My baby's face is red!!! What's wrong??!

[Henriettamom919]

Lets tag some Gurus!

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @aart @Eggcessive - any thoughts?

 

[Henriettamom919]

One way to tell if it's "reactive" to either hormones and normal color development vs. Conditional might be to bring her somewhere dark and cool long enough that she's totally calm and see if the color fades. If it does its probably something she came in contact with whether another bird or just vigorous dust bathing or some other irritating factor. If not then I'd start thinking about illness and parasites, etc.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

She and her sisters are outside now, so I'm sure they're ALL panting now. It's in the house at late evening and in the morning I'll see her pant for a few seconds, then stop. It's not constant. The others don't do this.

 

[Trimurtisan]

I wouldn't worry to much either.

Oh and , I'm sure we'll figure it out! Someone will know what to do!

Agreed! I've yet to have a question unanswered. @RhodeIslandRed5 your lil'feathered friend is in good hands.

When you held her/him and noticed the red coming and going, did you notice if her/his heart was pounding?

I brought a cockerel out to hang out inside for a while, but the transition scared the poop out of him, (right in to my hand actually). When I initially put him in my lap, his heart was beating rather fast, and his face more red than usual. (stress as @Henriettamom919 mentioned) Once calmed down 1-2 minutes later, the redness calmed down a bit, as with the heart rate. He wasn't panting though.


Could you have just spooked it? Higher heart rate could lead to a higher need of oxygen, leading to panting. Could also lead to flushness of the face. I'm not 100% sure if that's how it works in chickens, but it how it works in a lot of other animals, including us.

I'm not sure about her comb, it's her face I'm concerned about

When guy's face was a brighter red, his comb was also.

 

[Trimurtisan]

Have you noticed any sounds when she breaths?

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

When my girls are inside, they're in a canvas doggy pen lined with pine shavings. They like to scratch and throw the shavings around in the air. Think that might irritate her?

 

[BY Bob]

How hot is it? Blood will come to the surface in order to try and cool them. In fact it is 90°+ here and my girls combs are as red as they get right now. I would imagine any place that is not heavily feathered would show as red too.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Okay, if it were me I'd try isolating her inside where it's coolest until she's totally calm and relaxed with fresh, cool water then watch her. If, amidst that, she's still red and sporadically panting I'd start checking crop, feeling belly, checking vent and skin, etc (the full physical).

 

[Henriettamom919]

When my girls are inside, they're in a canvas doggy pen lined with pine shavings. They like to scratch and throw the shavings around in the air. Think that might irritate her?

Cedar or pine? And yes, the dust can be irritating.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

No, I don't hear anything abnormal when she breaths. She peeps a lot. She's more quiet when I hold her and hug her. I didn't pay attention to her heartbeat. When I bring her inside this evening, I'll watch her closely.