Injured 2-3 week old peachick - NEWSFLASH - Talons to blame!

[ruth]

Do they have enough room in the "makeshift" brooder? There should be plenty of room for them to run around. A perch will help, mine love the perch. I guess it's possible the older chick is doing the damage but have you ever seen it attack and try and hurt the younger ones? If so, you may need to separate it.

Ironically, I just finished sewing up a duck. Seems it flew the pen and something got it - I'm guessing my German Shepherd puppy. It had two tears around neck and a patch of skin missing from under belly. The neck wounds were easy to sew up but the belly just didn't have enough skin there. They are amazing creatures though and can survive. If you think the other tear needs a stitch, go ahead and put one it. I find it heals better than gaping open.

 

[JestersEye]

Quote:
I thought they did, for a while at least. We're still just getting started as bird owners, but we're planning to build an outdoor pen and a coop with a brooder light to provide heat, hopefully in the next week or two. I figured there was no rush due to their age, and that it was still too soon to put them outside without all their grown-up feathers. It has started to get cold in the evenings already.

I haven't noticed the bigger one acting deliberately mean to the others; no pecking, for example. But it does sometimes try to step on them... However, I thought this might be normal behavior because I've also seen the smaller birds jump on the big one's back. Maybe they're all just trying to get a "higher" position than everyone else? I will try to keep a closer eye on them, to see what's going on in the cage. If I have to separate the big one, I will feel kinda sorry that it has to be all alone with no flock until the others catch up to its size a bit.

Originally, I expected the breeder to have 4 Black Shoulder and 2 India Blue chicks for me, all around the same age. It wasn't until someone had driven to his farm special that I found out that the only BS he had was this older chick, along with 4 IBs. Not what I had wanted or expected! Now, I'm just trying to make the best of it, with the disappointment of not even being able to breed for the BS variety since the IBs are pure. I have to wait to see what sex the BS is before I can go looking to find either a BS or a split mate.

Oh well, thanks for listening and for offering your advice. I will go ahead and stitch the other chick. I don't like the idea of letting it heal badly or get infected when I have the ability to do something about it. "Doctor Doolittle to the rescue!"

 

[JestersEye]

I just finished stitching the other peachick's side/back (under the right wing, just like the other chick). I'm glad I did... the wound was a little bigger than I had thought, but there was still a layer of fat or connective tissue over most of the gash, whereas the first chick was cut all the way through. We disinfected and put in 2 stitches this time, so it should be good as new. At least the chicks behave well when I hold 'em still.

I am getting worried about that big BS bully, though. Sometimes, it seems to be trying to "high step" just to bring its foot down and squish the smaller chicks. I hope the "pedicure" was enough to prevent any more scratches for a while. I think we might have to move them into a larger, outdoor enclosure sooner than expected, however.

 

[thewarriorchild]

"use the small animal clippers to trim its toenails (and I have the pooped-on shirt to prove it)."

I was just cleaning off the pigeon and he/she pooped. It was in the sink though! You need to be closer to me!! I need help sewing up and cleaning this pigeon issue I have, poor thing...

 

[deerman]

Best to pull the Blackshoulder chick. Its just so much larger and the smaller chicks just get in the way. He is not hurting them because he is a bully.
Let the other get larger , then put them back together. When the IB are about 3 months old.
GREAT JOB DOC.

 

[JestersEye]

I wish I were close enough to help, warriorchild.

If you just have someone to poke the needle through, most of the job is in the holding and manipulating the edges of the skin around the wound. As long as you remain calm, the birds seem to handle the ordeal remarkably well, though.

I can tell you what I was told before my first attempt... Use a small sewing needle and some clean thread and disinfect the needle and forceps (or large tweezers) with alcohol. Also, rinse the wound with warm water / hydrogen peroxide solution or betadine to disinfect, both before and after suturing. When stitching, you should be careful to poke the needle through the skin far enough from the edge so it won't rip through easily, and be careful NOT to adhere skin to the underlying muscle tissue. Tie each stitch off separately (i.e. not like lacing a shoelace or sewing a piece of cloth) by adding at least a double or triple knot. Then just cut the thread, leaving one or two inches so you can find it again in 10-14 days, because they have to be cut out once its all healed. (That will be fun, I'm sure!)

I hope these directions (given to me by an experienced avian rehab / animal science technician) will help you. He gave me the confidence to handle my own emergency. You've probably already done the worst part by cleaning up the pigeon. If stitches are needed, I'm sure you can do it. It wasn't nearly as difficult for me as it might sound.

Good luck!

 

[JestersEye]

Quote:
Thanks, deerman.

I will try to get them separated today. It will likely whistle like crazy, trying to get back to its flock, though. I don't really blame it (even though I called it a bully). It's just unfortunate that it is so much larger than its smaller companions. It may even turn out to be my favorite, since I really like the BS coloring.

I will try to devise a plan to place them all near each other but in separate pens, so they could still huddle near each other where the wire of the cages meet. Do you think that would make them calmer or even more anxious? Sometimes, they react differently than I expect. Would it be better if they were kept far apart, instead? I know you have peas, so I'm trusting your judgement here.

 

[deerman]

Jesterseye sound likes that will keep him calmer.

Now the blackshoulder is a pattern,and comes in many colors. Guess your is a Blue? Neat thing is watching the male going from a white looking chicks to a adult. Female will stay light color.

 

[JestersEye]

Yes, it's a blue BS. I know... I am waiting to see what it will become. So far, I don't see any darkening, but its still young yet (about 6 weeks, I think). How old do they have to be before they might start showing their "true colors" if they are males?

I really like the look of the BS cocks over the pure IBs. Personally, I think the darker wing coloring is more attractive than the brown barred pattern. We are hoping for a male, but if its a hen, then I'll just have to try to find a BS cockeral as soon as I can. We really hope to breed that variety. If nothing else, we can always keep a split IB offspring and breed it back to this BS parent to get another BS breeder, I guess. That would be a few years down the road, though, since they take so long to mature.