Help this newbie

[myjeangenie]

I noticed as I was cleaning out pen tiny bit of blood in chips. Lifted a chicks wing and there is a hole. I have no clue what to do. I'm in way over my head

 

[myjeangenie]

I'm ready to frikin cry right now.

 

[TexasChickenUnv]

Not trying to state the probably obvious, but if chickie is with other chicks, remove it so the others won't peck on it more. It almost looks to me like a rodent attack--are your chicks in a predator proof coop? Mice and rats can get in some rrreeeaaalllyyy small holes.

I've about 50-50 luck rehabbing something like this. I'd start with cleaning the wound and some antibiotic, and keep it isolated. Other folks on here are a lot smarter than me, though.

Sorry about your chick.

 

[myjeangenie]

My chicks are inside. Away from any thing but each other. What seems obvious to you guys.. Is foreign to me. I'm at exactly 10 days of ever being near a chicken in my life. I'm trying. I'm 300$ in it now. There's no going back. My **** father thought getting my kids chicks for Easter would be a great idea. Guess he thought I would dump them at a farm once the novelty wore off. My books are on their way. My coop is coming from California. All I have is this site. The wound is dried up. Like a scab now. Should I be putting anything on it. I will separate the chick.

 

[1cityslicker]

What kind of enclosure do you have the chicks in? Is there anything that could have caused a puncture? I'm thinking that something punctured it then the other chicks or even itself was pecking at it. Just breathe, relax, segregate the chick from others and hopefully it heals. I'm wondering if you could neosporin the wound then bandage it up?

 

[myjeangenie]

I've seperated him. Another chick or. Itself had to of caused it. They are in a tub like the one they were in at tractor supply. I will put some antibiotic ointment on. It's under the wing. On its body. They also have the antibiotic in their water. It's dried. It's definitely new. But it's not actively bleeding now.

 

[TexasChickenUnv]

Well, you're definitely in the right place for advice! Fair warning, chickens are addictive.

Two books I have on my bookshelf are Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry, and Chickens for Dummies. And I search for lots of topics on these forums.

Hope chickie continues to heal. If it is still eating and drinking, it may be ok. Seems kind of a strange place for the other chickens to be picking on it, but maybe it had something dried on it, the others saw it, and started to go after it.

 

[jnntefend]

It's good you segregated it. I would also watch the other chicks for signs of pecking. Somethign you can do is make sure the chicks aren't too tight in there. How many babies is it? Another trick to avoid cannibalism is to make sure they have bedding to peck in, and maybe suspending a small pie tin on some string in the brooder, so they can peck at that. It could have been that this chick got some food on it, and the others were pecking it off. It sounds hopeful that this little one will recover, and feel free to keep asking questions and getting help here. There are some great, really knowledgeable folks here. And welcome.

 

[myjeangenie]

Both Storeys guide, and Chickens for dummies are on their way from amazon. It honestly may be that they are getting too tight in their space.. they are growing faster then i expected, and atm this is all i have for them. I have 3 cats and a dog, that arent pleased about the chirping they cant get to..until the weather breaks and my nice spacious coop comes from california..im outta options..The wound is under the wing, its not even visible unless the wing is picked up, i would have never noticed it, but i saw a tiny spot of red on the wood shavings as i was changing bedding today. they have bedding to peck in, plenty of food & h2o w/antibiotic in it. I put neosporin on the wound. i did return chickie to the group because he was squawking loudly to be back with its friends, they were also squawking for his return. He/she seems happy, eating, drinking, hanging out.. not too warm or too cold..It may very well be self inflicted. Im just wondering now if it was like that 10 days ago, when we got the 6 of them. Im constantly checking in on them. Thank you guys for the advice, and support..Im really NEW at any of this. I need this chick to pull through. Ive explained to the kids that they may not ALL make it..It would still be devastating for all of us to lose one. Even though i didnt really want them to begin with, ive given 100% into taking this all the way. Making it a family affair, and doing it right. My husband is not an animal lover, so its really up to me, and 3 kids under 7 yrs old..which as you can imagine isnt much help at all!!! LOL Thanks again for talking me off the ledge. Ill keep yall posted!!

 

[1cityslicker]

I feel like it's best no matter how much the chick misses it's roommates to segregate it until the wound heals. Anytime a chick or chicken spots blood they're going to peck at it. If you have a regular 250w heat lamp the light will make the blood and wound stand out more which will make others peck at it more frequently.