Muscle issues, broken wing?

[Madie'sOddFlock]

3 days ago I found a chick flopped over on her back, "turtling" as I like to call it. She could not get up and was laying on a wing outstretched. I picked her up and she ran out of the coop but fell on her face and ended up back in the same position. So I picked her up and brought her in. We've been giving her wet food, scrambled eggs, and lots of water and vitamins and electrolytes. She seems to be ok but nowhere near good enough to go back outside. She struggles with balance, holds her wings down a bit more than I'd like, walks a little funny, and every so often will flip back over again. Last night she flipped over and we noticed that one wing has a big green spot with some scabbing, which may just be from where she scratches when she tries to get up.

She's somewhere between 5 and 10 weeks old... I'm really not sure because the lady I got her off of really seemed to not have a clue I was told they were all 9-10 weeks old when I got them, but there are some including this one that aren't quite fully feathered.

At night I have to shut off the heat lamp(far above her, just enough to give her a couple more degrees of heat), and cover her cage entirely with towels, and make her cuddle up with a blanket or she screams for hours and freaks out, but she does fine during the day... I don't know what's wrong with her. I was thinking B12 deficiency but I've never seen this green wing thing(bruising???)

Thank you!

 

[Feather queen]

Oh the poor baby, I had a rooster who broke his wing after being attacked by dogs, he had a gaping hole in his side and kept tripping over and stepping on his wing. We ended up spraying antiseptic spray (pink spray) on the wounds and using a bandage wrapped around his wing in as much of a natural position as possible. After wrapping just the wing we looped it over his back under is other wing and under his belly a few times. We would take it off at night to let the wounds air but it was on first thing in the morning again. I have no idea what is causing the green stuff but pictures might help.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Well, I just finally got around to taking photos of her but the bruising is gone now she's still suffering muscularly. She was doing better for days but I found her rolled over on her back again this morning(the dog actually barked to alert me to it) and then again when I got home from work... No idea how long she was stuck before I got home and now she seems to have no energy. We have her some grit and some greens so she kind of scooted along the floor of her cage to get to that, but won't actually get up and walk now... Idk how much you can actually make out in these photos because of the heat lamp, but this is how I found her.
I would think she's sick with something but no one else in the coop has shown any symptoms so I doubt she's sick with a virus or bacteria.

 

[coach723]

What vitamins are you giving? I would be giving a B complex or Super B complex tablet or capsule daily, for her size probably 1/4 to 1/2 of one. You can crush or empty and mix it in with a small bit of moistened feed if she'll eat it. Also give a Vitamin E capsule daily with a tiny bit of selenium (just a tiny sliver) to help with the uptake of the E, that will cover if it's a form of wry neck (I can't tell that from the pictures). Just poke a hole in the capsule and squeeze it out, again you can mix it in the feed as long as she eats it all. See if you get improvement with those. By 5 weeks they are usually feathered enough to not need supplemental heat, but I can't see well enough in the pictures to see how developed she is. The loud chirping is usually distress, she may be lonely, especially at night. A small stuffed animal she can snuggle with, or a safe small mirror so she can see 'another' chick can sometimes help. Make sure the stuffed animal has no parts she can peck off and swallow, or get tangled in.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

What vitamins are you giving? I would be giving a B complex or Super B complex tablet or capsule daily, for her size probably 1/4 to 1/2 of one. You can crush or empty and mix it in with a small bit of moistened feed if she'll eat it. Also give a Vitamin E capsule daily with a tiny bit of selenium (just a tiny sliver) to help with the uptake of the E, that will cover if it's a form of wry neck (I can't tell that from the pictures). Just poke a hole in the capsule and squeeze it out, again you can mix it in the feed as long as she eats it all. See if you get improvement with those. By 5 weeks they are usually feathered enough to not need supplemental heat, but I can't see well enough in the pictures to see how developed she is. The loud chirping is usually distress, she may be lonely, especially at night. A small stuffed animal she can snuggle with, or a safe small mirror so she can see 'another' chick can sometimes help. Make sure the stuffed animal has no parts she can peck off and swallow, or get tangled in.

I haven't gone out to look for specific vitamin b supplements yet, I've just been giving an all around vitamin supplement. But she seems to only be getting worse today. I've dealt with wry neck and it definitely doesn't present like that, but I'll have to keep that method in mind the next time I deal with it.

She is feathered enough to not really need supplemental heat, but where she's alone we've got one set up way away from her(it really only increases the temperature probably a degree or two near her, but my boyfriend is an over protective first year chicken dad(I've had them for years)) she also definitely prefers the side of her cage closer to the lamp.

I've been cleaning out the cage every night and removing the food and water, and then giving her a blanket to snuggle with. Once the cage is covered up so she doesn't get light and she's got her blanket she quietly goes to sleep for the night.

I'll have to grab vitamin b tomorrow(and keep it handy for the future).

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Unfortunately it looks like she likely isn't going to make it. I'm not sure if I didn't get vitamins to her soon enough or if something else is going on that I just can't figure out. I'm at a loss as to what else to do. She smells really bad, and not really in a normal chicken way. She's no longer walking at all, hasn't in a few days if I'm remembering correctly. She was happily eating and drinking when we would bring it to her but now I can only get a few drops of food or water in her each time I feed her. I've given in and been mostly just feeding her egg yolk because at least that get nutrients and some form of liquid into her, but nothing seems to be helping. I can't sit around and feed her every hour or anything unfortunately, so I'm really not sure she'll make it much longer. And at this point I worry that force feeding her is only prolonging her suffering. I really don't understand what is wrong with her.

 

[coach723]

If there is a bad smell, then likely there is some kind of infection going on. It's probably too advanced for antibiotics to have a chance to help at this point. Hard to say for sure without necropsy. It might be kinder to euthanize at this point rather than let her suffer, since she's just going downhill. I'm very sorry. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, they just don't make it.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

UPDATE: she seemed to be doing better, happily eating and drinking but no ability to use her legs. We sent her to my bf's grandma assuming she would have the time to give her proper pt. Well, she enjoyed a nice warm Epsom salt bath, ate a bunch of scrambled eggs, and quietly passed away.
Thank you for all the help, I'll definitely keep all of the things I learned in my arsenal for the future. And my first aid kit/medicine cabinet has now grown
I'm just happy she got to have one last good day.
No signs of sickness in anyone else even weeks later so I'm still not sure what exactly happened.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry she didn't make it. It's often impossible to know what really happened without a necropsy. There are so many thing that can take them down, even congenital things that are not obvious from the outside. You tried, and gave her a chance. Sometimes there just isn't anything that can be done. I'm sorry for your loss.