[nitamircela]

Hello dear friends,
As planned, after the spring decided to shyly show its face, I spared some of the couples from stealing/replacing their eggs. Of these, I specifically watched an egg hatch coming from the only checkered father in the flock. The days and the nights passed quietly, patiently, and as usual as it happened with the other happy chosen ones, with the checkered father coming to his shift by 10 am. However, after the 20 days ended and the fragile baby chick was born, I was hit by an awful surprise, finding a big quarrel in that nest between two (I believe both female) mothers and the father fighting so ferrociously among them to sit on that unfortunate little creature, biting, scratching, clapping wings and in the over-zealous love showing, projecting the little fragile just born baby out of its basket. Chasing out the three ferocious parents, I picked up the little one and I saw his head covered with blood hanging down from his fragile neck and heartbrokenly, I put him back in the nest and turned off the lights sure that he would be dead by dawn. The following morning he was still warm and still with his head hanging inert from his neck and the three parents still quarelling like hell. I left so that they quiet maybe down in my absence and never approached that nest until today when I took advantage of the whole flock having left the attic leaving the babies alone in their baskets and I went to see how he was doing.

Today, after a week, he was still alive and even roundishly fed with an opened one eye. The multiple bloody wounds on his head seemed to have healed but his left eye was obviously so injured a weed ago that he was not able to keep it open like the right one. The upper lid looks like hiding a hole underneath but he is not completely blind as when I tried to force it open at least a little bit I saw a little spark shining underneath. QUESTION: do you know of such situation of an injury at an extremely young age and still to maybe recover when he grows? How completely? What can I do to help him to start opening it (surgery excluded) from this closed position so that he not grow up blind with an eye? What other (sad) story of multiple parents especially disputing so bloodily their unique young did you maybe hear about and how did it end?
For the moment, sadly yours,

PS: Mister Checkered is loved (and loves)/courtships/mates at least 4 other hens.

 

[Feefo]

Poor baby, I don't know whether the eye can be saved but if you can treat him you could put a drop of chloramphenicol eye drops in his eye, I think that needs to be three times a day , and give 1 drop of meloxicam/metacam cat (0.5 mg er ml) per every 100 gms he weighs once a day...this is what my vet advised when one of my adult PMV survivors had her eye pecked even though she would recover the sight in that eye.

A good homeopathic remedy for eye injury that is inflamed is Aconite6, 3 doses a day for 3 or 4 days. If the eye has pus in it or doesn't respond to Aconite, give Euphrasia 3 for a few days but if there is a lot if pus use Argentum Nit 6 instead of Euphrasia.

BTW, where are you (it helps to know that so we can guess what is available and under what brand name)

 

[Quazar]

Please note, if you do get hold of chloramphenicol eye drops, they should be kept in a fridge (and used directly from fridge) and NOT at room temperature. Also do not use if past their expiry date. Once opened, their effectiveness decreases but Improper use of these drops is not only a waste of time, but also allows other bacteria to breed within the drops which can then give you other problems.

 

[nitamircela]

I did what you said and now Bee-bee is PERFECTLY ok, thanks

Baby (winning the battle for his life now he has a name) Bee-bee is today a perfectly happy baby, though he still has a couple of bloody crusts on his head starting slowly to be covered with some gray dawn. His Mama (she won her battle with the other two who don't care about the baby anymore) also won her right to be a 24 hrs mama, feeding Bee-bee like a balloon. He greats me happily each time when I come to clean his straws the way he greets his mama. Nice happy ending. Of course, I am still puzzled by the fight for him of the other two parents on the day he was born. Thank you for advice so very much.