Chicks been attacked

[Gracie123]

We recently put some eggs under our broody hen and sadly only one of them hatched. She spent the first seven days keeping it in the coop (an old shed that we converted, but a large area to run around etc... with food and water) and then the last three days she has been taking it out to forage in the orchard with the rest of the flock.

It was all going so well until today.

I noticed from a distance that she had some orange markings on her back, and wondered if her colouring was developing (she's supposed to be gold laced orpington, but so far completely black fluff) but when I got closer I realised she's had a piece of skin roughly the size of a 50p piece ripped off her back.

It looks superficial e.g. no tissue damage underneath, but it is a large wound. The hens were very upset and wouldn't let us near her initially. We've moved the chick back into the coop and mum has gone straight in with it.

What should I do?

1) I could bring it in and keep it alone in a brooder until it's bigger, but I think mum would be devastated and then I'd have to try and reintroduce it on it's own.
2) I could bring mum and chick in to live in the brooder, but it's a medium sized dog crate and not really made for a large buff Orpington chicken!!
3) I could lock mum and baby in the shed each day, but they wouldn't be getting any sunlight at all.
4) I could leave it out with the flock and hope for the best.

Also, any tips for helping with the wound?
Should I try to clean it with anything or just leave it be?

The chick is running around and seems okay. It's still chirping, but not excessively so. It seems pretty happy with it's mum to be honest, but the wound is really bad.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old is the chick? If it's acting fine and you aren't seeing any aggression towards it from the other chickens I might spray it with bluekote and keep an eye on it. If the chick is younger than 2 weeks I might keep them confined for a bit for its own safety.

 

[Gracie123]

How old is the chick? If it's acting fine and you aren't seeing any aggression towards it from the other chickens I might spray it with bluekote and keep an eye on it. If the chick is younger than 2 weeks I might keep them confined for a bit for its own safety.

The others aren't being aggressive at all. She's only 9 days old though :-(

 

[azygous]

Sounds like the chick was the victim of a hit and run hawk attack. This happened to a chick of mine a few months ago. Near miss, but she lost a lot of back feathers.

I would paint the wound with Blu-kote and keep the chick with the flock. The blue color conceals the wound and protects against infection as well as pecking by the other chickens.

 

[lazy gardener]

If it's a full thickness wound: skin entirely missing and it's down to the muscle/fat tissue, it may be a lost cause. Risk of infection with a full thickness wound would be too great and it would take a long time for the wound to heal in from the edges. Check her carefully for any hidden puncture wounds also. Only you can decide what your course of action will be based on chick's behavior, wound assessment, and the amount of time you have available to spend doctoring her.

 

[Gracie123]

Sadly the chick died over night. Her mother was still sitting on her this morning. We lifted her to check on the chick but it was already dead

 

[2chicksagain]