Baby chick emergency!

[jojosthings]

Hi all looking for some help. I've just found my 6 week old splash orpington chick being seriously pecked by her chick mates and mommy hen! She's lost all her but feathers her skin is raw and bleeding her but is oozing either puss or pasty butt?? Her vent is pulsating too!! but it looks bad enough to be very serious!

Not sure what to do I've brought her into the house so she's not pecked but her flesh is so hurt I don't want to bathe her to relieve any pasty but!?! stuck for answers but I really don't want her to die? all the other chicks and hens are healthy. Thanks for any help

 

[ChickenGirly]

Hi, jojosthings. I'm having difficulty with my six month old pullets, myself. Two of them keep pecking the others combs to the point of lightly bleeding. I posted my problem on here, and "Eggcessive" said to separate them, which you have done. I would say to take him/her to a trusted vet that knows how to deal with birds/chickens. This sounds very serious, so I'm not sure anything else would help with the bad bleeding. To deal with pasty-butt, (Besause his/her skin is raw), I would hold him/her carefully, -so as not to hurt his/her skin- and use a warm damp washcloth and gently hold it over the chick's vent and the feces. Keep re-wetting the washcloth using warm water, and lightly rubbing, so that the poop will become damp, and crumble away easily. Remember that if doing this he/she seems like he/she is in pain, stop and just take him/her to a vet.

Hope this helps.

 

[jojosthings]

Hi chicken girls thanks for getting back to me now she's been in the house for a couple if hrs the oozing a stopped and her vent looks clear! Thank goodness! so a serious case of pecking!!? Which I can't understand coz she's with her mother still?

 

[Eggcessive]

Your chick may have had a prolapse of the vent. This happens sometimes when having a bowel movement or when older, laying an egg. If the others see anything red like a prolapse they will peck it. If it happens again you should put some honey or Preparation H on it to shrink the tissue so you can push it back inside. Watch the behavior of the chicks and hen when you put your chick back in the flock to make sure they don't hurt it. Click on this link for info: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html

 

[ChickenGirly]

Hmm...Have you checked the nutrition lables on the back of your feed? Too little protein can cause pecking. So can boredom, too little room, or bullies. Yes, I said bullies. I remember the last time I had chickens, they sold some kind of product (I can't remember what it's called) That tasted bad to the other chickens. You could try to find some on http://www.amazon.com , or at your local feed store.
Sorry I can't help more!

Hope your chick gets better!!

 

[199787]

Mother hens sometimes kill a chick in a brood. It's thought by many that there is something wrong with the chick to begin with that they know about and we do not. My hen killed one out of her last brood and that was also my assumption. I didn't see it until it was already dead, but it was bloody in the nest so I thought she must have done it. She was taking great care of the rest.

 

[ChickenGirly]

What I didn't think to ask jojosthings is, is the mother the one pecking the chick? Or do you know?

 

[199787]

It says in her original post that mother hen is pecking it along with its nest mates, that's why I posted about the mothers sometimes killing weak babies.

 

[jojosthings]

Hi all yeah it was the mummy and the other 2 chicks. She's inside under a brooder lamp now and the wounds drying up, I really hope she'll be ok, she's alert, bright and can walk around easy. I'm saying she but that might just be wishful thinking

I got such a shock because with all of her tail and bum feathers gone it looked like half the chick had been eaten!!

 

[ChickenGirly]

Glad to hear she's doing good!!!!!!!