Face Rubbing After Eating

[BonnieBlue]

I am not sure what to call this, so not even sure if I am using proper key words when looking to see if asked previously.

One of my (2 days shy of 7 weeks old) chicks sometimes rubs her face against something, generally the ramp to the coop, sometimes the ground, after eating. I haven't seen her do so after eating crumble, but I have seen her do it 2 or 3 times after eating cold or frozen mash. Is this normal behavior? You can kind of see what I mean in this pic. Her head is blurry, because she did the rubbing her face against the ramp right as I was taking her pic. She will do it a couple of times, then that is it. It isn't constant.

 

[2ndTink]

Normal as long as it isn't excessive and followed by head shaking or scratching at her face a lot with her foot. It's the way they wipe their mouths so maybe the mash is getting bits stuck on her beak and she's just cleaning it off. Mine do this quite often even the little chicks.

 

[TwoCrows]

Yes as @2ndTink mentioned above, she is cleaning her beak after eating! They'd use a napkin if they could.

 

[Liberty-Chicken]

This is normal behavior. They usually do if they ate something soft or sticky and they are trying to wipe it off their beak. They also do it to sharpen their beaks

 

[BonnieBlue]

Thank you all. I thought it might be something like that, or stuck food, because it is only when she eats mash. But I would rather ask questions, and make sure I am not missing anything that needs attention!

She is my favorite, and loves to come to me to be scratched on, so nice to know she's also a bit of a lady. lol

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you all. I thought it might be something like that, or stuck food, because it is only when she eats mash. But I would rather ask questions, and make sure I am not missing anything that needs attention!

She is my favorite, and loves to come to me to be scratched on, so nice to know she's also a bit of a lady. lol

Soon she’ll be wiping her face on your leg. Several of mine do that.

 

[WingsysRoost]

Mine usually do this for anything sticky. I have one who seems very sensitive to textures and will do it more frequently.

She also seems to do it for anything that she dislikes, as well, regardless of texture. She will do a little head shake, too, as if to say "I don't like this, take it away!"

 

[Happy hen lover]

Totally normal mine do it after mash or anything soft.