Have a baby NN chick (just three days old) that somehow ended up with both eyes injured and bloody.
He was under a broody, so either the broody herself did it (unlikely) or another hen in the coop did it (more likely), or he caught his little head somewhere and pulled it out (my guess). Cleaned up the blood and after washing with saline I was able to examine the eyes and it APPEARS that the eyes are intact, just the damage near them is causing swelling. I've cleaned up the little chick as much as possible, and of course he is separated and in his own little crate with an ecoglow and a stuffed animal (tried to put one of the other chicks in with him but the peeping for mommy went on ALL day).
I wasn't sure what other injuries he had and whether I'd have to put him down, but he's gone from weak to MUCH better today - walking around and peeping for mommy. Both eyes are still swollen shut, but if I open them they still appear undamaged. I'm using vetericyn on the eyes and cleaning with sterile saline. Have abx if needed, but no signs of infection.
He's on his last day of yolk, so he's going to need to eat. Been giving him just a few drops of poly-vi-sol plus a little sugar water and he's improved as far as energy, but he will only drink when his beak is dipped and can't see to peck food. Any thoughts on what to feed a chick that's liquid and will give him more nutrition than sugar? Milk isn't really digested all that well by birds, so I'm avoiding that. Am thinking of possibly making a boiled egg into a slurry, but that may not be enough.
Hopefully the swelling will go down soon and I can assess if he's blind or not. Might have to put him down anyways but he's feisty so giving him a chance.
He was under a broody, so either the broody herself did it (unlikely) or another hen in the coop did it (more likely), or he caught his little head somewhere and pulled it out (my guess). Cleaned up the blood and after washing with saline I was able to examine the eyes and it APPEARS that the eyes are intact, just the damage near them is causing swelling. I've cleaned up the little chick as much as possible, and of course he is separated and in his own little crate with an ecoglow and a stuffed animal (tried to put one of the other chicks in with him but the peeping for mommy went on ALL day).
I wasn't sure what other injuries he had and whether I'd have to put him down, but he's gone from weak to MUCH better today - walking around and peeping for mommy. Both eyes are still swollen shut, but if I open them they still appear undamaged. I'm using vetericyn on the eyes and cleaning with sterile saline. Have abx if needed, but no signs of infection.
He's on his last day of yolk, so he's going to need to eat. Been giving him just a few drops of poly-vi-sol plus a little sugar water and he's improved as far as energy, but he will only drink when his beak is dipped and can't see to peck food. Any thoughts on what to feed a chick that's liquid and will give him more nutrition than sugar? Milk isn't really digested all that well by birds, so I'm avoiding that. Am thinking of possibly making a boiled egg into a slurry, but that may not be enough.
Hopefully the swelling will go down soon and I can assess if he's blind or not. Might have to put him down anyways but he's feisty so giving him a chance.
