Update: It was an impacted crop. All healed! Is this an abscess? Pecking injury in 2 day old chick.

[Little Hen 1972]

My hen only hatched out 1 chick. I think she may have killed 2 chicks accidentally trying to help them peck out. I called a friend who sells chicks and she said she’d bring me one 2 day old chick. While waiting for that chick another chick hatched - day 25. I introduced the new 2 day old chick and the mother hen saw it and shooed it under her. She was sitting on the 3 chicks last I saw her. By the way I saw nothing but compassion for her chicks. Two hours later a friend passed by with her toddler to see the chicks and noticed the “2 day old new chick” was trapped behind the feeder and the screen and had blood on the right and left side of the head. She took the chick out and bought it to me. The chick was in shock. It had pecking injuries on both sides of the head and the top of the head and in the neck. I immediately cleaned the wounds, applied neosporin and gave it electrolytes by dropper every 2 hours. I had the chick wrapped in a towel in a dark box under a heater. It made it through the night with me giving it fluids every 2 hours for 2 days straight. As it got out of shock, I slowly introduced it to egg yolk and noticed one eye was very swollen. I started to clean it with eye solution and I had some reptile eye vitamins that were completely safe for chickens. I gave it a tiny drop a day. Each day I added meds like aspirin water, terramycin ointment and on day 3 - I found her happily cheeping for me at 5 am on top of the hen heater. I slowly introduced medicated chick feed and I mixed it with oatmeal, cod liver oil, cornmeal and electrolytes water and vitamins. I also added some beef baby food. She ate that up like no tomorrow. She seems to have overcome what I thought was neurological damage. I had to reteach her to sit, peck at her food, sip water and eventually she started to walk steady and then run. She’s absolutely normal. Me, I am sleep deprived. The chick is getting very spoiled and now I find this lump. See pictures. Is this an abscess? How do I treat it? I was so looking forward to putting her back with the mama because I have a hunch that it was my mean rooster that got the baby. The hen and babies are in their own enclosure but the baby got trapped between the food tray and the screen. I bet the rooster pecked it through the screen. I have put so much time, love and dedication basically bringing this chick back from near death. What do I need to do? Anybody experience something like this? Her name is Miracle- by the way.

 

[Little Hen 1972]

My hen only hatched out 1 chick. I think she may have killed 2 chicks accidentally trying to help them peck out. I called a friend who sells chicks and she said she’d bring me one 2 day old chick. While waiting for that chick another chick hatched - day 25. I introduced the new 2 day old chick and the mother hen saw it and shooed it under her. She was sitting on the 3 chicks last I saw her. By the way I saw nothing but compassion for her chicks. Two hours later a friend passed by with her toddler to see the chicks and noticed the “2 day old new chick” was trapped behind the feeder and the screen and had blood on the right and left side of the head. She took the chick out and bought it to me. The chick was in shock. It had pecking injuries on both sides of the head and the top of the head and in the neck. I immediately cleaned the wounds, applied neosporin and gave it electrolytes by dropper every 2 hours. I had the chick wrapped in a towel in a dark box under a heater. It made it through the night with me giving it fluids every 2 hours for 2 days straight. As it got out of shock, I slowly introduced it to egg yolk and noticed one eye was very swollen. I started to clean it with eye solution and I had some reptile eye vitamins that were completely safe for chickens. I gave it a tiny drop a day. Each day I added meds like aspirin water, terramycin ointment and on day 3 - I found her happily cheeping for me at 5 am on top of the hen heater. I slowly introduced medicated chick feed and I mixed it with oatmeal, cod liver oil, cornmeal and electrolytes water and vitamins. I also added some beef baby food. She ate that up like no tomorrow. She seems to have overcome what I thought was neurological damage. I had to reteach her to sit, peck at her food, sip water and eventually she started to walk steady and then run. She’s absolutely normal. Me, I am sleep deprived. The chick is getting very spoiled and now I find this lump. See pictures. Is this an abscess? How do I treat it? I was so looking forward to putting her back with the mama because I have a hunch that it was my mean rooster that got the baby. The hen and babies are in their own enclosure but the baby got trapped between the food tray and the screen. I bet the rooster pecked it through the screen. I have put so much time, love and dedication basically bringing this chick back from near death. What do I need to do? Anybody experience something like this? Her name is Miracle- by the way.

Is that a food pocket?