Month old chicken struggling to live, don't know what to do! Help!

[Wojcika2]

About a week ago i moved my young chickens into the older chicken coop. I sectioned off a part of the coop for them so the hens wouldn't hurt the babies. The hens were persistent in finding a way through the block i had put up. A hen had successfully figured out how to squeeze over it, in which led to one of my month old polish chicks to get a large peck on the head. I discovered the injured chick after changing the food and water, the chick was hiding behind the metal food holder. I don't know how long this chick was there, but it was very dehydrated, hungry, and looked as if it was saying its last goodbyes. He had a very swollen and large bruise on the top of his head.

I took the chick into my home in a box in the hopes that it would survive, the chick drank and ate consistently and things seemed to be going well. But i noticed that the chick's leg wasn't working properly, all he could really do was hobble around. I figured he was weak and just needed some time to regain his strength. After a few days passed the chick was fine but the leg still wasn't working for him, he sat in a split comfortably but could not stand sadly. At this point i thought it was brain damage and the chick was paralyzed. Despite his injury the chick was very lively, chirped to my voice, and even tried to get out of the box. I tried to let him sit with the flock he grew up with, but he still had his disability, and the other chicks just stepped on him.

More days passed and he was still in his box, using that bum leg of his less and less. I noticed recently that his health was decreasing. He developed this "wheeze" type thing and i could tell that he was having trouble breathing. Instead of chirping it was more like small wheeze, he even looks like he is chirping but no sound is coming out. He has also been very drowsy, whenever i pick him up his head droops and his eyes close. I don't know what is wrong but this chicken is definitely not right. Now, the chicken's leg is hardly responsive and it is stiffening...not bending right. The chick is also having a lot of trouble eating, whenever he takes a few bites of his starter feed it looks like he has a lot of trouble swallowing, and he doesn't look like he can breathe while he eats. I hate watching this chicken struggle and im trying my best to keep him warm and nourished but i just get the feeling that he is giving up.

Any ideas on what to do?
Thank you.

 

[nancypo]

I'm wondering if it has a broken leg and some infection has spread, maybe pneumonia now? Do what you can. I lost what appeared to be a healthy chick for no apparent reason after 2 weeks. It must have had a parasite or something...

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

You're doing the right things
If you can't see any infection as such, maybe consider bringing another chickn into the house. They're social creatures and get depressed alone. And a lot of chicks would just die alone from expierience. Really, it would be your decision to make here, whether to introduce another chick or try to use some antibiotics. Tricky, you don't want him to die from being alone, nor do you want to introduce a new chick to a possible virus. I'd think about it and look at the symptons carefully.

Good luck x