Injured Chick Turning Yellow

[BWScree]

Hello, chicken people. I posted about 5 days ago unsure if it was humane to try to keep my 5 week old pullet alive after having her wing torn off by a predator. I ultimately decided to keep supporting her the best I could, as long as she still seemed to be trying to live (ie eating, talking, etc). She still seems to want to keep fighting, but I’m concerned that infection may be taking over.

The good news: she’s still alive, still eating a lot, still drinking (less than she’s eating, but she IS drinking), still peeping, still pooping normal, still aware of her surroundings, and doesn’t smell gross

The bad news: she can’t really stand or walk (though she does still try, and seems a little more successful at it than she did 2 days ago), her breast on the injured side seems swollen and tender, and she’s turning yellow.

The yellow is my main concern with her right now. I feel like the rest of her issues could be attributed to the simple fact that she survived a traumatic injury 7 days ago and just may need time to recover. This apparent jaundice has me pretty concerned though. I was unable to procure oral antibiotics of any kind for her so I’m wondering if this yellowing is indicative of infection. Her wound site seems to be pretty okay, all things considered. It doesn’t look or smell infected and appears to be healing. Can anyone speak on this? Is there any non-killing her slowly reason that my poor injured bird is turning yellow? I’ve attached 2 pictures of her and one of her sister, for comparison to a healthy bird of the same breed.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@azygous
@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
Is this jaundice? Does this look like a kidney or liver issue to you?

 

[Eggcessive]

I think that does look like jaundice. It has turned her comb and face all yellow. Is her skin yellow on her belly and vent area? She may be in liver failure. Has she been taking any fluids or eating much? Is a vet possible tomorrow?

 

[BWScree]

I think that does look like jaundice. It has turned her comb and face all yellow. Is her skin yellow on her belly and vent area? She may be in liver failure. Has she been taking any fluids or eating much? Is a vet possible tomorrow?

I called my local vet last week after the incident, and they were pretty dismissive and said they were booked several days out and also don’t see bird patients. They basically told me to keep the wound clean and see what happens, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I don’t think I can get her to a vet this weekend without a 75mi one way drive, and I’d really prefer not to make that trip just to pay a vet to tell me there’s nothing that can be done, ya know?

Her skin is pale pink-ish white everywhere I can see except her face and her feet. Her feet are also yellowing in the spots where they’re not black. She seems to have a healthy appetite for food, but I don’t think she’s drinking enough. Like I’ll see her take a sip or two here and there but definitely not as enthusiastically or as often as she eats.

It’s just starting to look and feel really grim - she mostly just lies down with her eyes closed all day.
She’ll perk up periodically to eat or to yell at me for bothering her when I’m checking on her, or cleaning her/her space, so it seems she still has a little bit of fight in her but she just looks so sad and weak a lot of the time.

If she is in liver failure she’s certainly dying, right? Like even if I get her to a vet it’s unlikely that she comes back from that? Or is there something that could help her that late in the process?

 

[Eggcessive]

I doubt if a vet could help much if she is in liver failure. Some will see chickens, but some are just not any more knowledgeable that you are. Xrays and lab work costs hundreds of dollars. There may not be much you can do except give her supportive care. Is she pooping normally and is her crop emptying overnight? You could tube feed her water and even some raw egg and KayTee baby bird feed. I just think that she could have unknown internal injuries. Oxygen tubing and aquarium air tubing from the fish isle of WalMart can fit a 35 ml syringe from the feed store. Amazon sells 16 French tubes (adult chicken size) with a large tipped syringe for about $12. But it would take a couple of days to get one. Here it is:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CX8QX6Q...3d1c&s=hpc&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

 

[BWScree]

I doubt if a vet could help much if she is in liver failure. Some will see chickens, but some are just not any more knowledgeable that you are. Xrays and lab work costs hundreds of dollars. There may not be much you can do except give her supportive care. Is she pooping normally and is her crop emptying overnight? You could tube feed her water and even some raw egg and KayTee baby bird feed. I just think that she could have unknown internal injuries. Oxygen tubing and aquarium air tubing from the fish isle of WalMart can fit a 35 ml syringe from the feed store. Amazon sells 16 French tubes (adult chicken size) with a large tipped syringe for about $12. But it would take a couple of days to get one. Here it is:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CX8QX6Q...3d1c&s=hpc&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

Thank you so much for replying. That’s kind of what I was thinking about the vet; I really want to do my best for her but I also am just not in a place where I can drop hundreds of dollars on her. She is still pooping normally. It looks exactly like her healthy sisters’ poop and doesn’t have a foul smell or anything. I’m not sure about her vent, as I make sure she always has access to food so I’m not exactly sure what her eating schedule is. I just know I see her eating fairly often when I check on her and that she always eats when I put fresh food in for her. I have noticed that the vent seems full a lot of the time but I honestly didn’t know what it was or that you should notice changes it in until yesterday so I will start paying attention to that now.

Tube watering is a good idea. I did try forcing her to take some water with electrolytes with a syringe the other day but she fought me so much it kind of didn’t seem worth it, given the amount of stress it caused her. Thanks again for your input!

 

[Eggcessive]

Normally the whitecap in poop is white, but in liver disease, it looks yellow from bile excretion. Just wondered if you have seen that?

 

[BWScree]

It didn’t stand out as being yellowish to me, but actually I checked on her right after I replied to your last message and she seemed to have declined dramatically overnight - it was immediately apparent that she wasn’t going to survive the weekend, likely even the day. She didn’t even open her eyes or peep at me when I touched her so I euthanized her this morning. I really hate this part of being a chicken keeper

 

[LilFinnGirl]

It didn’t stand out as being yellowish to me, but actually I checked on her right after I replied to your last message and she seemed to have declined dramatically overnight - it was immediately apparent that she wasn’t going to survive the weekend, likely even the day. She didn’t even open her eyes or peep at me when I touched her so I euthanized her this morning. I really hate this part of being a chicken keeper

So sorry for your loss

 

[BWScree]

So sorry for your loss

Thank you, it’s definitely a sad morning but it is also kind of a relief to have it resolved, even though it’s not the ending I was hoping for.