Help! Broody-hatched chick has bloody foot! (x-post) **PICS ADDED**

[serinat]

(i posted this in incubating, but then realized i might get more help here. please help!)

i'm sooooooooooooo excited that we have chicks! i just walked out to the coop (i left her there to brood, as previous multiple attempts to move her failed miserably), and i saw a little ball of fluff walking around amidst the grownups. i shooed the other chickens out to range for the day, but the dear little thing back in with it's mama, and saw another chick in the nest. it was kind of stuck in the corner, so i held the mama down with a broom (so she wouldn't peck me) and picked up the baby. it has one foot that looks pecked and bloody. it can't walk; it just shuffles.

what do i do? should i take this one out and bring it inside? could the mama have done this? this is her first brood, and she was a day-old from a large hatchery last year. we are all new at this. i haven't seen her attack the other chicks, but i haven't watched very long, either.

i plan to move them to a separate chicken tractor once all the chicks are hatched. how long do i wait?

thanks for any help!

 

[Kim65]

I would bring the chick in and wash the foot off to see what the issue is. Chickens will peck at bloody areas, so wash off the blood for sure. Put antibiotic cream or BluKote (from the feedstore) on it's foot. Chickens won't peck at blue things

Watch the chick for a little while, keep it warm, and see how injured it is. Maybe steal another chick to keep it company.

Once it seems to be walking around and eating/drinking, sneak them back under the hen at night.

 

[serinat]

thank you. i went out to watch the chicks and mama for a while this afternoon, and i couldn't even find the hurt one. he wouldn't come out. i was ready to give up, and he peeked out. he was walking just fine, but his left food is swollen bigger than the right, and it's red instead of orange. i am working on getting a picture up now. i think he will be fine, but the foot is very weird.

 

[serinat]

big, red, swollen foot:

i know there's nothing there for comparison, but it's much bigger and redder than normal chick feet.

and just because they're cute:

more pics here .