What happened to our baby chick?

[EricJayfarmer]

Hello all,
My wife and I have had chickens for a while now and I am new to this forum.
We just got 4 chicks less then a week ago and one of our Buff Orpingtons had a blackish blueish bump above her wing a few days ago. I didn't like the look of it, but didn't know what to do and thought it would go away. well today My wife calls me and says its not doing good. We come home after trying to see if the local feed store knows anything. I check under its body and all the feathers are gone from its belly and chest, and it is slightly wet on the edges. I start to gently wipe with a warm wet paper towel to clean it and it freaks out and jumps from my hands. i grab it and i keep cleaning it. It is all red and puffy on the belly and breast area. It jumps once more and lands in the sink, only a few inches drop, but enough to hurt I'm sure. All of a sudden yellow liquid is pouring from her down the drain. I am not sure where it came from, and what it was. i freaked out and tried to find it where it was coming from. She gasped for air a few times and died in my hands right there. It hurts to write since I love our chicks.

My question is what happened and what was it?

I completely removed the box the others were in and replaced the cedar shavings, cleaned the water jar and food dispenser and gave them all fresh everything.

Does anyone know anything?

Thanks

 

[Qi Chicken]

Gosh, I'm so sorry that happened to you. That must have been very distressing. I'm not sure what the yellow fluid was. However the bumbs and irritation on her chest may be from the cedar shavings. Cedar oils are irritating to the skin and should not be used with young chicks. Also can cause respiratory distress. Some people say that they are ok once they are grown because the cedar repels mites and lice but never for young ones. You can find PINE shavings at your local farm store. Big compressed bag for about 5$. Get the big bag as what you don't use you can put in the big coop.

For future reference a lot of people recommend newspapers covered with paper towels for the first week. The newspaper is too slick. young chicks can slip and can injure their legs. The paper towels are not slippery and easy to remove. Chicks sometimes confuse shavings for food and can get an impacted crop. Maybe that was part of her problem and the yellow fluid was crop fluid? I don't know as you didn't say which end it poured from. I don't know what the bluish bump was.

Again, sorry this happened. Change the shavings or put paper towels over the shavings right away. Good luck to you!

 

[jen5680]

It sounds to me like she may have had sour crop. If her chest area was really swollen then they can have a nasty stinky discharge
come out of the mouth.
Do a search on it and you will find all kinds of info.
So sorry for your loss!!