4 1/2 week old chick with neck/wing injuries

[lindsaygayle]

I am new to the chicken world and I have four chicks I hatched for my backyard flock, all mixed breeds. I have been reading everything I can find to educate myself on being a good chicken mama and up until now everything's been good.

I do know that chickens fight out their pecking order, but I'm concerned about the smallest of the flock. She doesn't seem frightened by the others, but she received an injury to her breast earlier this week that created quite a large scab and she's missing quite a few feathers in that area now. I do not want to interfere while the flock establishes rank, but I want to be sure that she's not in any danger. Today when I came home I notived that the tops of her wings have bald spots on them, although there's no blood.

The chicks get along fine when they are in their outdoor pen, but I'm afraid the injuries are occuring when they are cooped overnight. I hate to separate her from the others, but I did separate her over night on Wednesday to give her scab time to heal.

I've not yet moved the chicks into their official coop, and I'm wondering if that might be the problem. Right now they are in a 30"x20" box cage overnight and during the morning until about 3 pm when I come home from work and let them out to roam their outdoor pen. Is cabin fever the problem??

Please share your advice to ease my worries as I am a new Mama!

I really appreciate your help!

 

[debilorrah]

The first thing you need to do is seperate the injured bird until it heals. It is fine to use Neosporin on it too. An injured chick will get picked on more and more. Get a small mirror or stuffed animal for it and let it heal on its own. It is normal for chickens to peck and some are far more agressive than others. I have a hen named Hannibal! For a reason!

 

[lindsaygayle]

Thank you so much for your advice! My instinct was telling me to separate the little girl (and I have been adding bactine already) but I wasn't sure if that was really to best idea since they are establishing their flock rank.

I'm making her a separate coop right now!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[debilorrah]

You're welcome!!! When she is healed, she needs to spend a few days visible but not accessible to the rest of the flock so they can get to know her again.