upside down head

[WendiJean]

One of my baby chicks I hatched myself was injured by one of our roosters who got overzealous.

She is still a very small pullet and when he tried to get on top of her he ended up crushing her head into the ground (and if he wasnt a bantem rooster and so small I would have butchered him right then and there).

When he did he almost killed her by breaking her neck and now her head droops and hangs upside down. We put her in cage with some smaller birds so she wouldn't get pecked at.

This happend about a week and half ago. She eats and drinks at various points through the day, and shuffles/rolls backwards. When you pick her up you can turn her head the right way but as soon as your remove support it droops back.

My husband and I thought about rigging up some sort of popsicle stick neck brace but we weren't sure if that would do more harm than good, so....thoughts? And I don't want to put her down, she is more of a pet than anything.

 

[chi-rn]

It is entirely possible that the neck is just sprained & not broken. I would give her a few days of heat lamp (unless it's already really hot there during the day) and access to food/water. She may be fine in a few days. If you hatched these chicks yourself, none of them should be anywhere near adult hens or roosters yet. I introduced my pullets to my hens (no roosters) at 12 weeks & that was hard enough. Still keeping an eye on the adults for bad behavior.

There are a lot of posts about integrating chicks with your flock. Here's one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=305804

Best to your little one.

 

[redhen689]

Someone yesterday mentioned something about wrapping a piece of bubble wrap around a chicken's neck to support it.
It would give support but wouldn't be as stiff as a popsicle stick.
I would guess you'd have to use the kind with tiny bubbles and then tape it.

Yesteday I tried to put a dressing on a pullet's neck, and it is hard to do, because the necks are so flexible, and you don't want it too tight.
She didn't like it at all and kept scratching at it with her foot until she got it off.

 

[WendiJean]

thanks for the tip, i may try it tonight