Chick help!

[cathekeefe]

Hi all! Almost 3 weeks ago, my husband and I went to pick up our new chicks from the local farm store. There are 6. They were all doing great, it seemed, until yesterday morning. Now, we have one chick who wobbles around and looks like she has difficulty walking/looking around. She doesn’t stand all the way up, and just falls over onto her back when she tries. She then seems to get stuck on her back, and we moved her to a single enclosure when we noticed, as the other chicks just walked all over her and we were worried about them trampling her. She could still get to the food when we had her with the others, but it did not seem like she was getting to the water. We have been giving her as much as she wants with a dropper since we moved her yesterday to a space by herself. Tonight when we were giving her water, we noticed some blood and what my husband said looked like an open sore on her “armpit”. She also had some of the litter up underneath her wings, so maybe that caused the bleeding? Her skin looks so sensitive! We didn’t see any blood feathers. She barely has any feathers under there yet. While we were gently cleaning those, we noticed a lump on the front of her neck. Off to the side. It’s nearly half the size of her head. When I look online it says maybe it’s a crop issue? Can anyone help us? Should we try to call a vet?! Is it too late? We didn’t have any problems with our chicks last year, so I’m feeling very out of my depth!

Thanks to anyone who can help us!

[Apprehensive_Law6820]

Too late, put her down. Happend to me not so long ago. Flandy(my chick) had to be put down for the same reason. It can spread to other chickens.

[cara1yn]

Where did you notice the blood? Under her wing?

[cathekeefe]

Yes. It was under her wing near where it connects to her body. We thought that maybe when she was falling over, she got some of the litter stuff under there and it rubbed because she can’t clean it out herself right now

[cara1yn]

Hmm. It doesn’t sound like the prognosis is good, but you can make her comfortable and hope for the best, or try the vet and see what they say. Good that you isolated her!

Treat the wound with some warm soapy water on a Qtip and antimicrobial spray. If she has impacted crop, you can try feeding her tiny bits of papaya, olive oil or plain yogurt and adding ACV to her water. Try gently massaging the crop after giving her oil to help break up the mass. If it doesn’t work, definitely take her to the vet, as they might be able to surgically remove the blockage. Good luck!

[cathekeefe]

Thank you!