Chick plucking her own feathers

Mamatomany123

Crowing
Mar 14, 2020
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West texas
One of my new day old chicks is plucking her own feathers. The other 3 are not plucked and I saw her doing it to herself. She doesnt have pasty butt. Any ideas?
 

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Hard to tell location on the photo - is that her navel, below the vent or??

Likely whatever that dry crusty stuff is - she's trying to pick it off. Looks like it may be some urates and poop, but very hard to tell.
If that is NOT the navel, then take a soft brush and see if you can loosen the crusty material and flake it off - careful that you don't pull skin.
1617078001228.png
 
Hard to tell location on the photo - is that her navel, below the vent or??

Likely whatever that dry crusty stuff is - she's trying to pick it off. Looks like it may be some urates and poop, but very hard to tell.
If that is NOT the navel, then take a soft brush and see if you can loosen the crusty material and flake it off - careful that you don't pull skin.
View attachment 2591382
Yes, that's her navel. I saw that also and was thinking she was trying to pull that off. Will it hurt her if she does? I washed her bottom a little after this photo to try and see if I was missing something. Nothing I could see other than the navel and her clear vent.
 
Hard to tell location on the photo - is that her navel, below the vent or??

Likely whatever that dry crusty stuff is - she's trying to pick it off. Looks like it may be some urates and poop, but very hard to tell.
If that is NOT the navel, then take a soft brush and see if you can loosen the crusty material and flake it off - careful that you don't pull skin.
View attachment 2591382
To clear up my answer. It's the umbilical, not a swollen navel. Shes only around 2-3 days old.
 
So she ended up having pasty butt this morning. Cleaned her up and she let out a big poop. Hopefully that's why shes plucking her bottom. I'll continue to check her. Never had a chick get pasty butt before so shes a first.
 
Ok, so I think I found out why she was plucking. Looks like she got pecked or something on her vent. Maybe she though she could pull out the pain. Anything I should put on it or just let it heal on its own?
 

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