put a warmer on it and gave it a little water with a dropper. There for a bit it was pretty lively and lots of chirping, now it's just laying down, quietly sleeping and sort of patting its feet every few seconds. It can't walk on its own. Is it a lost cause or can I do something else?

 

[widelacing]

Keep taking good care of it as long as it is alive. If it can't eat, then feed it mash maybe from a dropper. When it is well, maybe the hen will take it back.