Chicken Down
I met my son from the school bus and we went over to hang with our meat chickens when all of a sudden he says "mom, one of the chicks is bloody!" I looked down and saw some old blood on the chicken's neck but these things usually look worse than they are. I went to get a box and Riley scooped up the injured chick without even being asked. He has seen this before and seems to know just what to do. I grabbed a cardboard box, a handful of wood shavings and set the chick down inside. I put a bit of water and some food in there with him, went back to the yard and shooed the rest of the chicks away from their new favorite spot, the neighbour's tree.
When I went back to check on the injured chick I noticed a lot of blood drops on the new shavings and said "uh oh". I picked him back up, grabbed an old shirt and wrapped him up so he couldn't hurt himself or me and held him pressed to me and went inside. I sat on the couch and had a look at what was bleeding. Ugh, it was his left wattle just below his ear. It was a large, deep hole, so no way of pressing the skin together. I watched blood drip out of him with a sinking feeling. I pressed a clean cloth against his wound but it didn't seem to help. I began to resign myself to the fact that I would likely have to kill this fellow and put him out of his misery but decided to wait for my husband who was on his way home from work because of the impracticality of the situation. We would not want to waste this chicken's life and would want to eat him if we had to kill him so would need a pan of boiling water and some other preparation. Riley was excellent help but I couldn't ask him for any more.
Around hour two, as I sat trapped under my chick, petting and calming him and feeling sad, I wrapped gauze around his little chicken neck and for about four minutes, thought it might work. It wasn't bleeding through and it was staying on, until the chicken suddenly remembered he was a chicken and did not like his new scarf. He flapped and wriggled and the gauze wrap slid down his neck. I looked and it seemed like the wound wasn't bleeding any longer. He started to gasp and I remembered something about sugar water so asked my son to go get a small dish, some water and a pinch of sugar. he was distressed. The chick drank thirstily and as I pet him and held him tight he closed his eyes. I said through teary eyes, "it's ok little guy, it will be over soon". My butt had fallen asleep long ago and my back ached. My chick, my son and I grew weary and so my son turned on "Penguins of Madagascar" (of course) and the chicken seemed interested. I was struck with the heartbreak of injured animals but also pride of my son in him knowing just how to help and of course the silly and funny image of us all sat there watching tv together.
Finally two and a half hours later, my husband arrived home with supper, and together we decided the chick was spry enough not to kill immediately so we ate some dinner quickly after placing the chick in a small box near the table. The wound had stopped bleeding and the chick was eating some dinner too. A tiny bit of hope flickered but I had lost many injured birds so I knew it was a long shot. He seemed alright so we moved him to the the protective crate that is in with the layer chicks so he would have chicken company. We did this because on his own he would not stop crying (peeping) for some chicken company. Next day, he was still alive. We couldn't put him back with the other chicks yet in the yard because spotting the dried blood they would have curiously and hungrily tried to peck and eat him. Yes, they will cannibalise a fellow chicken if they see blood.
My husband took the injured chick up to our bathroom where he sponged off the dried blood with water and then of course as you mustn't leave a chicken soaked through, he blew dried him using my hairdryer. I could have asked why he didn't take chick and dryer out to the shed but then the answer became obvious to me. A chicken likes to look in the mirror while having his feathers styled. Ever helpful, I laughed and took pictures.
We put him back in the yard. He still had his wound but it was clean and was crusted over and we hoped the other chicks wouldn't notice. I checked on him throughout the next day and he seemed normal. It has been a week now and he is running with the flock and plumping up nicely.
It is all a part of having chickens. Injuries and death, crises and also joy of healing something and sorrow of seeing a living thing hurting. Never a dull moment around here. We still have much to learn but with chickens at least we have experience and even though it is sad, we usually know what to do now which is a far cry from dealing with these things in our first year of keeping chickens. I have to run now and chase the chicks away from the road. They may look fully grown but really are still big babies who don't know any better.
When I went back to check on the injured chick I noticed a lot of blood drops on the new shavings and said "uh oh". I picked him back up, grabbed an old shirt and wrapped him up so he couldn't hurt himself or me and held him pressed to me and went inside. I sat on the couch and had a look at what was bleeding. Ugh, it was his left wattle just below his ear. It was a large, deep hole, so no way of pressing the skin together. I watched blood drip out of him with a sinking feeling. I pressed a clean cloth against his wound but it didn't seem to help. I began to resign myself to the fact that I would likely have to kill this fellow and put him out of his misery but decided to wait for my husband who was on his way home from work because of the impracticality of the situation. We would not want to waste this chicken's life and would want to eat him if we had to kill him so would need a pan of boiling water and some other preparation. Riley was excellent help but I couldn't ask him for any more.
Around hour two, as I sat trapped under my chick, petting and calming him and feeling sad, I wrapped gauze around his little chicken neck and for about four minutes, thought it might work. It wasn't bleeding through and it was staying on, until the chicken suddenly remembered he was a chicken and did not like his new scarf. He flapped and wriggled and the gauze wrap slid down his neck. I looked and it seemed like the wound wasn't bleeding any longer. He started to gasp and I remembered something about sugar water so asked my son to go get a small dish, some water and a pinch of sugar. he was distressed. The chick drank thirstily and as I pet him and held him tight he closed his eyes. I said through teary eyes, "it's ok little guy, it will be over soon". My butt had fallen asleep long ago and my back ached. My chick, my son and I grew weary and so my son turned on "Penguins of Madagascar" (of course) and the chicken seemed interested. I was struck with the heartbreak of injured animals but also pride of my son in him knowing just how to help and of course the silly and funny image of us all sat there watching tv together.
Finally two and a half hours later, my husband arrived home with supper, and together we decided the chick was spry enough not to kill immediately so we ate some dinner quickly after placing the chick in a small box near the table. The wound had stopped bleeding and the chick was eating some dinner too. A tiny bit of hope flickered but I had lost many injured birds so I knew it was a long shot. He seemed alright so we moved him to the the protective crate that is in with the layer chicks so he would have chicken company. We did this because on his own he would not stop crying (peeping) for some chicken company. Next day, he was still alive. We couldn't put him back with the other chicks yet in the yard because spotting the dried blood they would have curiously and hungrily tried to peck and eat him. Yes, they will cannibalise a fellow chicken if they see blood.
My husband took the injured chick up to our bathroom where he sponged off the dried blood with water and then of course as you mustn't leave a chicken soaked through, he blew dried him using my hairdryer. I could have asked why he didn't take chick and dryer out to the shed but then the answer became obvious to me. A chicken likes to look in the mirror while having his feathers styled. Ever helpful, I laughed and took pictures.
We put him back in the yard. He still had his wound but it was clean and was crusted over and we hoped the other chicks wouldn't notice. I checked on him throughout the next day and he seemed normal. It has been a week now and he is running with the flock and plumping up nicely.
It is all a part of having chickens. Injuries and death, crises and also joy of healing something and sorrow of seeing a living thing hurting. Never a dull moment around here. We still have much to learn but with chickens at least we have experience and even though it is sad, we usually know what to do now which is a far cry from dealing with these things in our first year of keeping chickens. I have to run now and chase the chicks away from the road. They may look fully grown but really are still big babies who don't know any better.
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