Help please! Baby chicken pecked

[DivaExMachina]

One of our hens hatched two chicks on the weekend: a yellow one on Saturday and a brownish one Sunday. This afternoon when I went to check on them I found the brownish one crying in a corner while the mother and the yellow one were behaving relatively normally.

On closer inspection, the brown one had both eyes closed and blood matted all over her head. I put her in an incubator and have been feeding her water mixed with protein powder (for chicks) and dextrose. I also sponged off as much of the blood and sawdust as I could.

The coop area they're in is sectioned off from the rest of the flock so I know it was either the mother or the other chicks. There is fairly decent sized gouge on one side of her head behind the eye, but injuries are present on both sides of the head, and the eyes are shut so I can't tell if there was damage to them as well. Was it definitely the mum or is the two day old chick strong enough to do that much damage? I am wondering if I should take the second chick away from her if she's at risk of killing it.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

It may have been mom. Maybe for some reason she just decided she didn't like that one or something is wrong with it. It may have also been mice or rats. Or, depending on what they're separated by, another bird may have grabbed through the fencing. I don't think a newish chick could inflict that kind of damage. Can it slip out of its cage or can a beak get inside?

Whether or not to remove the other is a little trickier. With this chick being bloodied, that may encourage the other to mess with it. On the flip side, your singleton is probably pretty lonely. If it were mine, I'd work on cleaning it up and getting its eyes open. If it can see, I'd take it back to mom and try and give it back. Watch them for a while to see if she was, indeed, the culprit. If she did do it, I'd take them both so no one is lonely. If it can't see, *I* would cull it :/

Good luck, I hope its okay and everything manages to work itself out!

 

[DivaExMachina]

Thanks for the response. We have three cats so mice seem unlikely. The enclosure is wood on three sides so protected from the rest of the flock.

I think we got our answer already though. We went to check the remaining chick and my husband thought mum (let's call her Betty) might have been stressed for lack of space (they are in an enclosure which is about half a square meter/5 square feet), so we tried to increase the space for Betty and also put in a low wooden structure for the chick to hide under, just in case. Before we put the 'fence' back the chick went under the structure and Betty freaked out, and kept sticking her head under it and pecking the chick. She then chased the chick through the coop pecking at it. She was pecking the chick like she wanted it to get under her but she never sat still long enough for it to settle. She kept scratching all the sawdust out from under her instead of nesting down, if you know what I mean, and then would peck the chick whenever it would scramble out of the way of her flailing feet.

After a good twenty minutes of trying to settle her down long enough to get the chick under her we gave up because she was pecking quite hard. And took the chick up into the incubator to be with the other.

We have another mother hen who has seven three-week-old chicks. This one has just been reintroduced to the flock last Friday and the chicks have been mingling with the adults without problem. When Betty couldn't find her chick she went berserk, and attacked the other hen and her chicks. So we closed the 'door' between the broody chamber and the remainder of the flock to give mum and chicks some peace and quiet. Last I saw Betty was scouting through the run trying to find her lost chick

Now I don't know what to do. Betty is pretty young: hatched with us just last year. Will she recover from losing her brood? Will she become a good mother eventually?

 

[DivaExMachina]

In case anyone is interested in an update, both chicks survived through the night. We made a brood chamber out of a cardboard box under a heat lamp. The older chick is drinking on her own but doesn't show much interest in food. The brown chick occasionally partially opens one eye but it looks painful. The other is shut and swollen. She is also weaker than her sibling, but it might be due to being a day younger. Whenever I put my hand in with her she tries to snuggle under it. I have noticed her stretching and grooming herself a little. Not sure if that's a good sign, usually it is for cats but not sure about chicks.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Poor things.

Yea, if she's young and this is her first time, she probably just doesn't know what to do. She'll get over you taking them away though. And, as far as whether she'll ever be a good mom, there's no real answer to that. You'll just have to wait until she tries again and see how it goes. Some figure it out after their first mess up, others just never make good mothers. I have one hen whos great at raising chicks but is a terrible incubator. I've had others that sit like champs and then freak out and try to kill their chicks when they start hatching. Its just one of those things

 

[DivaExMachina]

Well this morning she is very weak, barely moving and I think she's done for.

I went to the brood box and she was lying flat out with her legs stiff. I thought for a minute she was dead but she's still hanging on, however she won't eat food or drink any of the dextrose water I've been syringing into her beak. She hasn't opened her less damaged eye either. Yesterday she was peeping a lot but today she's not making a sound.

Not sure what else to try. Also not sure what to do with the other chick now.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi !

If the chick is still alive this morning, run out to your local feed store of Tractor Supply. Get a small bottle of Bovidr Labs Nutri-Drench or Nutri-Drops.
They don't need digested like the helps you are giving which the chick is too weak to digest. Shunt directly to the bloodstream with 50% uptake in 30 minutes and 99% utilization. The best formulas for you are Poultry Nutri-Drench or Pet Nutri-Drops. However, all their species formulas are made to universal dosage specifications. So if you can only find Goat or one of the other formulas , that will do in a pinch. These formulas give strength to live. Energy to get the G.I. tract working again. Here is a thread which gives a fuller explanation. One drop only by mouth every 8-10 hrs. as needed. Then 2cc's per gallon in their water for the 1st 2 weeks to get them off to a strong start.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/746509/how-to-deal-with-travel-stress-in-baby-chicks
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[DivaExMachina]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately she already died.

I will print out the post you linked and keep it handy in case it happens again. I think I also need to put together a 'chicken first aid' kit for future use as I clearly need one. I don't want to be unprepared again.

Now I have this cute yellow fuzz ball that's doing great: eats often, is alert, active and showing good feather growth. Unfortunately she cries when I leave her alone and I need to go to the office tomorrow for work. My two options are to leave her in the laundry with food and water or to find a new mum.We have a broody that's been sitting on ceramic eggs for more than a week (she won't get off). I'm going to try slipping little yellow under her tonight and then get up early to see if she accepts her. I hope that if I watch them for an hour or two and there are no signs of rejection it means it's ok to leave them alone for 12+ hours? Would hate to lose the second chick. She's such a cutie!

Again, thanks for the help. I guess it's a learning curve.