2 day old chick preening excessively

[tinamartha]

We just received three day old chicks yesterday and one of them, the Sussex, preens excessively. I am worried that she is not getting enough rest and is irritating her skin due to her incessant preening. It seems to be all she does while the others sleep and eat. At first we suspected mites or lice, but I spoke with the company from where we got our chicks, and they said all eggs were hatched in a separate facility, so mites were most likely not present there and I can't imagine she picked them up in our house in a day. I can't see any mites upon inspection although inspecting her is not an easy task. Has anyone seen this before or have an idea of what could be going on?? She also seems to be fairly aggressive and pecks and pulls on the other chicks. Thanks for any feedback!!

 

[Birdlife99]

Hmm.... Well usually preening is a sign of being content, but as you say she is doing it aggressively it sounds like a sign of stress. I know that feather plucking means that the bird is stressed, so maybe something to do with a new home? As for plucking other chicks I can offer no explanation.
I hope this helps and your chick is ok

 

[tinamartha]

Thanks for the suggestion. There was a fluorescent light overhead that was making a slight buzzing noise so we turned that. Off in case it was bothering her. The scratching seems to have subsided a bit today but now she is constantly shaking her head. It looks almost like something in her ear is bothering her?

 

[Birdlife99]

I haven't seen anything like it with my chickens before.... Is she still plucking other chicks? Have you looked at his/her ear? If there is some redness or swelling maybe search the site? Sorry I can't help with what this might be

 

[Pharmacy Chick]

I received a Polish from MPC that did the same thing right out of the shipping box...constant preening and head-shaking. I checked her over for lice but could find nothing. Plus, none of the other chicks I received in the same box were doing this. So I checked the brooder temp (98 degrees) and added extra protein in the form of mashed boiled egg yolk and Ultrachick Kibble to their diet. I also added apple cider vinegar to their water, and kept their brooder super clean. All these things seemed to help some, but what really worked was adding a parrot mirror to the side of the brooder. My fussy chicken could look at (and peck at) the bad chicken in the mirror, so she began leaving herself and the other chicks alone. Go figure...

 

[Diannastarr]

I received a Polish from MPC that did the same thing right out of the shipping box...constant preening and head-shaking. I checked her over for lice but could find nothing. Plus, none of the other chicks I received in the same box were doing this. So I checked the brooder temp (98 degrees) and added extra protein in the form of mashed boiled egg yolk and Ultrachick Kibble to their diet. I also added apple cider vinegar to their water, and kept their brooder super clean. All these things seemed to help some, but what really worked was adding a parrot mirror to the side of the brooder. My fussy chicken could look at (and peck at) the bad chicken in the mirror, so she began leaving herself and the other chicks alone. Go figure...

i found that happening to one of my 2 day old chicks ,that just arrived today all Colombian Wyandotts, but upon further inspection i saw what must be its black umbilical cord, which usually looks like a black string and it was all stuck on its baby fuzzz and so that may have been pulling on something that disturbed the chick over & over...? and making the chick crazy..? im watching carefully to see if it has fallen off...? because pulling on the umbilical cord is not good , so that could be the culprit..? time will tell, im sure

 

[klaranna belle]

Hi, curious what happend with your chick, as I have a day old exhibiting similar symptoms. Thanks! : )