Monumental mistake. Will they be ok?

[Philipwharris]

Yesterday we cleaned out the brooder, loved on the babies, filled their waterer, sprinkled some goodies and closed up the brooder. Checked on them last night. All seemed well. Wife checked on them this morning and all is great. Went to check on them tonight and realized we never put their food back in the coop they went about 24 hours with no food and managed to drink all their water. Over a gallon. There are 17 chicks. We immediately gave them food, sunflowers seeds. Refilled the water with hydrohen (probiotics & electrolytes). Then we realized 3 out of 17 are bleeding. The youngest being 4 weeks. We sprayed all with blu-kote. We feel horrible. We got distracted with the kids coming off the bus and just completely forgot since they have a gallon size food thing. Are they going to be ok? Please no harsh comments. We feel bad enough. What should we be doing as far as the wounds. The worse one is about the size of a quarter on a 6 week old rhode island red right by her tail.

 

[Folly's place]

We've all done stupid things! They should heal up fine if you keep ahead of any more injuries.
Just wondering though; how much space per chick? Do they have grit to go with those treats? What are they eating?
You might have to separate the injured chicks, preferably in their pen behind a wire barrier, so they are still 'with' their flockmates. Or, if you have one or two very aggressive chicks, separate them out of site of the others for a week or two.
Having shelters in the pen where chicks can get out of site helps too; not blind corners, but private areas.
Two separate feeders may also help.
Mary

 

[Bamabexchicks]

Yesterday we cleaned out the brooder, loved on the babies, filled their waterer, sprinkled some goodies and closed up the brooder. Checked on them last night. All seemed well. Wife checked on them this morning and all is great. Went to check on them tonight and realized we never put their food back in the coop they went about 24 hours with no food and managed to drink all their water. Over a gallon. There are 17 chicks. We immediately gave them food, sunflowers seeds. Refilled the water with hydrohen (probiotics & electrolytes). Then we realized 3 out of 17 are bleeding. The youngest being 4 weeks. We sprayed all with blu-kote. We feel horrible. We got distracted with the kids coming off the bus and just completely forgot since they have a gallon size food thing. Are they going to be ok? Please no harsh comments. We feel bad enough. What should we be doing as far as the wounds. The worse one is about the size of a quarter on a 6 week old rhode island red right by her tail.

@ChickenCanoe, @Wyorp Rock, @Eggcessive @staceyj

 

[Grits&Eggs]

yikes, hopefully they will be fine. I set my alexa to remind me to feed and check water twice a day, for all the birds, dogs, cats, etc. too much going on for me to remember everything! also I added a second bowl of food and waterer, just in case, lol

 

[danceswithronin]

Please no harsh comments. We feel bad enough.

Dude, one unsecured gate last night led one of my silkies to being killed by my dogs. A stupid mistake. I'm in no position to throw shade at anybody.

In any case though, I think the chicks will be okay. If it was me, I'd clean the wounds well with soap and water, slather them with neosporin (no pain meds added), and then slather/spray the neosporin with Blu-Kote or Peck-No-More. I like Peck-No-More because it apparently tastes nasty and deters whichever chicks are cannibalizing from continuing to do it. I learned this when I had a similar cannibalization problem with my chicks when they were a young due to excessively high temps caused by lack of ventilation and too strong of a lamp (I did not realize that the June/July temps in Alabama meant I did not need a heat lamp in my brooder). It was a simple mistake, but it led to me coming home to a bunch of bloody-butt, squawking chicks. I felt terrible, but I also learned something valuable. Also all the chicks were fine. Just like I think yours will be fine. They're pretty tough.

I guess my point is, shit happens and we respond to it by adapting and learning stuff. The one thing I've learned in the year I've kept chickens so far is that chickenkeeping is a near continuous research hobby.

 

[CaramelKittey]

Looks like you did the right thing when it came to healing their wounds! If there are aggressive chicks, you should try separating them. Not sure why there would be wounds unless there are cannibal chcickens!
Don’t feel bad, we all do these things. Just yesterday I was trimming my parakeets nails and I made him bleed. He recovered and your chicks should do the same!
Don’t feel bad!

 

[danceswithronin]

Not sure why there would be wounds unless there are cannibal chickens!

From what I've read, all chickens are prone to becoming aggressive and cannibalistic with each other in a stressful environment. My guess is the chicks just got hungry, bored, and frustrated and started taking it out on each other. All baby chicks have to do all day is a) eat/drink, and b) test the pecking order, and if they don't have Option A, they're going to double-down on Option B. And once they draw blood, the stimulus of making their flockmates squawk and the fun of having something to chase/stalk and the attraction of the red in the blood is its own entertainment.

OP, another thing you can try that worked for me is to put red dots in the brooder somehow. I tore up red pieces of paper and threw them in the brooder. The chickens are attracted to red and will entertain themselves pecking at the pieces of paper instead of each other. Just make sure they're big enough to not be ingested. Or alternately, throw some chopped dried strawberries in there. My chicks liked eating the strawberries eventually, but mostly just pecked at and played with them.

 

[CaramelKittey]

From what I've read, all chickens are prone to becoming aggressive and cannibalistic with each other in a stressful environment. My guess is the chicks just got hungry, bored, and frustrated and started taking it out on each other.

OP, another thing you can try that worked for me is to put red dots in the brooder somehow. I tore up red pieces of paper and threw them in the brooder. The chickens are attracted to red and will entertain themselves pecking at the pieces of paper instead of each other. Just make sure they're big enough to not be ingested. Or alternately, throw some dried strawberries in there.

That’s genius!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yesterday we cleaned out the brooder, loved on the babies, filled their waterer, sprinkled some goodies and closed up the brooder. Checked on them last night. All seemed well. Wife checked on them this morning and all is great. Went to check on them tonight and realized we never put their food back in the coop they went about 24 hours with no food and managed to drink all their water. Over a gallon. There are 17 chicks. We immediately gave them food, sunflowers seeds. Refilled the water with hydrohen (probiotics & electrolytes). Then we realized 3 out of 17 are bleeding. The youngest being 4 weeks. We sprayed all with blu-kote. We feel horrible. We got distracted with the kids coming off the bus and just completely forgot since they have a gallon size food thing. Are they going to be ok? Please no harsh comments. We feel bad enough. What should we be doing as far as the wounds. The worse one is about the size of a quarter on a 6 week old rhode island red right by her tail.

I would get them all hydrated first - water is much more important. Once they are all drinking offer feed. Forget the sunflower seeds for the the day, chick starter is what they need.
Do you supply grit free choice in the brooder?

Where are the injuries located? Head//vent?
Do you have your coop/run ready for the chicks?

 

[Eggcessive]

Watery chicken feed in a bowl can get plenty of fluids into them. This mistake will probably help you not to make that mistake ever again. Don’t beat yourself up, but these guys are little so they will die pretty quickly without food and water. In older birds that can throw them into a molt. They should be fine, and I’m glad that you discovered the error.