Help!

[jlasuzi]

2 day old chicks have pecked open the craws of 2 of the babies. I have separated them, but I don't know how to treat it, or how to prevent it from happening to other chicks.

 

[ChurkLover]

Can you post a picture? How bad is it? I know when my birds have been injured, neosporin has kept the infection out but if your babies are bleeding very badly, I am not sure what to do! I am sorry I don't know how to treat it, but I am hoping this post will get your message noticed by someone who can help! I hope it works out!

 

[Sorin]

Separate and treat with neosporin right now. Get the stuff without pain reliever. Make sure your chicks are not crowded and try to put some stuff in the brooder to distract them, like stuffed toys maybe a small beach for a perch. Mine love the stuffed toys, I have 2 in there right now, they jump on them, peck at them, play king of the mountain. Also, if you do not have a red heat bulb or lamp get one, the red light has a calming effect on them as well as keeping them from noticing blood on the others. Once a chick or chicken is bleeding all the others will peck at it incessantly.

 

[jlasuzi]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have treated both. One is not doing well at all, everything she eats or drinks falls right out. It is a huge hole. The other is not as bad. I am going to get stuffed animals now to try and distract them. It seems to be only this certain breed that is the bullies. I have looked up the chicks and they appear to be Egyptians. They are very aggressive. They are also the two that are injured.

 

[Clairabelle]

Sorry to hear about your babies. I agree with Sorin, making our room "pink" with pink curtains really cuts down on the aggressiveness. Every time I open the curtains (which do not make the room dark, just pink) one of my 3 week old chicks start pecking the others, it seems that one of them in particular is aggressive, I don't know why, but this certainly helps. Good luck!

 

[chi-chick]

If the opening is that big the food falls out it will need to be sutured closed, no doubt about it. Do you have a vet close? It shouldn't be to costly, but it needs to be sutured.

Good luck and let us know how it does.

Charlene

 

[klmclain1]

Those of you with much more experience than I may smack me for this, but I've seen others on this site who have done the suturing themselves. If you can't get to the vet...do a search here for that to see how they're doing it. I've even seen some with dental floss. Best wishes!

 

[jlasuzi]

To everyone who responded to my post. I thought I would let you know that both chicks are alive and well. The one who had food and water falling out has healed nicely. I treated her with blue medicine and isolated her. She is small and very aggressive but eating and drinking well. Her craw does not stick out like the others, but she seems fine. The other female with only the small hole is still healing, but eating and drinking. She also is small for her age. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[stargazingmommy]

I know for me my kids and fur pets I use super glue in place of sutures. Powdered alum stopwatch a lot of bleeding and cayenne pepper drunk in water constructs blood vessels TEMPORARILY slowing or stopping bleeding, the pepper can buy time to figure things out