can see skin on chick's wings, swollen neck on 1

[Becky7]

We got 9 new chicks today from someone we don't know. They are all supposed to be aracaunas. 5 are older (prob 4 wks) and seem fine. 4 are smaller (prob 3 weeks) and on them you can see skin on the part of their wings that are closest to their heads. You can see two small protusions there. The other is black and looks about 4 wks. The other birds pecked him mercilessly, so we put him in a different box. You can see skin around his neck and his neck looks like a small ball is in there. One part of me is sorry we even went to buy them. Another part of me is glad we got them, as some of them were obviously not well taken care of.

Any ideas? (This is our first flock of chicks.)

 

[GardeNerd]

Could you post some pictures? Posting pictures will help folks see and maybe help diagnose if there really is something to be concerned about.

Is the loss of feathers just normal looking loss of baby chick feathers? There are sometimes patches on the upper wings like you describe prior to the new regular feathers growing in there. 3 to 4 week old chicks are usually kind of awful looking normally, like a gawky teenager. They start looking better when they get closer to 6 weeks or there abouts.

The bulge may just be a full crop. Is the ball sort of off to one side?

Some pecking is normal and part of the chicks figuring out their hierarchy in the flock. If they drew blood separating is good, but make it so they can still see each other, or it will be harder to reintegrate him later. Maybe give him a buddy.

 

[Becky7]

If my hubby was here, I could post some pics...he's the computer person in the house! Yes...the lump is off to one side.

The yellow chicks all look the same...maybe it's just how they are. I said this is my first flock...but we actually bought 7 from the feed store at 1 wk of age...they are now 4 weeks...same as the newbies (who are separated by a screen from the originals)...and they didn't have bald spots as they were getting their feathers in.

I guess concerned because I'm not sure of their living conditions prior to us getting them. The guy took them to work with him yesterday morning and left them in a box with no food or water. We picked them up at 2 (he knew we wouldn't be there until then).

Thanks for helping!