2/3 week old chick has red mark by beak and others keep pecking at it

[Nicky S]

One of our 2-3week old babies (Custard) has a red mark by her beak (on the skin in corner where it opens and closes)...it's not bleeding but it looks like she got a pinch there and has blood just under the skin. Of course it's red so every now and again someone notices it and there is a group pecking frenzy, and Custard is also the smallest one in the group (5 total - 3 other girls and one boy). The boy seems to be the instigator in most cases. We took Custard out from the rest but she started to get distressed at being separated. Do we need to take her out? Try and make a separate area in the brooder pen? I'm worried if we leave the house we'll come back to a massacre or something, but I also don't want to stress the poor little girl too much. Attaching a pic so you can see the red mark.
Could I cover it with something like sharpie or would that be toxic?

 

[Nicky S]

One of our 2-3week old babies (Custard) has a red mark by her beak (on the skin in corner where it opens and closes)...it's not bleeding but it looks like she got a pinch there and has blood just under the skin. Of course it's red so every now and again someone notices it and there is a group pecking frenzy, and Custard is also the smallest one in the group (5 total - 3 other girls and one boy). The boy seems to be the instigator in most cases. We took Custard out from the rest but she started to get distressed at being separated. Do we need to take her out? Try and make a separate area in the brooder pen? I'm worried if we leave the house we'll come back to a massacre or something, but I also don't want to stress the poor little girl too much. Attaching a pic so you can see the red mark.

Actually I've just realized it's a little lower down than where I said, but you'll se in the pic

 

[swamphiker]

You could try dabbing on a small bit of blue kote or similar product to disguise the red color, that should keep the other chicks from picking at her. If you find you need to separate her, see if you can do it in a way so that all of the chicks can still see one another, they get lonely if they can't see their flockmates. Young chicks also huddle together for warmth since they can't thermoregulate well until they get more adult feathers.

 

[Nicky S]

You could try dabbing on a small bit of blue kote or similar product to disguise the red color, that should keep the other chicks from picking at her. If you find you need to separate her, see if you can do it in a way so that all of the chicks can still see one another, they get lonely if they can't see their flockmates. Young chicks also huddle together for warmth since they can't thermoregulate well until they get more adult feathers.

Thank you - I need to get my chicken first aid kit together! They seem to have calmed down now thankfully for now, but if they start up I will see if I can rig up a barrier where they can still see each other, though I'd have to have a second heat source too I guess. Chickens are a constant exercise in problem solving

 

[coach723]

With a wattle forming at 2-3 weeks, Custard may well be a boy rather than a girl, time will tell. I think the blu-kote is a good idea. If you've never used it before, beware, it stains. If it shakes it's head it will go everywhere (wonder how I know that?? ). I would use a Q-tip and dab it on that area. Wear gloves if you don't want purple fingers.

 

[Coops Dad]

If it's not broken skin, just put a dab from a Sharpie on it. Temporary, nontoxic, fast, cheap, easy and it'll definitely blend in with that little one's general coloration.

 

[Nicky S]

With a wattle forming at 2-3 weeks, Custard may well be a boy rather than a girl, time will tell. I think the blu-kote is a good idea. If you've never used it before, beware, it stains. If it shakes it's head it will go everywhere (wonder how I know that?? ). I would use a Q-tip and dab it on that area. Wear gloves if you don't want purple fingers.

In theory she's a girl - she was hatched at home and we had her egg shell DNA tested...now we're going to be in the 0.1% exception to testing accuracy Thanks for the heads up about the blu-kote, I hadn't even heard of it before...I can 100% see that happening to us

 

[Nicky S]

If it's not broken skin, just put a dab from a Sharpie on it. Temporary, nontoxic, fast, cheap, easy and it'll definitely blend in with that little one's general coloration.

thanks - good to know, sharpies we do have plenty of! Luckily it turned darker shortly after I posted this, more purply, and they decided to leave her alone - but I'll be ready if it happens again! Now I'm wondering why they don't peck each others' wattles and combs.

 

[coach723]

In theory she's a girl - she was hatched at home and we had her egg shell DNA tested...now we're going to be in the 0.1% exception to testing accuracy Thanks for the heads up about the blu-kote, I hadn't even heard of it before...I can 100% see that happen

If you get a chance, update this thread when you know for sure how the sexing went, I'm curious how accurate your results are. I've never had shells tested, so have zero experience with that. Breed and genetics matter too, for my birds seeing wattles that young would almost surely be a boy. But I have a lot of EE's that tend to mature slower and I have been fooled more than once. Couple of years ago had a chick I was SURE was a boy, turned out to be a girl. Hope your sexing is accurate and it IS a girl!

 

[Nicky S]

If you get a chance, update this thread when you know for sure how the sexing went, I'm curious how accurate your results are. I've never had shells tested, so have zero experience with that. Breed and genetics matter too, for my birds seeing wattles that young would almost surely be a boy. But I have a lot of EE's that tend to mature slower and I have been fooled more than once. Couple of years ago had a chick I was SURE was a boy, turned out to be a girl. Hope your sexing is accurate and it IS a girl!

I will certainly do my best to remember to update here - the egg shell testing was very easy, we just collected the shells in separate ziplock bags and sent them off, you get the results via email in a few days. Of course I can't see this being an option if you have a lot of chicks as it would be too costly (or if you have a bunch hatch at once and don't know who the shell belongs to), but with just the six (who hatched separately) it was worth it to give us planning time. Hoping they are as accurate as they say!