hello everyone. one of my hens hatched two chicks on sunday. one of them got its leg broken in my dogs mouth yesterday. it has learned to hobble around quite efficiently. is it suffering though? should i put it out? it is not quite as large as the other chick. it isnt getting picked on by other chicks because it is still with its mother. thankyou
chick w/ broken leg
You may wanna try rigging up a splint for it. Thinking a toothpick or a bamboo skewer might to the trick.
If you think its is suffering you may want to put it down, one of the recent threads someone posted that they put them in a can with some "chemical" & that it was quick and painless, maybe they will come along and let us know - is is acting normal otherwise?
Yeah, It was my thread MQN, But yeah what you do is grab a can with its lid. Put starter fluid on a rag, just enough. Put the rag in the can with the chick and close the cap. But before you do this try making the splint first, see how it goes with that for a few weeks. If it's not felling better or it didn't heal, well your only option is to put it down that way. It should heal, it's similar to a human broken bone ( I suppose).
See I have a chick that has only one leg that it can use. The other was kind of deformed in the hatching process. But hey, it's hopping fine, eating, and drinking like a normal chick. The only problem is that I can't put it with the other hens cause they'll pick at it. So I'm incubating 4 eggs hoping to get all 4 hatch, so I can put them and Lucky (the one legged chicken) in the pen wit the other hens. Sorry about the chick I hope it heal, I'd hate for you to put it down.
Eric
Thanks Eric I could just recall how simple, safe and practical it seemed if I HAD to do it.
I am with Eric wait a while - but you can tell when an animal is in pain - so do what you think is best - let us know how it goes. I'll be rooting for tiny Tim.
I agree with the toothpick--or small twig splint recommendation. Also, you should keep your dog away from tiny, newborn animals!
blue-cherry, my dog does not bother full grown chickens, even when given the oppurtunity. but the chicks were able to fit through the holes in the fence. thanks for the advice everyone
Hi Hunterboy725-
Please forgive my persistence--but perhaps you could repair the 'holes in the fence' or replace it? I readily admit that this is a personal 'hotspot'---I am particularly pained when I hear examples of small animals coming to harm, particularly when it's preventable. I give you a thumb's-up insofar as the episode you've described doesn't sound like 'animal abuse'--which really really gets me riled; it sounds like an accident--a preventable accident, but nonetheless--not something you encouraged.
I have a friend who used to raise finches. She had a class-A moronic house-cleaner who--to 'save time'--took a vacuum cleaner to the birds' cage; needless to say, she managed to suck some into the gizmo and it was R.I.P. from that point on. This episode of supreme carelessness and ignorance happened over a decade ago and every now and then something reminds me of it. One of the lessons here is to 'anticipate'---not to mention 'have common sense'. I'm not directing this at you in particular but to anyone--myself included--who is, has, or may deal with any fragile lifeforms.
did the chick make it?
we have a dog that thinks the chicks are puppys/squeaky toys and just wants to take care of it/ play. i dont think your dog ment any harm but better safe than sorry
the chick did make it...i regret to say, it is probably my most ornery hen these days, always getting into trouble.
that is great news hunterboy, got pics?
That is great news! Didn't someone here save a chicken that was in bad shape only to have to turn on another one and kill it? Chickens are funny creatures.