Help! 3 day old chick scratching uncontrollably!

[JenniferC]

I have 2 little chickies be bought today and she has been fine all day, but this evening she has started have scratching fits where she scratches her face so intensely that she falls all over the cage till she falls asleep.

All day she has been sleeping standing up- which maybe has something to do with it.

Or maybe she's too hot and dehydrated- both my chickies seemed to be pasted up this evening. I unblocked them, but I bet they are too hot.

I'm going to move them farther from the lamp- maybe that will help.

Any advice? Please?

My kids have also been holding them way too much. Maybe something happened to her when a kid was holding her.

Advice?

 

[JenniferC]

eep, eep! any advice? she seems to be doing it less often, but just as intensely.

the one thing is- I haven't seen her lie down all day. she seems to sleep standing up. don't thibk that's normal. maybe she has a congenital thing.

 

[Cetawin]

Well I wish I had some answers...have you checked her face closely for any parasites likes mites or something? Eating and drinking normal? What type of bedding are they on?

I do not think the kids did anything by holding them...as long as they are warm when they are being held, holding them and playing with them is not a bad thing.

Hopefully bumping this up for you will get some of the old hands' attention.

 

[silkiechicken]

You say they are standing while sleeping? That sounds like they are too cold and trying to get closer to the light... Maybe you can tell us more about your set up too. Pine bedding right?

 

[Cetawin]

Thanks silkiechicken for jumping in here

 

[flip9109]

hope someone has some advice for you,
bump

 

[JenniferC]

Quote:
It's cedar shavings. The feed store insisted.

That said- the problem seems to have resolved itself. I'm guessing it was happening because she was pasted up, and I rinsed off her behind and picked out the clump. Maybe she kept doing it a bit after de-clumping because she still had tummy cramps for a while.

Anyway this am she seems fine. I saw here lying down starting last night. Maybe she wasn't sitting down because her rear end hurt.

I need to figure out exactly where a chicken's anus is. It seems like it should be obvious, but I need a visual here. Despite all this talk of pasting up, the internet is very reluctant to provide a diagram of the rear end of a chick.

 

[antiquebuff]

You should not be using cedar shavings for chickens. The feed store is mis informed. You should use pine. Cedar can cause all sorts of problems for chicks. I learned this very quickly on this forum. Change them out quickly. Use paper towels over some pine shavings until they get better. I be this will help.

 

[JenniferC]

Quote:
Eep! That's not good- Can I use them later, or for adult chickens? I bought a lot of it. I'll change it soon.

 

[Cetawin]

No cedar...absolutely not with chicks...it can kill them easily. Pine is the way to go with shavings.

These feed stores and such amaze me...cedar never has been safe for chickens or small animals yet they insist on telling people to use them. I guess they figure they smell better or something.