Emergency! brooder cover fell on three week old chick and can't jump right.

[SweetNSassy]

To start, this is my first time with chicks. We got 8 barred rock chicks, but only have 7 left after our little runt died. As the seven got bigger and more active, the brooder had to grow too. The solution I came up with was wire grid shelving configured in a 2 1/2' W x 5' L x 2 1/2' H. I covered the bottom half with plastic to keep the wood shavings in, but the top was left open. It seemed like it should be high enough. One of my chicks is an escape artist and is obsessed with finding a way out and finally she jumped up the 2 1/2' and perched on top. This led me to put a cover over the top.

Okay, that's the backstory. Today I was raising the lamp a bit when a piece of the brooder top fell on top of some of the chicks. They scattered to a corner, unsurprisingly shocked and frightened. I watched them carefully until they all seemed to get back to normal activities. Then I picked one of them up to get a good look, but she freaked out, far more than usual and I couldn't keep hold of her very well. I tried another chick with the same response so I left the others to observe without holding them.
It's been a few hours now, and one of them is having a hard time jumping. It's one of my two biggest chicks and it's not that she can't jump, it's that she can only jump straight up. She wants so badly to get on the perch but can't jump forward. I don't even know what I should be inspecting. Her feet and legs seem to work fine, so did I damage her visual-spacial area of her brain? She is so traumatized that I don't want to cause more distress by chasing her down until I know exactly how to inspect her. Do I let her sleep it off tonight and see how she is in the morning?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Carson213]

To start, this is my first time with chicks. We got 8 barred rock chicks, but only have 7 left after our little runt died. As the seven got bigger and more active, the brooder had to grow too. The solution I came up with was wire grid shelving configured in a 2 1/2' W x 5' L x 2 1/2' H. I covered the bottom half with plastic to keep the wood shavings in, but the top was left open. It seemed like it should be high enough. One of my chicks is an escape artist and is obsessed with finding a way out and finally she jumped up the 2 1/2' and perched on top. This led me to put a cover over the top.

Okay, that's the backstory. Today I was raising the lamp a bit when a piece of the brooder top fell on top of some of the chicks. They scattered to a corner, unsurprisingly shocked and frightened. I watched them carefully until they all seemed to get back to normal activities. Then I picked one of them up to get a good look, but she freaked out, far more than usual and I couldn't keep hold of her very well. I tried another chick with the same response so I left the others to observe without holding them.
It's been a few hours now, and one of them is having a hard time jumping. It's one of my two biggest chicks and it's not that she can't jump, it's that she can only jump straight up. She wants so badly to get on the perch but can't jump forward. I don't even know what I should be inspecting. Her feet and legs seem to work fine, so did I damage her visual-spacial area of her brain? She is so traumatized that I don't want to cause more distress by chasing her down until I know exactly how to inspect her. Do I let her sleep it off tonight and see how she is in the morning?

Thanks in advance!!!

just see how it goes. i have a rooster that only uses one leg. i’ve inspected his leg a dozen times. no idea why he doesn’t use it. however, he seems to manage. it will either work out or it won’t. personally, i’m not going to spend a bunch of money to have a vet examine and possibly fix the leg of a $2 chicken. i just did this for my “free” cat...but that cat is one hell of a cat...and my rooster is not.

 

[SweetNSassy]

To start, this is my first time with chicks. We got 8 barred rock chicks, but only have 7 left after our little runt died. As the seven got bigger and more active, the brooder had to grow too. The solution I came up with was wire grid shelving configured in a 2 1/2' W x 5' L x 2 1/2' H. I covered the bottom half with plastic to keep the wood shavings in, but the top was left open. It seemed like it should be high enough. One of my chicks is an escape artist and is obsessed with finding a way out and finally she jumped up the 2 1/2' and perched on top. This led me to put a cover over the top.

Okay, that's the backstory. Today I was raising the lamp a bit when a piece of the brooder top fell on top of some of the chicks. They scattered to a corner, unsurprisingly shocked and frightened. I watched them carefully until they all seemed to get back to normal activities. Then I picked one of them up to get a good look, but she freaked out, far more than usual and I couldn't keep hold of her very well. I tried another chick with the same response so I left the others to observe without holding them.
It's been a few hours now, and one of them is having a hard time jumping. It's one of my two biggest chicks and it's not that she can't jump, it's that she can only jump straight up. She wants so badly to get on the perch but can't jump forward. I don't even know what I should be inspecting. Her feet and legs seem to work fine, so did I damage her visual-spacial area of her brain? She is so traumatized that I don't want to cause more distress by chasing her down until I know exactly how to inspect her. Do I let her sleep it off tonight and see how she is in the morning?

Thanks in advance!!!

So I just saw her stretching her left leg and wing and then when she went to stretch her right, she recoiled and brought her leg up. She's walking and running but I haven't seen her open both her wings. I picked her up and tugged on and palpated her leg. Nothing overt. She wrapped her toes around my finger, but her HR was so fast and shaking so bad that I didn't want to push it by extending her wing too.

 

[SweetNSassy]

just see how it goes. i have a rooster that only uses one leg. i’ve inspected his leg a dozen times. no idea why he doesn’t use it. however, he seems to manage. it will either work out or it won’t. personally, i’m not going to spend a bunch of money to have a vet examine and possibly fix the leg of a $2 chicken. i just did this for my “free” cat...but that cat is one hell of a cat...and my rooster is not.

Thanks Carson213! I'm with you, I won't take them to the vet. Costs too much. I want to learn how I can assess them and what I can do to help. I'm an RN but it doesn't seem to translate to the chicks. At least I can use my skills with my dogs, but I'm feeling out of my depth with the chicks.

 

[333113]

So I just saw her stretching her left leg and wing and then when she went to stretch her right, she recoiled and brought her leg up. She's walking and running but I haven't seen her open both her wings. I picked her up and tugged on and palpated her leg. Nothing overt. She wrapped her toes around my finger, but her HR was so fast and shaking so bad that I didn't want to push it by extending her wing too.

Chickens have remarkable recuperative powers, as my vet often reminds me. Give your chick a day or two and she will most likely be fine.

 

[BDutch]

Many wounds heal over time. Just wait and see how recovery goes. But do make or buy a better setup for you’re chicks if this one isn’t firm and big enough. How old are the now? When can they move to the outside coop?

 

[Carson213]

Thanks Carson213! I'm with you, I won't take them to the vet. Costs too much. I want to learn how I can assess them and what I can do to help. I'm an RN but it doesn't seem to translate to the chicks. At least I can use my skills with my dogs, but I'm feeling out of my depth with the chicks.

as an RN...you’re ahead of most on what to assess. the first thing i would look at is obvious wounds...then articulation...then function. if you don’t see anything obvious...watch and wait...but if you do see a problem...build a better brooder lid for next time.

 

[SweetNSassy]

Many wounds heal over time. Just wait and see how recovery goes. But do make or buy a better setup for you’re chicks if this one isn’t firm and big enough. How old are the now? When can they move to the outside coop?

I changed it up and put chicken wire over the top. It's not as easy to get into it (to change water and add food), but I'm just going to have to make do. I've kept watching her and she still can't get up to the roosting bar. She jumps up, but can't gauge where she needs to land. From what I'm seeing, it seems either neurological or visual.
They're three weeks old right now. Some of them have a good amount of feathers, but others do not yet and it still gets below freezing at night right now, so I don't think it would be good to get them outside just yet.
They're safe now, I just hope the one recuperates.

 

[Justicedog]

I don't know how much can really be done other than just let them rest. Chicks can be hard - with the worrying over best set up. An easy lid option is to use wood to make a frame the size of the brooder and then staple chicken wire to it.

Hope your little one recovers.

 

[SweetNSassy]

I don't know how much can really be done other than just let them rest. Chicks can be hard - with the worrying over best set up. An easy lid option is to use wood to make a frame the size of the brooder and then staple chicken wire to it.

Hope your little one recovers.

Thanks! I hadn't thought about making a frame for the wire cover. I'll start looking into that.