Do baby debeaked chick's lick?

[pjbarb]

OK call me crazy but we got new chicks last Saturday I had them debeaked. From the start we had one chick who seemed to be running around pecking at all of the others beaks and faces. Not a little either, it would go from chick to chick seemingly pecking. So we isolated her...tonight my wife put her in with the others to see if she would stop and swears the little chick is licking instead of pecking. Is that possible? Should I allow her to stay with the others? I already had one bad experience with a flock that pecked each other...Thanks in advance...Paul

 

[gumpsgirl]

I don't know. I've never had any of my chicks or chickens debeaked.

 

[vfem]

Well I don't believe it in, so I'm unsure what kind of action it is really taking? Are they still pretty young? Could it be possible this one is more aggressive because its a roo?

 

[keljonma]

Most places I've questioned won't debeak a chick because it just grows back and has to be redone. They might debeak a point of lay pullet. We've never had any of our birds debeaked, so am not sure what that chick is doing. I suggest keeping an eye out for injuries.

 

[pjbarb]

I guess the debeaking thing doesn't go over well, and this site has always been helpful to me so I will try to explain...
Before I get judged on debeaking let me say I posted here this spring I had pullets pecking each other to the point where they had no feathers from under their wings back to their tails. Maybe two or three feathers left on their tails. I joined then and took tons of advise and answered alot of questions as well as spending hundreds of dollars trying to remedy the situation. I have two small children who loved them very much, but I was a newbie and didn't understand what was happening until it was too late. My run is large enough 10' x 20' my coop is 8' X 12' the door is always left open to the run and it is cleaner than any chicken coop or run I have ever seen. I have seen a bunch since this all began, I sterilize every week people close to me think I am crazy. I TRIED EVERYTHING...So maybe debeaking was the wrong idea but I was told that to be sure it doesn't start while they are young this was the route I had to take. We can't afford cannibalism again, or my children's faces as they died one by one.....So any ideas?

 

[Cara]

It really does sound like there's a serious problem somewhere in the setup; chickens do not typically act this way. They must be suffering from a parasite infestation, have inappropriate bedding, be stressed by overcrowding...the list goes on but if this has happened with two flocks, the problem is not the chickens themselves.

 

[WisconsinChick]

Quote:
I agree. there are thousands of BYC members and you are the first that I have heard of that has this problem.

 

[pjbarb]

Look it's not two flocks, I asked a simple question, it was almost in the form of light humor. Is it possible for a chicken to lick. The chicks are 4 days old the problem is not with TWO FLOCKS! I barely have a second FLOCK they are only 4 days old! Parasite infestation? Where? They are 4 days old! Read the post before you insult or bash someone...Overcrowded? They are in a 4 x 6 brooder...One chick looks like it is licking or pecking the others 10 Chicks in all, she has been doing it since it came out of the box. What happened to the helpful people on this site?

 

[WisconsinChick]

Quote:
No, chickens dont lick...happy?

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Honestly, the helpful people on this site just don't like seeing someone have a very vital part of a baby chick's face removed. I would do without chickens before I would do something like that. It is your chickens, your choice, but most people on here do NOT approve of de-beaking for obvious reasons. I would tell my kids "sorry, we don't do chickens" before I would try to explain to them why we chose to painfully disfigure them. And yeah, chickens can lick, my poor baby who hatched with a crossed beak did, so your question has been answered.