Possible brain damage after choking incident in chick

[jessica117]

A couple days ago my husband found one of our 5 day old cochin chicks sitting in the food bowl flailing it's head. Assuming it was choking he rubbed it's neck and got it chirping again. It held its head to the right side and wouldn't hold it up straight, though if you pushed it up it didn't show any signs of pain. It just didn't have much control over it's head. I also noticed that it didn't seem to have any control over it's right wing. It was still eating, drinking and pooping so we decided just to wait. It walks just fine, except for the fact that it likes to run in circles toward the right now. This was Monday. Every day it has been doing a little better, but it no longer has the calm temperament that cochins are known for. It has gained some control over it's wing and is holding it's head up a little better, but it's such a spaz now. Is there anything I can do to help the recovery and is there anything else that could have caused these symptoms?

Thanks!

 

[jessica117]

Forgot this earlier, we have had no problems whatsoever with the other chicks from this hatch.

 

[silkiechicken]

I would say it is possible that it lost a bit of oxygen there choking, and then with the handling to help them get the food out of their neck, they associated human with choking and add some drain bamage, you have a spaz chick. I'd give it a bit of time and hopefully gets better. Should if it's eating and drinking fine.

 

[jessica117]

I think that it is going to be just fine. Every day it gets a little better, though still running in circles and spazing, but it has gained much more head control and it's wing seems to be moving just fine now. Hopefully with frequent handling it will calm down with time.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[arlee453]

There isn't much brain tissue in a chicken to have damage - they seem to heal surprisingly well from head injuries or lack of oxygen issues.

Time and a little supportive care and you'll know in a couple weeks if this is something livable for the chick or not.

Good luck!

 

[silkiechicken]

Best of luck! Might not be any problem recovering since even human babies can be functional and normal adults after half their brain is removed or damaged for some reason!