3 week old chick pulling out own tail feathers and down.

[dumcluck]

Hello all,

We are complete novices to this so please excuse our ignorance. I have looked through the archives of posts and I can't find any possible answers. I agreed to let my daughter raise some chicks (with my assistance) and all seemed well until a couple days ago. She found one chick with all of it's tail feathers missing and the area where they were removed quite bloody. We assumed the other chicks were to blame. We immediatly cleaned the affected area, applied Neosporin and isolated the chick. We have kept it isolated and cleaned and applied Neosporin to the area 3 times daily. This morning we found that the chick was in worse condition and observed the chick pulling out its own down in the area adjacent to the tail. It's clear that at least some of this is self-inflicted. Is this common? Any idea of a cause? What should we do? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bethandjoeync]

maybe you should check it for mites. or maybe it's skin is irritated for some reason, and it feels this is the solution

 

[janetk]

checking for mites/lice is a good idea. i would also up the protein in the diet. scrambled egg, yogurt mixed with feed. i've read that if they're lacking in protein they will do that. good luck.

 

[triggfamily5]

I usually have one or two do it in mine. I have actually watched them.. looks like they are preening and oops there goes blood feathers. I spray with wound-kote (blu-kote) or something of that nature, hides the blood color, let them dry and put back with other chicks just fine.