My baby chick has a big lump on his neck and can't walk

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Help! One of my newly hatched chicks has wounded hocks and a big soft lump on his neck. He can’t stand, nor walk, just crawles.

Hi everyone,

My problem
I’m completely new to incubating eggs and just had my first 4 chicks hatch a few days ago. Three of them are doing fine; they walk around, eat and drink, but one of the has problems since it hatched. I noticed after I moved them to the brooder when they had dried for a few hours.

Sick Chick
One of my chicks can’t stand or walk because his legs are splayed out to the sides (is that spraddle leg?). He seems to have sores or wounds on his hocks, or “knees”. The parts where his joint connects with the leg or shank, near the thigh. Second problem I noticed is a big lump on the right side of his chest stretching past the wing and almost behind the neck. It is soft, as if containing liquid or air, and has a dull yellow color.

Spraddle leg, or?
I have completely no experience and read online that the leg problem could be “spraddle leg”, so I used a Band Aid to patch his legs closer to their normal position. Strangly however this didn't happen because of the cardboard in the brooder (which I quickly understood was wrong and added proper bedding with paper towels), but something that happend during hatching I guess. For the wounds or sores on the hocks I applied some Colloidal Silver to help desinfect and heal the them, but I'm not sure the joints and legs are in the right position.

Big, soft lump on right side of the neck
Many people are claiming that this is just the full crop. Since my sick chick can't stand or walk I've been feeding him with some raw yolk, but the lump on his neck doesn't go away. It stretches from the right side of the chest, continues towards the neck past the wing, and up to the back of the neck. It has a dull yellowish color and is soft—I gently touched it to check. I can't rest assured that it is the crop because it stretches far up to the neck which I've never seen anyone on the forum to mention. Please have a look below and help me find out what it is and what should be done.

Current situation!
The sick baby chick can't walk, so I feed him with raw yolk and give him water to drink. His wounds or sores on the hocks or joints seem to be better after applying Colloidal Silver to the area, but still visible. The legs are still not in the right position, so I've applied a small band aid to help treat that. The yellowish lump on the right side of his chest and neck troubles me and I want your help!

Here are some pictures I took of him, I did my best. Appologize for the quality!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your chick.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what's wrong with it's legs, but I would take a good guess it's some type of joint deformity with possible infection. The swelling of the neck is likely a ruptured air sac.
Sadly, since the chick hatched in this condition, personally, I would cull it and put it out of it's misery. Nothing sadder than trying for days to pet along a little one that is failing, then come to the conclusion that a hard decision has to be made.

 

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your chick.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what's wrong with it's legs, but I would take a good guess it's some type of joint deformity with possible infection. The swelling of the neck is likely a ruptured air sac.
Sadly, since the chick hatched in this condition, personally, I would cull it and put it out of it's misery. Nothing sadder than trying for days to pet along a little one that is failing, then come to the conclusion that a hard decision has to be made.

Thank you, Wyorp Rock!

I want to do all I can to save him, don't want to give up on him. If it is a ruptured air sac, could it possibly be treated with a needle to remove the trapped air? I found this thread called Air Sac Rupture Treatment.

Do you believe, if done correctly, the process describe there can help him recover from the ruptured air sac?

As to the legs, I'll do my best to heal the wounds and continue with the band aid for spraddle legs. I'd like to try.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you, Wyorp Rock!

I want to do all I can to save him, don't want to give up on him. If it is a ruptured air sac, could it possibly be treated with a needle to remove the trapped air? I found this thread called Air Sac Rupture Treatment.

Do you believe, if done correctly, the process describe there can help him recover from the ruptured air sac?

As to the legs, I'll do my best to heal the wounds and continue with the band aid for spraddle legs. I'd like to try.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

Yes, you can try seeing if deflating that helps.

As for the legs, hopefully those joints won't start to ooze. Give your chick 1/4 tablet B-Complex once a day as well.

Keep us posted.

 

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Hey @Wyorp Rock,

Just wanted to give an update on what's happening with my little sick chick. I was planning to deflate the air lump with a needle later today so we could help it heal and breath easier.

I think you were right, he was very weak. Can't walk or stand up, just lays down. I've been feeding him some yolk a few times a day. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to deflate the lump. My sister noticed he didn't breathe and when I checked—he didn't have a pulse. I wasn't able to save him, he was too sick.

It is sad, but I did my best to feed him and care for him, changing his bedding frequently. On the other hand, I have three other perfectly healthy chicks walking around and having fun. That makes me happy! Thanks for the advice!

Could you please tell me, if I see a chick that has such serious problems right after hatch in the incubator; should I still move it to a brooder or just… well end his life in the beginning so he doesn't have to suffer such pain? I'm not sure. I really want to try saving a chick even if chances are small. I don't have heart to end a newly-hatched chick's life.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hey @Wyorp Rock,

Just wanted to give an update on what's happening with my little sick chick. I was planning to deflate the air lump with a needle later today so we could help it heal and breath easier.

I think you were right, he was very weak. Can't walk or stand up, just lays down. I've been feeding him some yolk a few times a day. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to deflate the lump. My sister noticed he didn't breathe and when I checked—he didn't have a pulse. I wasn't able to save him, he was too sick.

It is sad, but I did my best to feed him and care for him, changing his bedding frequently. On the other hand, I have three other perfectly healthy chicks walking around and having fun. That makes me happy! Thanks for the advice!

You did the best you could. Honestly, this was probably the best case scenario. He's free from pain, and you didn't have to make the difficult decision to cull him. It's never, ever easy to be in this situation. I'm sorry for your loss. <3

 

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Could you please tell me, if I see a chick that has such serious problems right after hatch in the incubator; should I still move it to a brooder or just… well end his life in the beginning so he doesn't have to suffer such pain? I'm not sure. I really want to try saving a chick even if chances are small. I don't have heart to end a newly-hatched chick's life.

Does someone have an advice for my concern mentioned in the quote above?↑

Would be very happy to know your opinion on this.

Best,

Dimitar

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey @Wyorp Rock,

Just wanted to give an update on what's happening with my little sick chick. I was planning to deflate the air lump with a needle later today so we could help it heal and breath easier.

I think you were right, he was very weak. Can't walk or stand up, just lays down. I've been feeding him some yolk a few times a day. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to deflate the lump. My sister noticed he didn't breathe and when I checked—he didn't have a pulse. I wasn't able to save him, he was too sick.

It is sad, but I did my best to feed him and care for him, changing his bedding frequently. On the other hand, I have three other perfectly healthy chicks walking around and having fun. That makes me happy! Thanks for the advice!

Could you please tell me, if I see a chick that has such serious problems right after hatch in the incubator; should I still move it to a brooder or just… well end his life in the beginning so he doesn't have to suffer such pain? I'm not sure. I really want to try saving a chick even if chances are small. I don't have heart to end a newly-hatched chick's life.

I'm sorry about the chick

As for your question about putting a chick down that has serious problems at hatch, that's always a tough call. There's no cut and dry answer on that.
For me, if the problem is very obvious, then yes I would consider culling and not prolong suffering. A chick that has serious issues, you can move to it's own brooder if you wish and give it extra care and attention - it's just really up to you.
They are so sweet and I must say, it's never easy, but then again it shouldn't be. If you are going to hatch or just raise chickens, then this is unfortunately part of it.

 

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Thanks for your honest opinion @Wyorp Rock. I see it isn't easy to take a decision like this. I would rather separate a sick chick in it's own brooder and pay more attention and take more care of it in case I'm able to save it. Afterwards, it's all about the chick and how it will tackle the problem. That's what I would certainly do.

My other 3 chicks are doing great! Running around and eating and drinking very well! I'm glad that their are healthy and thankful for all the help anf information I've got from BYC!

 

[Dimitar Zlatanski]

Hey @Wyorp Rock

I just wanted to ask one more health-related question about the chicks with a lump on the right side of their chest and neck. How does one differentiate a Ruptured Air Sac causing a lump of air, and the crop of the chick when it's full? Of course, given that they are on the same spot.

How do I know if it is just the crop, or a lump of air caused by a rupturd air sac if they look too similar to me?

- Dimitar