Newly hatched chicks injured by another hen.

[Midnitemoses]

Hello. One of my hens hatched 4 chicks about 4 days ago. Unfortunately, they were injured by another hen. I was able to save 3 of the 4. 2 of those 3 are recovering well and seem to be doing fine. However, the third was injured so badly around the eyes that she is blind, and I do not believe she will ever gain sight due to the extent of injuries. I have nursed her and helped her for the first few days to find water and food. She appears to be healthy despite her sight issue. She does not get around the brooder box well at all and is having difficulty just walking around to find things. I am not sure if I should let her go on this way. Wondering how she will ever find food on her own, and how or if she could survive in a run area with 20 or so other birds. I do not have the time to dedicate to raising and caring for a bird that would need a considerable amount of care. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[IvysAnimals]

She might be able to adapt to the coop and navigate her way around. She might not be able to and best is to put her down. That decision is best if you know what's best for her... Maybe re-homing her to someone who can use the time to help her would also be good!


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[Midnitemoses]

She might be able to adapt to the coop and navigate her way around. She might not be able to and best is to put her down. That decision is best if you know what's best for her... Maybe re-homing her to someone who can use the time to help her would also be good!


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Thank you. I thought putting her down would be best. Still not sure. Very hard to find someone to care for a sick chick where I live. Right now I'm trying to figure out a way to give her food. She is drinking water as long as I dip her beak in it. She is full of energy after drinking but just cant see her way around. Bumping into things and falling over. Running around with her head in the air looking for food. I'm going to try crushing some of her food mixed with water to make it more like a paste and try to feed her with a dropper. See how it goes, and figure it out from there.

 

[Midnitemoses]

Update on injured chicks. All 3 still alive. 24 hrs. since last post. 2 of the chicks are doing just fine and are going to have no problems making it, but the 3rd. chick is still having issues. Very low energy and not chirping at all. I manually fed her water last night and tried feeding her food with a dropper as I mentioned before. Chick did not take food to well. However, whatever nutritional value she got from it helped her make it thru the night. This morning I gave her water and tried feeding her some yogurt, which she did take down with some water. Not sure if yogurt will help or hurt, but it did seem to boost her energy. Gonna try to save her for at least one more day.

 

[BDutch]

Yoghurt is good as an extra.
I hope you can find someone with a very small flock who can take care of a blind chick. If the chick is going to live in a smaller coop /run with no obstacles and only a few chicks she will learn were she can find feed and water (always on the same spot).