Help Please! Injured Chick - Do I Leave It With Its Mother?...

[TJ]

Hello, I had a black frizzle bantam cochin hen hatch two eggs two weeks ago and the first week I kept her and the chicks separated in a small cage in the chicken house. After that I let them run loose with the rest of the flock but today I walked into the chicken house and there sat the mother and as soon as I walked up to her she got up to display one of the chicks just sitting there with blood on it. It peeped and I picked it up and took a look and it looks as if its foot is broken. The foot is bloody at the break and it has blood up under one wing. It's breathing hard and shaking so I brought it in the house and put it in a laundry basket with a towel under it to kind of hold it up and comfort it. I also put a heat lamp above it but I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, help!

I tried to offer it water but it won't drink. Should I just place the injured chick back out with it's mother and sibling and keep them locked up in the pen? Will the mother hen take care of it? I dunno what to do so please give me advice. Thank you so much all!

This is just so sad I can't even think. I was so, so tickled as this was the first time I've ever had chicks hatch under a hen and now this...

Again, thank you!

~tj

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like maybe one of the other chickens might have attacked it. I don't think there is anything the mother could do for it. If the foot is broken to the point of blood that doesn't sound good. you might try splinting but if the bone is sticking out of the skin then i don't think it has much of a chance, so sorry.

 

[Judy]

Usually the mama protects her chicks from the flock. If your mama is protective, there could have been some sort of accident, maybe it got tangled in something. Chickens get into weird trouble sometimes.

If it won't eat or drink there is probably nothing you can do for it. It might be happier under mama -- if she will take it and not attack it. It might need to be put out of its misery.

I'm sorry.

 

[ICallMyselfCherie']

It sounds like you're doing the best thing for him. It doesn't sound good, but keeping him warm and protected should make him most comfortable. I'm sorry this happened to you and the chickie.

 

[TJ]

Thank you so much to all of you for responding! There is no protruding bone but you can see where its little foot is a bit twisted and it can't stand on it at all. I've never dealt with a sick or injured chick that has been born with its mother there, before I've always been the mother. lol... I thought maybe it's best to let it be with its mother and let nature take its course, I took him/her back out to the chicken house and put it, its mother and its sibling back into their little pen and I put electrolyte powder in their water. As soon as I sat the little chick down, it peeped and the mother hen stood up a little bit and the little chick hobbled over and disappeared under her. I put a warming lite above them to ward off any chill in case she gets up and away from the injured one. I guess I'll just keep checking in on them and see what happens. I don't think that the mother will pick on it, she's been very protective and when I found the injured chick she was setting on top of it, it was as if she got up to let me see it when I walked up to her. Do most mother hens care for their baby chicks when they are injured or sick or do they discard them and let them die?

I said a prayer before I closed the door on the chicken house. All I can hope for is the best for the little thing...

I have to say that Backyard Chickens has offered the best comfort for me in times of need and for all the other times in between, and for that I thank you.

Blessings all,
tj