EMERGENCYadvice needed.

[kevnsue]

Just been given a 2 week old chick that seems to have been bitten in the eye and on the chest(rat, stoat, weasel ? )i think it has lost an eye i have bathed it but need to know how best to feed it,its in a box at the momment but may put heat lamp over it,any advice would help,cheers kev.

[Bramble-Poultry]

chick crumb is what it should have but if you do not have any then boil an egg and feed it the mashed up yolk (cold obviously) At 2 weeks old it will 100% need heat - not only beacuse it is not featehred yet and requires heat at this age but also because heat lessens the impact of shock.

as long as you can get it to eat and drink it stands a very good chance, losing an eye is neither here nor there for it as it will cope quite well without - how bad are its other injuries?

First 24 hours in my experience is the worst with any sick or injured animal - being so little its biggest threat is actually dehydration at this stage - it will be fine without food fo upto 24 hours but water for only around 4hours but the quicker you can get it to eat and drink the better.

[MaureenHall]

Poor little thing!!! I hope it pulls through. good luck in caring for it xxx

[kirsty b]

I had 2 chooks survive a fox attack the other year and nursed them back to health by syringing some water down their throats until they could drink normally. It was only 5ml or so at a time, and I used a very fine syringe, but honestly not sure if I would attempt it on a chick because they are so small. Hard to describe how I did it in words too. (Vet showed me how to do it to administer anti-bs)
Is chick taking water voluntarily or is it in shock?

[Bramble-Poultry]

to get a chick to drink, the safest way i find is to get a syringe full of water and squeeze just enough to get a bead of water at the end. then touch the end of the chicks beak with the bead of water, it will naturally go into the mouth of the chick through capillary action.

do this once or twice should be enough for a little drink. it should then be ok to find the water itself. Again with that, pick up the chick and dip its beak into the water. not too far, just enought to get the tip wet. it will work out where the water is.

i would be careful what bedding you are keeping the chick on if is has a damaged eye. fine shavings or sawdust can get stuck in the "squishy" bits around the eye until it starts to heal. you might be better with sheets of newspaper until it heals up a bit.

Keep observation on the eye, it can go nasty quickly if there is "foreign matter" in there which may mean a trip to the vet for some antibiotic cream to apply to the eye directly.

as for one eyed chickens, we had one called Nelson (cant think why) and he managed ok, slow to find the food so you had to make sure he got his share and he was a little stunted in growth because of this but he lived quite well.

[kevnsue]

Hi , it's still alive but dont think it will make it thru the night,it's taking some water with chickcrumb soaked in it,fingers crossed,

[Hans Mum]

hope it makes it through, well done for all your efforts

[Bramble-Poultry]

aww fingers crossed for the little fella

[kevnsue]

Hi,it's still kicking and getting quite vocal,still not mobile tho,still taking water and chick crumb mix.

[Bramble-Poultry]

as long as he keeps his fluid levels up and is getting some nutrients hopefully he will pull through. Keep him warm to reduce shock and hopefully he will pull through.

Be watchful of that wound as if it turns it will be very nasty. We sometimes bath wounds in warm water with a few drops of tea tree oil in. stings like mad but the tea tree is a natural antiseptic. try not to use cotton wool as the wiping cloth as it tends to leave strands in the cut and they can be swines to get back out. better to use a small piece of kitchen roll.

If you were nearer i would drop over some "wound powder" which yo ucan get online which is like a styptic powder that stops bleeding but also cleans the wound as well. maybe your local ag. merchant has some?

fingers crossed. we had a chick here for quite a while that broke its leg (mum sat on it) and for a while its leg faced backwards. it was generally imobile as we strapped it up and over the period of a few weeks slowly rotated the leg round until it was almost in the right direction. The beauty of chicks is at a young age they are "elastic" and can take a bit a "moulding". chicens dont have joints like you or i, so all their joints are held by tendons so you can manipulate if necessary.

[kevnsue]

Thanks bramble for your advice and all your tips,it appears to be getting quite lively.

[MaureenHall]

I'm so pleased it seems to be pulling through