baby chick pecking at self & others violently, winces when touched

[Duoas]

Hello all. I am brand new here. (My Aunt decided I was going to raise chickens and the box came Sunday afternoon. I've been trying to learn as fast as I can but I feel overwhelmed right now with this one.)

We got 27 chicks (all in good health except one, who is chugging along for now). They are currently in a three foot baby pool with pine chips, a chick water feeder and baby chick food. (I'm going to buy a larger pool tomorrow...) They are under a red 250W (USA) bulb, and most appear to be growing healthily.

Our boys were excited to see them and we've tried to keep their contact short and it has always been supervised... but I think one of our children may have injured one of the chick's wings...

She was fairly docile to begin with, and has been until early this afternoon shortly after the boys saw them. (Now I'm not letting the boys handle them at all.)

Now she is pecking and pulling very violently at both herself and others, and crying loudly -- even to the point of dragging herself across the pen by the wing. She winces and cannot sit still when held. My wife is currently holding her so she won't hurt herself any more.

We are going to wrap her up in a gauze or something so that her wings are pinned and she cannot pick at herself any more, and put her in a separate box in the pen (so that she cannot attack or be attacked by the others).


Please help me learn where to look to learn more and/or teach me how to care for her. Should I rush her over to the vet? Should I give her some medicine of some sort?
What is your advice?

Thank you so much for your time.
--Michael

 

[babsbag]

I am sorry I can't help with your chick. I just want to offer my sympathies. I can't handle it when animals are in pain. It makes me hurt just to read your post. I think your idea of wrapping her up will be a good one. Just make sure she can get to water and food and that no one can pick on her. But you will probaly have her separated.

Hopefully someone else will chime in and give you some advice you can use.

I hope it works out ok.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I have no idea, but wish you luck with her! Try a search for painkillers for chicks that may or may not offer some advice. I hate when they are hurt!

 

[Duoas]

Thank you for your kind words.

It seems that Seanaéd made it through the night just fine.
We wrapped her with some gauze to pin her wings and put her in a little box with holes in the pool (so that she is warm and can hear the others), with some flat plastic lids with a little their water in one and feed in the other.

This morning we went to check to see how they were doing and she was up and about with the others as if nothing had happened. See has worked her way out of the bandage and is still pulling her wing quite violently.

Leah, the weak runt, we found dead. She was recovering somewhat but she appears to have been picked at until she bled and died since 02:00 when we retired. (Probably by Seanaéd.)

(Yeah, they all have names... most given by our boys. My wife and I named these two.)


Well, time to go wipe poo off their rears. (Some of the dark ones are still getting plugged.)
Thank you again. I would still like advice if any, and look forward to the future here.
--Michael

 

[Duoas]

We are concerned because Seanaéd is again showing some signs of injury to her right wing. She favors it a bit (keeping it close to her body), she plucks a little violently at it from time to time, her temperment has become aggressive, and she is a bit wet under the wing.

I don't know enough to have any idea what could be wrong. It isn't broken AFAICT.

 

[drumstick diva]

I think her wing got injured and it hurts her alot, which is why she pecks and pulls at it. the pain bothers her so much that she attacks anything near her. If you are able to get her to a vet (especially one that knows anything about chickens or birds) I think it would be a great idea. She may have a fracture, or dislocation from being handled by the kids. I'm sure they didn't intend to harm her but chicks are fragile. If so, with treatment, I think she will lose the bad attitude. I don't know what is used for pain in chickens, except DON'T USE ANYTHING WITH "CAINE" IN THE INGREDIENTS. You seem to be a very caring chicken mama. I am subscribing to this because I hope to hear she is diagnosed and on her way to normalcy.

 

[Duoas]

Thank you for your kindness.

We haven't take her to the vet yet (we're poor, and our Aunt really just said, "You're raising chickens"), so we thought to wait a couple of days and see how she does. (If she had continued to exhibit symptoms of an injured wing we would have found the money somehow...)

But the good news is that she seems to be much better. This morning she spread her wings out for me and flapped across the pen. She is interacting normally with the others.

Happiness is a healthy clutch.




Either today or tomorrow we have to make the pen larger. The kiddie pool is too small for them now, so we have to clean out the basement some more and I'll use some bricks to hold down the bottom edges of the chicken wire and make a larger area for them. Hopefully we'll find our camera sometime soon (misplaced during the move) and we'll post some pictures for you all.