Can my pecked chick survive?

[dehill]

I’ve just adopted 4 x day old silkie chicks to my broody pekin but she rejected one and gave her a fairly stern pecking. I managed to save her and get it into the brooder, but am not sure if she’ll survive. Any thoughts?

Pictures attached. Her head was fairly badly pecked with some blood, which has now dried around her neck.

Her eyes don’t look right, instead of big black circles they are little slits.

She’s also not acting like the others. Desperate cheeping and looking directly upwards as if expecting something in her mouth. So much she falls over backward a bit. I’ve fed her some water a few times as she doesn’t seem to know where her water is, unlike her stable-mate who has already worked it out.

Any thoughts on what I can do to help her? Can she survive?

 

[nchls school]

If this chick is the same color as the others, I think the hen may have rejected it because there is something amiss with the baby. Did it act normally before being pecked? Clean and sterilize the wound. I use triple antibiotic ointment. If just the peck wound the chick should survive, but the behavior suggests there may be something else wrong. Good luck.

 

[dehill]

Thank you.

She is the only black one in the group and was acting normally.

I’m just concerned that damage was done by the abuse. Perhaps she’s blind now. In any event time will tell. I’ve moved another of her stable mates into the brooder with her so at least she’s not alone!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I just went through this with my Welsummer chicks. I ordered 5, they sent 6, and one was very sleepy when I picked them up from the post office. I noticed some distinct eye-pecking going on as I was observing everyone, so I pulled the one out who I suspected was the bully chick and put her into a separate box temporarily with food and water. Then another bully chick took over with the eye-pecking, so they both were pulled. Then the bigger bully was pecking the lesser bully, so I let the lesser go back in. Eventually I reintroduced everyone, and there was some improvement. Not perfect, but better than it was.

In the morning, I noticed sleepy chick was still very sleepy, just resting under the heat lamp, and I started to get pretty concerned. When she got up to feed, I realized she was just stumbling around blind! Her eyes had been pecked so badly she was not opening them at all. I pulled her out into the separate box and rinsed them gently with saline to help them open. I also saw lubricated eye drops recommended somewhere, as long as they have no other ingredients, but in our case, the saline was all she needed.

Once I was satisfied that she was stronger, (I had given her a weak green tea, raw egg yolk, and vitamin packet mixture by needleless syringe, per Dalia from Chickenlandia, and eventually as the day went on, she did start to eat crumble and drink on her own, and was even trying to hop out of the box!), I put her back in, but she was also getting feather-picked on her head. So I put a real healthy schmear of baby eucalyptus chest rub on her head. (I had previously put a small amount on all the chicks' heads when I tried to reintroduce the bully, as well.)

I have been watching her closely and the whole group dynamic, and it is much improved. She seems to be thriving! I hope you can help your chickie to bounce back, too! <3

 

[dehill]

Update:

Day 3 and she’s still alive.

Thank you both for your advice. I’ve washed her eyes and wound area with some sterile water and it looks like she’s opening her eyes a little bit. Pics below. She is cheeping like 24/7!

Any advise on what I can feed her from around the house to help her recover? Egg yolk from a syringe?

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Yay! I used raw egg yolk (bc she wasn't moving), but most places say hard boiled egg yolk crumbled up is actually perfect! As long as she's strong enough and has the will to get up and eat it herself, that along with her crumble should be great!

 

[dehill]

Update!

Against the odds little Lazerus is still going. I noticed her eyes were glued back together each morning despite cleaning. A little watching showed her brooder mate was pecking her too! I added some marbles etc to the cage but couldn’t desuade the pecking. So put her mate back below mama hen last night and she seems to have been re-accepted.

Pic below from this morning - eyes are looking better and she has to be eating and drinking, right?

Question is whether the mama hen who originally hurt her might accept her back too once she’s strong enough? Thoughts? I don’t like the thought of raising one chick alone.

All help gratefully received!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I wouldn't know anything about what the hen would do, but I'm so glad to hear she's hanging in! And I love her name!

I was going to name my chickie Cecilia, who is the patron saint of blindness. But then once she got mixed back in again, it's so hard to tell them all apart, I'm pretty sure I was calling a different bird Cecilia and had renamed her Petunia. I tried to band them, but my bands were too big, so now I really have almost no idea lol I know she's one of the ones in the bottom half (not as clear of a point on her head) bit really I'm just so happy she pulled through. Great job!!!