Chick with broken legs and wing (No experience raising chickens)

[MINDANAO DAVE]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So sorry for your sad find.

I have to be honest... Keeping a chick alive that has broken wings and legs is cruel, to me. Every time you touch or move it for feeding and watering has GOT to be painful. Dispatching would be the humane thing to do, in my opinion. But I do realize that we all have different thought processes and such and I will still do my best to try and help you.

Chicks don't need to eat every 2 hours. The ones under mum sleep all night. Of course this is a special situation. Do you know how old they actually are? Yogurt is to establish good flora in the gut... but not sure it has enough vitamins and such to stop a chick from failing.

I suggest adding electrolytes to the water. Recipe is... 2 cups warm water (to help dissolve), 2 tablespoons brown sugar (has micro or macro nutrients that white does not), 1/2 teaspoon EACH salt and baking soda, (if you have it) 1/2 teaspoon salt substitute (aka potassium chloride). Stir until dissolved and serve full strength. If you have any liquid vitamins, a few drops would be great. Either Poultry nutri drench (feed store or Amazon or TSC) or Poly vi Sol baby vitamins with NO iron (make sure it contains B's), or liquid bird vitamins from the pet department at Wally or wherever.

I would feed scrambled or boiled and chopped egg (or even a raw egg yolk from my own flock in extreme cases). Eggs have the needed nutrients and are easy to digest. Just think they live off the yolk for the first few days of life. Maybe moistened feed or dry but crushed a little extra.

So you say the babe was able to drink on it own or were you helping it somehow? Are you sure the wings and legs are broke? Are you able to post a pic?

I think 40 C is a little too warm and should be closer 37-38. I can only presume the chick isn't able to move in and out of the warm spot so paying attention to body language might be helpful, though I'm not sure this chick can effectively express itself... Does it loud peep when it's mad? Anyways... wings spread and panting would usually be too hot... and a common cause of pasty butt.

Sounds like you are doing ALL that you possibly can. Wish I could be more help, but maybe you will get some more input if people see this.

Come on baby let's see some miraculous healing and recovery!

I agree dispatch the little guy. He has maybe a 5 per cent chance of making it and your vet bill will be twenty dollars probably more.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Update:
I woke early this morning to the little chick chirping happily for food, i fed her roughly 3 teaspoons of yogurt/water mix and she fell back asleep while eating.
I was ecstatic to see her livelier than ever, looking for food and she even wiggled her butt in what i assume was excitement when i peered into her box.
I placed a hot waterbottle/towl into another box with some fresh paper shreddings and had her at the vet as early as possible, the vet seemed to be knowledgble in poultry telling me he kept his own chickens, he discovered the left leg was completely seperated from the hip joint, the right was broken at the ankle and she seemed to have circulation issues in the right foot as it was swelling and darkening. Her left wing had also fractured and slightly pierced the skin. While he felt it may be possible to splint and treat her it was likely she would lose the foot or succumb to blood poisoning down the line. We made the difficult decision to euthanize, as keeping her alive seemed the crueler option she was administered a needle and went to sleep peacefully.
I'd just like to thank everyone for the helpful advice and knowledge. As well as the kind words and thoughts.

That little but wiggle was likely a poop.

Very nice that your experience with the vet was good even if the outcome was not favorable. I'm sure you are exhausted... but if you have a chance do you mind sharing... was the vet able to diagnose all that without x-rays and what was your final cost, for comparison or informational purposes for those of us who might consider the vet when faced with a similar situation?

Knowing that you will do your very best, I would let you pet sit form me anytime!

BTW... I hope your dad recovers well, for whatever reason he is in the hospital. That must be extra stressful for you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:
I woke early this morning to the little chick chirping happily for food, i fed her roughly 3 teaspoons of yogurt/water mix and she fell back asleep while eating.
I was ecstatic to see her livelier than ever, looking for food and she even wiggled her butt in what i assume was excitement when i peered into her box.
I placed a hot waterbottle/towl into another box with some fresh paper shreddings and had her at the vet as early as possible, the vet seemed to be knowledgble in poultry telling me he kept his own chickens, he discovered the left leg was completely seperated from the hip joint, the right was broken at the ankle and she seemed to have circulation issues in the right foot as it was swelling and darkening. Her left wing had also fractured and slightly pierced the skin. While he felt it may be possible to splint and treat her it was likely she would lose the foot or succumb to blood poisoning down the line. We made the difficult decision to euthanize, as keeping her alive seemed the crueler option she was administered a needle and went to sleep peacefully.
I'd just like to thank everyone for the helpful advice and knowledge. As well as the kind words and thoughts.

Thank you for giving us an update. I'm very sorry to hear about your loss
It's always a difficult decision to make, but it sounds like your vet was knowledgeable and gave you good advice. Know that she did get to feel your kindness the last few days. Having someone take the time to give her comfort instead of leaving her to die alone speaks volumes of your warm and caring heart.

I hope your Dad get well soon!

 

[Wolfefarmyard]

Thanks, i may try this but i don't think id feel comfortable or capable enough to do this well enough to ensure the proper healing of it's legs. Would a vet not be able to do this more expertly than myself?
I am in I.T, about as far from animal care as you could get :/
Edit: Also, there still seems to be a major issue with it's left wing as it is pointing the wrong way and seems to be causing tremendous pain to the chick when it lays on it or is touched. again, i would be more comfortable with someone with more experience than myself tending to the wing if need be.

It does look like splayed legs not broken. This actually pretty common, just google it. This can easily fixed at home

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update:
I woke early this morning to the little chick chirping happily for food, i fed her roughly 3 teaspoons of yogurt/water mix and she fell back asleep while eating.
I was ecstatic to see her livelier than ever, looking for food and she even wiggled her butt in what i assume was excitement when i peered into her box.
I placed a hot waterbottle/towl into another box with some fresh paper shreddings and had her at the vet as early as possible, the vet seemed to be knowledgble in poultry telling me he kept his own chickens, he discovered the left leg was completely seperated from the hip joint, the right was broken at the ankle and she seemed to have circulation issues in the right foot as it was swelling and darkening. Her left wing had also fractured and slightly pierced the skin. While he felt it may be possible to splint and treat her it was likely she would lose the foot or succumb to blood poisoning down the line. We made the difficult decision to euthanize, as keeping her alive seemed the crueler option she was administered a needle and went to sleep peacefully.
I'd just like to thank everyone for the helpful advice and knowledge. As well as the kind words and thoughts.

It does look like splayed legs not broken. This actually pretty common, just google it. This can easily fixed at home

Hi @Wolfefarmyard Glad to see you on the forums!
Sometimes when a thread has several pages, we miss what has happened. The OP sought vet care and gave us an update about this chick on the previous page (quoted above for you).

 

[BantyChooks]

Update:
I woke early this morning to the little chick chirping happily for food, i fed her roughly 3 teaspoons of yogurt/water mix and she fell back asleep while eating.
I was ecstatic to see her livelier than ever, looking for food and she even wiggled her butt in what i assume was excitement when i peered into her box.
I placed a hot waterbottle/towl into another box with some fresh paper shreddings and had her at the vet as early as possible, the vet seemed to be knowledgble in poultry telling me he kept his own chickens, he discovered the left leg was completely seperated from the hip joint, the right was broken at the ankle and she seemed to have circulation issues in the right foot as it was swelling and darkening. Her left wing had also fractured and slightly pierced the skin. While he felt it may be possible to splint and treat her it was likely she would lose the foot or succumb to blood poisoning down the line. We made the difficult decision to euthanize, as keeping her alive seemed the crueler option she was administered a needle and went to sleep peacefully.
I'd just like to thank everyone for the helpful advice and knowledge. As well as the kind words and thoughts.

 

[andreanar]

So sorry that it wasn't saveable!

 

[Duck Hill]

Sorry for your loss. It is always a hard decision to make.

 

[AverageJoe404]

That little but wiggle was likely a poop.

Very nice that your experience with the vet was good even if the outcome was not favorable. I'm sure you are exhausted... but if you have a chance do you mind sharing... was the vet able to diagnose all that without x-rays and what was your final cost, for comparison or informational purposes for those of us who might consider the vet when faced with a similar situation?

Knowing that you will do your very best, I would let you pet sit form me anytime!

BTW... I hope your dad recovers well, for whatever reason he is in the hospital. That must be extra stressful for you.

I was pretty lucky in that the vet i chose to see was a poultry keeper. He seemed pretty confident (after a few painful pokes and prods) that it wasnt splay legged and seemed comfortable with his diagnosis.
The final cost was $46.50 AUD, $30 being for the consultation price and $16.50 for the cost of euthanasia materials ect. Not sure how this compares to your area/country as im in a small cluster of rural towns 40 mins to the closest city
Dad is recovering well fortunately, nothing too serious, thanks for asking

 

[jvls1942]

just to talk to a vet is about $50.oo around here.
just had a puppy check up. 50% off coupon.
$56.oo..

hope your future hatches go more smoothly ..
the hen probably pushed the chick out of the nest.. they can tell when there is something wrong..

.........