Hmm. Those are rather odd places for a hen to peck a chick: difficult targets, for one thing. Usually a hen pecks the back of the head, the tail, or the shoulders, if she's going to peck at a chick. I can see a hen pecking at a chick's eyes, because chickens do like to go for the sensitive spots, but pecking at the skin around the beak isn't a typical target zone. Also, the lesions on the right side of the face look awfully big and proliferative for just trauma. I can't say for sure, but you may be dealing with a strain of pox virus.
Pox is transmitted by mosquitoes, and also through crusts and scabs from the lesions, so it is contagious to other chickens. Watch the other chicks very closely. When pox first hit our flock, it took several different forms: some birds just had small scabs on their faces, while others began bleeding from the ears and eyelids. Later on, some birds got the weepy-eyed form, some got really big nasty skin lesions like your baby is showing, and others began wheezing because they had big white crusts inside their mouths and down the throat. What the virus does to the bird is totally dependent on the bird's ability to fight back. Gussy may have been affected worse than the others because she had already been stressed by her mother. If this is pox, that is. It's hard to be sure.
With these chicks, keep them away from your other birds for a good month, make sure they stay warm, and make sure they are eating. Some pox birds need antibiotics; others will eventually heal on their own, but it can take a while. Some of our birds--the ones with white crusts in their throats--had trouble breathing and eating; they needed antibiotics for ten days, and supportive care for three weeks. Also, there has been argument over whether the pox virus of chickens (which is NOT the same as the human disease "chicken pox!") might be contagious to humans. I've never had any problem with it personally, and I've had goop and nasties from pox chickens all over me, gotten it on my face, into scrapes on my hands, and all that kind of thing. But there is some question, and if you've got children or elderly folks in contact with these chicks, it wouldn't hurt to talk to their physician.
Good luck!
Pox is transmitted by mosquitoes, and also through crusts and scabs from the lesions, so it is contagious to other chickens. Watch the other chicks very closely. When pox first hit our flock, it took several different forms: some birds just had small scabs on their faces, while others began bleeding from the ears and eyelids. Later on, some birds got the weepy-eyed form, some got really big nasty skin lesions like your baby is showing, and others began wheezing because they had big white crusts inside their mouths and down the throat. What the virus does to the bird is totally dependent on the bird's ability to fight back. Gussy may have been affected worse than the others because she had already been stressed by her mother. If this is pox, that is. It's hard to be sure.
With these chicks, keep them away from your other birds for a good month, make sure they stay warm, and make sure they are eating. Some pox birds need antibiotics; others will eventually heal on their own, but it can take a while. Some of our birds--the ones with white crusts in their throats--had trouble breathing and eating; they needed antibiotics for ten days, and supportive care for three weeks. Also, there has been argument over whether the pox virus of chickens (which is NOT the same as the human disease "chicken pox!") might be contagious to humans. I've never had any problem with it personally, and I've had goop and nasties from pox chickens all over me, gotten it on my face, into scrapes on my hands, and all that kind of thing. But there is some question, and if you've got children or elderly folks in contact with these chicks, it wouldn't hurt to talk to their physician.
Good luck!
