Chick tumor? Or something else?

[LinaNate]

I poked it. Intestinal contents it seems. Not air or blood or puss (doesn't bubble when peroxide is poured on the discharge)... Guess it's just a chick with weird internal development/ function.

 

[microchick]

Intestinal contents? Are you sure? If you punctured an intestine with a needle you will have to watch the chick for peritonitis from leaking intestinal contents. Never good to poke a needle in where you don't know what's going on 100%. Peritonitis kills with out antibiotic intervention.

Also if you are certain you hit intestine, that says herniation to me from a nursing POV. If it is a hernia and large, I agree. The chick will probably not develop normally.

Sorry you are having to go through this.

 

[LinaNate]

I'm pretty sure it's intestinal/stomach contents. I was certain based upon the skin coloration and bubbling it was air. I only went through the very thin layer of skin, not very deep so what came out surprised me. Poor chick.

This is what came out:

 

[microchick]

Interestingly lots of what looks like blood tinged serosanguinous fluid. Did it have an odor to it? How is the chick doing since you tapped off the fluid? Make sure you watch for infection.

 

[LinaNate]

Chick is still acting fine. I sniffed the fluid, no odor. Poured peroxide on while draining it. No reaction from the peroxide. It was a a brown color, all liquid- no chunks.

I really expected it to be an air bubble but when gunk came out I was sure it was puss. So peculiar that it's fluid like that as so close to the surface.

 

[microchick]

No, if it was purulent, it would have a real nasty smell to it. I believe if it was fecal material the peroxide would react with it. I did a symptom search on the Merck Manual for veterinary care and came up with zip.

So how is the baby reacting to being tapped? Did it refill after you drained off fluid or is the pocket staying smaller?

 

[LinaNate]

It is smaller now... might be gradually refilling though- I didn't totally drain it for fear It was the intestine I'd poked. I did a poke on the rump end of the lump and also one just inside it's leg crease. The rump area has remained smaller. The leg area is still a big lump but not really bigger than it was before. Chick is still doing just peachy. Eating, drinking, waddling around. I wish I could put a permanent drain in it like a vet would. I bet that would make a world of difference.

So feces would have reacted to the peroxide? Then maybe I need to drain it all the way?

 

[LinaNate]

I got a proper needle and syringe from my goat vet. Got 2 ccs of junk out of the chick again today. Still no blood or smell from the discharge.


Cleaned the chick up real good afterwards and it's still doing fine- walking better now that it's more drained. The larger needle hole is kind of draining fluid on it's own now but I suspect it will close up in a few min...






I still wish I knew what the heck was causing the pocket to fill.

 

[LinaNate]

Haven't drained it since the above picture. Today I wanted to see if it needed draining. The lump is hard now and nothing is draining from it. Just thought I'd post update pics for anyone finding this while searching about a similar issue.

 

[microchick]

That poor little girl. I wish I could offer a suggestion at this point but I'm coming up with zip.

Is the chick able to walk? Does the lump have any give at all?