Tilhana
Songster
Hi all,
We have some 1-day-old chicks in a brooder and my 3-year-old accidentally stepped on one. It was a near miss - I think she only pinched its tail. No obvious signs of injury other than some bleeding around the cloaca, which seems to have stopped now. Can't tell for sure if it was coming from the cloaca itself or from another spot around the tail area.
She was clearly in pain at first, panting and eyes closed, but after maybe 10 or 20 minutes of being held, checked for other injuries (and locking the shed so the kids can't get into the brooder unsupervised again), she seems to be doing a bit better.
She's hanging out in the warm incubator now, to keep the other chicks from pecking at the bloody area. I applied some iodine to the area and held her on a paper towel until the bleeding seemed to have stopped. There wasn't that much blood but I can't tell if there are any internal injuries. She goes back and forth between walking around with her eyes open, and apparently napping. Chirps occasionally but not incessantly.
My husband initially told me I should euthanize her as there was no way a chick could survive such an injury. However he told me the same thing when a hen was mauled by a fox, and yet I was able to nurse that hen back to health despite much more grevious injuries than what this appears to be.
Am I right in thinking she may fully recover? Does anyone have suggestions for other ways to check for injury, or anything else I can do to help her heal? Other thoughts/suggestions, other than the obvious one about not letting the kids get into the brooder?
Thank you!
We have some 1-day-old chicks in a brooder and my 3-year-old accidentally stepped on one. It was a near miss - I think she only pinched its tail. No obvious signs of injury other than some bleeding around the cloaca, which seems to have stopped now. Can't tell for sure if it was coming from the cloaca itself or from another spot around the tail area.
She was clearly in pain at first, panting and eyes closed, but after maybe 10 or 20 minutes of being held, checked for other injuries (and locking the shed so the kids can't get into the brooder unsupervised again), she seems to be doing a bit better.
She's hanging out in the warm incubator now, to keep the other chicks from pecking at the bloody area. I applied some iodine to the area and held her on a paper towel until the bleeding seemed to have stopped. There wasn't that much blood but I can't tell if there are any internal injuries. She goes back and forth between walking around with her eyes open, and apparently napping. Chirps occasionally but not incessantly.
My husband initially told me I should euthanize her as there was no way a chick could survive such an injury. However he told me the same thing when a hen was mauled by a fox, and yet I was able to nurse that hen back to health despite much more grevious injuries than what this appears to be.
Am I right in thinking she may fully recover? Does anyone have suggestions for other ways to check for injury, or anything else I can do to help her heal? Other thoughts/suggestions, other than the obvious one about not letting the kids get into the brooder?
Thank you!
