# Chicks intestines in leg?! Help!



## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

I have a chick that I thought had a abscess on the inside of it’s leg 
So I decide to try and drain the abscess but when I cut the outer layer of skin it revealed that the bulge is actually the chicks intestines!!

Any idea why it’s intestines would end up there?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Going to need a pic. The peep shouldn't even be alive if it's intestines are located in the leg. 

Not saying something isn't there just that it's highly likely to be something else.


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

robin416 said:


> Going to need a pic. The peep shouldn't even be alive if it's intestines are located in the leg.
> 
> Not saying something isn't there just that it's highly likely to be something else.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Where on the leg is that? I think I need a pic a little further back to see the association there.

If that is intestine, it does look like it, that area needs to be kept moist. Slather antibiotic ointment on it and cover it.

The bird is going to need a vet.


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

It on the front of the leg


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That bird has one heck of a hernia if that is intestines. There isn't much you can do except support.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

I can't make sense of it from the single picture. I would put antibiotic ointment on it as Robin suggested.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm still questioning the intestine thing. Located in the leg it would be crimped and squished which would prevent blood flow.


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

This is what the leg looks like from the back


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

It might not be intestine. Is the chick in visible distress? I see the other picture now. Is the rear of the leg hot?


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

It’s still eating, drinking, and walking around and is chirping lots but I figure it’s just calling for it’s friends


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Although it could be something herniated. I had a Rhode Island White hatched this past May which had a whole herniated lower abdomen which was a pulsing mess. We kept it slathered with ointment, I did not expect her to survive and now she is the largest hen I have. She never stopped eating, correction, (and she never stops eating).


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

Poultry Judge said:


> Is the rear of the leg hot?


The rear of the leg is hot and I already have the chick on antibiotics in the drinking water as well as meloxicam for pain and swelling


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Thing is that looks like smooth muscle, in other words organ tissue. The only this can be addressed is by a vet. And if that tissue isn't kept moist the bird will die.


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## Livestocklover (Sep 11, 2020)

Unfortunately our chicken vet isn’t in until Monday 
But until then I will do my best to keep it moist


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I was talking to a doc friend who knows zip about chickens but he did say something that does make sense. To keep this simple organs have a place to be and most times have something to help keep them there. But if that something is breached it is possible for abdominal organs to slip down through the opening for the sciatic nerve. 

Now remember, that's people he's talking about. But I can see this transferring to any living being. 

Get some saline for sensitive contact lense to flush the area with. That matches the same salt balance as the body and will not dry out the tissue when it's used.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Yikes! That poor little peep! I’m sure he misses his friends right now, but he’s def safer alone with that. I hope the weekend goes ok for the little one and I do hope you are able to have a vet fix the chicky- and in time. 

Wow, whatever is going on, thank you for sharing. Always learning with these little ones!


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## Frank Alvarez (Oct 3, 2019)

That is definitely intestine, so it must be a hernia just as people get on the inside of the thigh where the femoral nerve and artery are with a very short path from abdominal cavity to the skin(in people the sciatic nerve is at the posterior of the thigh and has a much longer path thru the tissues before it gets close to the skin thus not usually a site for hernias, but I am not sure in chickens). You could use superglue to close the opening(ERs use this to close wounds all the time) somewhat to allow it to heal faster. Put triple antibiotic ointment on the intestinal tissue, so the superglue will not stick to it; then pull the outside tissues(hemostats that were boiled for sterilization would make this easier) over the intestine thus closing the opening and put the superglue on the tissue that you have pulled together. I would not close it completely so if infection occurs, it can drain. Keep it moist as others have said with the saline and antibiotic ointment.
Just a suggestion from a broken down retired MD.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Frank, we need you around more. You confirmed what my friend suggested might be going on. 

Now I wonder what the outcome was with the bird.


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## Frank Alvarez (Oct 3, 2019)

Me too. I would be interested in what the vet said, if he saw it.


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