Last night when I was putting my free-range Cornish Cross chicks back into the barn, I accidentally stepped on one's foot. It seemed fine, so I put it away. This afternoon we noticed (I assume it is the same one, they all look alike...) that the foot is very swollen around the ankle and the bottom of the foot. It looks like toes sticking out of a marble, it's swollen that much. The chick doesn't seem able to flex the toes at all on its own, but the toes do not feel broken to me. The ankle area is purple and red like it is bruised, I wonder if it is broken. The chick can walk on it a little bit, but prefers to stand still with the foot held up. I isolated her to a cage with a buddy to keep her calm. She's not big enough yet to process, I slowed them way down and she's maybe half a pound even though she is four weeks old (I accidentally slowed them more than I planned, so now I'm increasing their food to get them growing faster again). Any suggestions on what to do? Should I bandage the foot to take the swelling down and help it stay immobile if it is broken? I can't feel through the swelling whether or not there is a fracture.
