Bad Broody mama / *update* chick with intestines out

[lovinchicks]

I got a first time Broody. She had a egg hatch about 3 days ago. I came out to let them out in the morning and she ran out with everyone else. She had a broken egg shell stuck to her. So I got my gloves and looked in the nest box and she had some broken eggs in there with a yolky mess. One egg she had pushed all the way to the front, out of her laying area. I threw out the yucky mess and put the remaining eggs back. she came back and laid on her nest. She came right back in to get on her nest, and when she got back I could see the baby that I had missed that had hatched. It was laying in front of her, ice cold and hardly moving and you could see a few spots that someone, (probably mama) had pecked at it. So I brought it in and got it warm and it's doing good. She is still on 4 eggs, and I heard one chirping tonight when I locked them up. Sooooo, my question is, do they get any better with the mothering with more chicks hatching out? Or should I sit down there until this one comes out and take it right away? I'll probably sit down there regardless. But if she seems to do good with it, will she turn evil on it later tonight?? I dont' want to sit down there all night

lol.

 

[mljohnson05]

It is hard to tell how she will act... she may just be inexperienced this go around. I had this happen to me last year. the first hatched and she left it out ice cold, and i brought it in and warmed it up (hard to keep it inside until it was a little older). Then the second one started zipping lat at night. I woke up in the middle of night thinking something was wrong, and went out to find the half hatched chick being pecked at like crazy.... so i brought in in ASAP, wrapped it in VERY warm wet washcloth and put it under a heat lamp... ended up having to help that one slowly hatch out. and she too was left inside with the others until they were old enough to go back out.
I would keep a VERY close eye on her, and you may have to bring in that egg to finish hatching it.... If she keeps acting up with the eggs, i would suggest using a incubator to finish the rest out.
Best Wishes and Gold Bless

 

[lovinchicks]

well after I posted I went right back outside, and the chick was already out. She already had pecked at it's head a lot, so it has a very big wound there. It also still had it's yolk sac attached. you can see some of it's organs on it's belly. I've got it cleaned up, and now have to wait for DH to get home.

 

[lovinchicks]

Well I still waiting for DH, but in the mean time talked myself into trying to fix the poor thing. Can't do anything about the head wound, but I got a Q-tip, put some neosporin on it, and pushed it's intestines back in. Then I put a bandaid over that. Hopefully the bandaid will help them to stay in, and keep it from rubbing on it. It seems pretty strong still for everything that's not going so well for the poor thing. Maybe I'll wait till morning and see how it is. anyone else have any suggestions besides culling it. It's just doing too well at this point to do that.

I bet Ms. Momma hen got it out of the egg. Didn't anyone tell her not to help!!!!!! *sigh*

 

[bobbi-j]

It's possible that she was pecking at it because it was deformed. Animals will sometimes do that when they have a baby with problems. They kill them because they instinctively know that the baby most likely won't live anyway. Survival of the fittest. The egg that she pushed out of her nesting area could have been pushed out because it's no good. Your broody may be a better mama than you think...

 

[lovinchicks]

I would have thought that, but she pecked at the first one too and there is nothing wrong with that one. She had brooken open two of the other eggs when the first one hatched also. I found yolk and cracked eggs in the nest box, but only one chick. If there was another, I couldn't find it. It looked like she didn't know what the heck was going on, with broken eggs, baby out out in front of her, and the egg out. I think she kinda just freaked out.I figured the egg may have rolled out when she kicked the baby out of the nest, but I don't know that for sure.

I can understand her pecking at the last one that was hatched, but I really think she broke open the shell on that one. Do they normally do that? If I had to bet though, I bet she would have pecked it whether it was healthy or not. I've only had one other broody, and she did a great job. she had also kicked an egg out of the nest after all others had hatched. That baby was dead.

The baby is doing good so far. Up and walking this morning, and chirping up a storm. I'll post a picture later.

 

[mstricer]

I'm surprised it is still alive after it had the injury to the head. I've never had chicks survive that got pile drived in the head, no wounds to be seen. Just dead. Hope it lives. Your doing the right thing, though it may not be right in the head, brain damage.

 

[lovinchicks]

Here's my good side


Here's my bad side


And here's my butt

How to get the bandaid off, I have no idea. Hopefully it falls off after a few days. We'll see how this goes??

 

[mljohnson05]

Poor little thing.. It seems to be doing really good for all it has gone through. keep the wounds clean...wash with warm saline, and make sure the intestines are not "drying out". with wounds i need to cover, i use gauze and vet wrap (self sticks to itself) so no worry about ripping fluff off when you change it.Keep us posted.
You may want to give it electrolytes or "save a chick" in its water too