Katiegeez
Chirping
Hello all!
Bit of a long-winded story, feel free to skip if you don't feel like reading chick drama! Tldr at the bottom.
I currently have four "Silked White Easter Eggers" from MPC. Three of the four look like regular white Silkies (grey-blue skin and beaks, five toes, white feathers on their feet). The third is a mystery -- her down is white, her skin is pinkish-grey, her beak is pink, she has five toes, and no feathers on her feet. This means she is on her own, and looks a good bit different than the others. She is also just a bit smaller than the obvious Silkies. When I received the four chicks on Wednesday through USPS, the three Silkies seemed fine, but this little non-silked chick did not seem well at all. She had poor balance, couldn't tuck her wings in, wouldn't walk, wouldn't go under the heat lamp, etc. I also noticed she had a wound or two on her wee little pink beak. After watching for a few minutes, I noticed the Silkies would peck at her periodically, particularly the red spots on her beak. Eventually, I pulled her out and gave her electrolyte water via a syringe. She perked up after an hour or two, her balance improved, she tucked her wings in, and started acting normally. I put her back in the brooder with her compatriots, and let them do their thing. The next morning, I noticed the beginnings of may have been pasty butt on the non-silked chick, and a bit of bullying. I figured the stress had taken its toll, and the pecking order was being developed. The next morning, it was full-blown pasty butt, so I washed the non-silked chick's butt, made sure she could make clean bowel movements, and released her again. There was still a bit of bullying going on, though the wounds on her beak appeared to have scabbed over, so I assumed they were just de-stressing. This morning, I noticed the non-silked chick looked just.. sad. She was curled up by herself against the heater (I had moved the chicks to a larger brooder with a Cozy Coop heater), while the three Silkies were having a merry time at the water dish. Thinking that I needed to quarantine the non-silked chick asap, I re-setup the smaller brooder with the heat lamp and moved her over by herself. I gave her a few drops of electrolyte water via syringe, and she perked up almost immediately. I watched her look around, and when she realized she was by herself, walked over to the food dish and started happily eating. She seems much more active by herself. Does this sound like an illness, or was she being bullied to the point of not being able to get water and/or food?
So, tldr; I am having a problem with one chick that looks different than the others being bullied by majority same-looking chicks. Do very young chicks bully each other, particularly when one looks different than the others? I know this is a thing in older chickens, but I didn't think it would happen for chicks that have been together since hatch, essentially. Should I look into getting other different-looking chicks, so my one non-silked girl isn't so alone? Is there anything else I can do?
Video of the chicks right after the non-silked/pink-beaked chick was feeling better on their first day with me. You can pretty clearly see the red spots she had on her beak at that time.
Bit of a long-winded story, feel free to skip if you don't feel like reading chick drama! Tldr at the bottom.
I currently have four "Silked White Easter Eggers" from MPC. Three of the four look like regular white Silkies (grey-blue skin and beaks, five toes, white feathers on their feet). The third is a mystery -- her down is white, her skin is pinkish-grey, her beak is pink, she has five toes, and no feathers on her feet. This means she is on her own, and looks a good bit different than the others. She is also just a bit smaller than the obvious Silkies. When I received the four chicks on Wednesday through USPS, the three Silkies seemed fine, but this little non-silked chick did not seem well at all. She had poor balance, couldn't tuck her wings in, wouldn't walk, wouldn't go under the heat lamp, etc. I also noticed she had a wound or two on her wee little pink beak. After watching for a few minutes, I noticed the Silkies would peck at her periodically, particularly the red spots on her beak. Eventually, I pulled her out and gave her electrolyte water via a syringe. She perked up after an hour or two, her balance improved, she tucked her wings in, and started acting normally. I put her back in the brooder with her compatriots, and let them do their thing. The next morning, I noticed the beginnings of may have been pasty butt on the non-silked chick, and a bit of bullying. I figured the stress had taken its toll, and the pecking order was being developed. The next morning, it was full-blown pasty butt, so I washed the non-silked chick's butt, made sure she could make clean bowel movements, and released her again. There was still a bit of bullying going on, though the wounds on her beak appeared to have scabbed over, so I assumed they were just de-stressing. This morning, I noticed the non-silked chick looked just.. sad. She was curled up by herself against the heater (I had moved the chicks to a larger brooder with a Cozy Coop heater), while the three Silkies were having a merry time at the water dish. Thinking that I needed to quarantine the non-silked chick asap, I re-setup the smaller brooder with the heat lamp and moved her over by herself. I gave her a few drops of electrolyte water via syringe, and she perked up almost immediately. I watched her look around, and when she realized she was by herself, walked over to the food dish and started happily eating. She seems much more active by herself. Does this sound like an illness, or was she being bullied to the point of not being able to get water and/or food?
So, tldr; I am having a problem with one chick that looks different than the others being bullied by majority same-looking chicks. Do very young chicks bully each other, particularly when one looks different than the others? I know this is a thing in older chickens, but I didn't think it would happen for chicks that have been together since hatch, essentially. Should I look into getting other different-looking chicks, so my one non-silked girl isn't so alone? Is there anything else I can do?
Video of the chicks right after the non-silked/pink-beaked chick was feeling better on their first day with me. You can pretty clearly see the red spots she had on her beak at that time.
But yes, in my experience there are some that will be bullied.
I would definitely keep an eye on her, chickens can be cruel. If the bullying persists, I have seen other threads where advice has been given to eliminate any bullies. I tend to agree with this advice, but if it is all of them, not sure there is much to be done.
