Help please from Oz

[JacquiK56]

Hi i have had chickens before but not for a while

I have had a sitting silkie for 4 weeks and a RIR for 2. I bought some fertile eggs by post for the silkie but split them between the 2 when i saw the RIR was committed. 4 hatched but the last one had a bloody shell and has remained weakened. She was unfortunately trampled and looked dead but I was able to revive her. She is now on her own with the silkie and both hens are seperated. She is wobbly on her feet and while trying to peck food does not seem successful at getting anything. I have been dropper feeding her egg yolk and yoghurt and water with a bit of sugar and mineral supplement. I had noticed she has a bubble near her wing joint at shoulder. She is a week old and tiny. She tires eadily but momma hen is happy to let her snuggle as she has no competition. She is now a week old. Dilemma as to persist in the hope she will improve or euthanase het and get the silkie some more chicks. Doubt the RIR will give one of hers up.
Help appreciated.

 

[chickluvinfreak]

It sounds like your doing a lot to help the poor little guy out :/. Does the mineral supplement also have vitamins? Those are always good to put a weak or sick chicken on. Personally I would keep helping the chick as long as she seems to be trying. But if you feel that she's In pain or will have a bad quality of life then euthanasia may be the only option. I think she needs some more time though, it takes awhile to recover from trauma.

 

[JacquiK56]

Thanks for the support. Yes minerals. She does not seem to be in pain just weak but not floppy. Reminds me of a premmy baby. Re the air bubble. Saw some threads mentioning this and chicks recovered albeit they were perhaps were more robust.

 

[chickluvinfreak]

No problem . I think getting her vitamins along with the minerals would be a good idea. Probiotics are good for a weakened immune system also. Other then that I think she just needs time to recover. Could you possibly post a picture of the air bubbles? I haven't heard of that before and am wondering what it looks like

 

[JacquiK56]

Hi cant keep my chick still enough but this is pretty much what it looks like. Copied this from an old post on the forum. Suggests leaking air sac. I do note that when i dropper feed her I have to go slow as she sort of gags. I try and drip into the side of her beak. She is not very helpful in opening it unlike a baby bird who demonstrates hunger. I will give her a few more days. She is bonding with the momma hen who is finally calling her over to food occasionally (silkies are sweet but dumb) and happy to let her sleep a lot and keep her warm. She sadly does not get eating on her own.

 

[chickluvinfreak]

That's a very sad situation to be in
They're probably right about it being a air sac. Chickens are very hard to get to open their beaks which makes it even harder :/ Did you check for any beak deformity? This may be a dumb question since you probably already looked for that but I just want to make sure.