Strange Lesion on 3-week-old Chick. Advice?

[Debutante]

It's not the greatest photo but I just noticed this odd lesion on the back of one of my chick's neck. Since I'm a complete novice, I would love to get opinions on what this might be and how to treat it, if necessary.
At first I thought it might be a scabbed-over wound but I doubt it. There's no sign of inflammation and it is raised and extremely dark and 'lumpy'. She doesn't seem to be in pain, is eating, drinking, and interacting normally, and all the other chicks in the brood (24 of them) seem fine. I got these chicks from a hatchery and they have never been in contact with other chickens or in an outdoor coop.
From reading the books I'm worried about Fowl Pox virus but I'm hoping there's a less worrisome explanation!!!
And advice, comments, or opinions would be VERY

much appreciated!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would suspect pecking. How big is your brooder for 24. Do they go outside at all?

 

[Debutante]

I would suspect pecking. How big is your brooder for 24. Do they go outside at all?

Hi OldHenLikesDogs, Thank you for your quick reply! The brooder is a 'condo' style construct that we've created out of several dog cages and cardboard surrounds. In total it provides about 48 square feet of space. They have not yet gone outside in the chicken tractor because it's been cold and rainy since I got them... I am, however, counting the minutes until they can have outdoor playtime.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is a decent size. Chicks get bored between 2-3 weeks and need more stimulation. It happens again at 6-8 weeks, so those are the weeks I add more stuff to do or get them out. If it's too cool to put them out during the day than you could bring some outside to them. I give mine clumps of sod to mess with, I have roosts for them to hop up on, and I give them some sand to goof around in. Mine started going outside last week. They are about 3 weeks old and it finally warmed up here a bit.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

As oldhenlikesdogs says a peck
here is what to do:
You can buy BLUE-KOTE from Amazon.
bu the
or tractr supply sells Blue-Kote you spray it on chicken and heals the wound.
If you can't get it right away
I would isolate her in a dog carrier in the garage and doctor it several times a day with Bag Balm.
It heals wounds fast also. may take several days to heal over.
The bag balm will allow you to see the actual wound in a day or so as the top blood will be gone.
Also blue-Kote will you see the wound healing.
As this bird has some majoR problem there.
I personally would isolate it in a dog carrier here it is warm to be like the garage.

Also for the stress of this wound you need this:
WET MASH PROBIOTIC MASH
So here is what I would do at this time to help her get to feeling better


I would start with the Vit E and Vit B complex and Selenium with wet mash

A) chickens do get some upset in the gut with E.coli and then it goes to a nervous disorder
natural probiotic wet mash with Vit E and Vit B complex and Selenium added immediately
basically the chicken has some nerve damage from the E.coli do this immediately
need neurolodigal vit E and Vit B complex and Selenium for E.coli and the nervous disorder Also the apple cider vineager in water

(1) 2 tbsp acv per gallon of water till chickens are well and then 2 times a week for life
for one chicken use 1 tbsp of ACV
1 pint of water

(2) immediately give the chicken 1000 mg capsule of liquid Vit E by cutting the end of the capsule and taking the vit E liquid and mix in wet mash probiotic

(2-B) total amt of capsules equals the total amt of chickens fed vit's multiply amt of recipe times amt of chickens fed it and the amt of vit's times amt of chickens given them

(3-A) also need to crush a vit B complex pill in tabsp and add tsp of water to it
put it in the chickens wet mash after it is disolved

(3-B) take a Selenium capsule and crush it in a tbsp and add little water to disolve it and ad to the wet mashalso.

(3-C) then give this to the chicken twice a week for two weeks should see much improvement

after the chicken has eaten the wet mash probiotic clean wet feeder and restock dry crumble feed.

(4 Do both Vit's twice today then for 7 days till you see some improvement in the chicken

(5 today I would see if the chicken will eat a wet mash with the Vitamins E and B complex

(-B) THIS IS FOR ONE CHICKEN
natural probiotic wet mash
2 tbp of dry crumbles
1 tbsp flax seed meal (the kind people take)
3 tbp of water
1 tbsp of non flavored yogurt
2 tbsp of apple sauce
put it on top so the chicken can smell and see it
mix good and put the
vit E liquid as directed in the wet mash
and crumble the Vit B complex tablet in a tabsp with litle waterand add to the wet mash
Crush the Selenium tablet and add water and add to the wet mash
**BESURE AND MIX VIT'S VERY GOOD IN WET MASH***

(6 Do this twice a day for 7 days to see if the chicken is better
then do this once a day for another week then once a week for a while
this should give the nervous system some stability and cure the bad E.coli in the gut
(6-A) they should clean it up in 20-30 minutes
this will help them get good gut flora
also put 2 tbsp of ACV in gallon of water and keep giving them this water for a week straight ( do not use ACV while giving medications.
then give it 3-5 times a week for life .
ADDED NOTE:
you can use milk as moisture additive for adult chickens but:
chicks have to use water as moisture additive.
Glenda Heywood Cassville Missouri

 

[Debutante]

That is a decent size. Chicks get bored between 2-3 weeks and need more stimulation. It happens again at 6-8 weeks, so those are the weeks I add more stuff to do or get them out. If it's too cool to put them out during the day than you could bring some outside to them. I give mine clumps of sod to mess with, I have roosts for them to hop up on, and I give them some sand to goof around in. Mine started going outside last week. They are about 3 weeks old and it finally warmed up here a bit.

That's a GREAT idea to bring in clumps of sod for them to tear apart and have fun with. They'd LOVE that! So interesting that they go through these stages of boredom at certain ages.... like little kids, if they're not kept busy they get into trouble. My little tribe has two roosts about 10-inches high and a pan of construction sand to 'dust' in (although they seem to think it's a litter box). Arrrrggghhh. :-(
Can't wait for the weather to warm up and dry out here in Ontario.

 

[Debutante]

As oldhenlikesdogs says a peck
Glenda Heywood Cassville Missouri

Hi Glenda, Thank you for your reply and for all the management tips to get this girl healed up. I already have Blue Kote, since I've used it on my horses for years. Also have some Bag Balm so I will implement both and hopefully get her back to normal soon.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's a GREAT idea to bring in clumps of sod for them to tear apart and have fun with. They'd LOVE that! So interesting that they go through these stages of boredom at certain ages.... like little kids, if they're not kept busy they get into trouble. My little tribe has two roosts about 10-inches high and a pan of construction sand to 'dust' in (although they seem to think it's a litter box). Arrrrggghhh. :-(
Can't wait for the weather to warm up and dry out here in Ontario.

The only times I've had pecking in the brooder is when I failed to move them along early enough, or because of some reason or another they were stuck in the brooder too long.

I hope you warm up soon too, we only recently did, so you shouldn't be too far behind.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

Oh! yes Canada has the longest wnter.
My parents lived in Canada in declining years. they lived east of Winnepeg.
Both are buried there.
With that said keep the babies going good.
and you have all the right things for a good healing process with your chicken.
God Bless and many happy hours withyour chicks.