Have ?'s about injured chick

[meggers32]

Hi everyone,

I have a few questions about a chick that I am trying to nurse back to health. About 4 days ago, I was given a momma and some chicks. Well, before I knew it, my "darling" dog tried to get at one of the chicks from the other side of the fence. She ended up hurting its leg and the poor little thing is just out of it. It just sits there, peeps, and doesn't move very much, flaps it's wings a little and it will eat and drink if coaxed. He has been separated from mom for the last 3 days, and at night, we put the carrier close to mom, so they can be close. I was told to separate them because it is injured and the other chicks might pick on it. I am worried that the little chick won't make it, is there anything else that I can do to help it come around? Anything that I can put in it's carrier to keep it comfortable without being next to mom? Also, it's leg looks like it is broken, so blood or bone or anything, it is just not using it. Given this, is it ever going to be able to go back with the others, or do we need to keep him separated until he is much bigger? I have never done this before, can you tell? Any help would be soooo appreciated! Thanks-

 

[pipermark]

I hate to say this but their legs are very prone to injury at that age, if it has broken a tendon then its probably not going to do well. I would try supervised visits , seeing its siblings running about and eating could do it wonders.

 

[meggers32]

Thanks for replying! Is seeing their siblings more of a moral thing? Also, does it stress them out when we hold them? I have to do this to get it to eat and drink. I have to say that it does have a good amount of feistiness, which is nice to see! Do you think that it feels secure enough in a small carrier by itself? I have some cedar chips in there, and the carrier is on top of a heating pad. What do you think? Is there anything I can do for the leg? Sorry for the questions, I just really want to try to save this little one.