Please help

[Courtany Anderson]

Hello!
I am a new hen mother to two beautiful 1 month old baby chicks. However, I seem to have a crisis. One of my chicks seems to have either been injured by the other or have mites. The back of its neck is featherless. I have applied neosporin antibiotic cream but it seems to only be getting worse. Any advice ? Is it mites? I separated the two chicks in case the other one was just bullying it. But I'm out of options. Please help.

 

[Bantambird]

From what I see, those look a lot like pinfeathers. Chicks go through a lot when getting their first feathers, and they look really awkward in their ugly phase when growing in their first full set of feathers. Does the bird seem bothered? If it doesn't, I would put them back together. The old feathers sometimes drop before the new ones grow in.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC!

Have you seen the other chick pecking this one it this spot?

 

[Gorman Farm]

Yeah looks like pin feathers to me too. Keep a close watch and see if the waxy part comes off and new feathers appear. You can always have the vet take a skin scraping if you feel it is something more serious.

 

[Courtany Anderson]

From what I see, those look a lot like pinfeathers. Chicks go through a lot when getting their first feathers, and they look really awkward in their ugly phase when growing in their first full set of feathers. Does the bird seem bothered? If it doesn't, I would put them back together. The old feathers sometimes drop before the new ones grow in.

Thanks, and no it doesn't seem bothered it just really scared me.!

 

[Courtany Anderson]

Welcome to BYC!

Have you seen the other chick pecking this one it this spot?

No I haven't noticed either of them pecking at the other, honestly they are so close and wanting to be near each other all the time

 

[Courtany Anderson]

Yeah looks like pin feathers to me too. Keep a close watch and see if the waxy part comes off and new feathers appear. You can always have the vet take a skin scraping if you feel it is something more serious.

Thanks.!!

 

[Kiki]

chickens are meant to be together...
you should keep them together.
it's just going through it's "ugly" stage...you know when children lose their teeth and just get the new big teeth in?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

It's difficult to make out from the photos but it looks like pin feathers coming in which would suggest it's just a juvenile moult. Is the skin actually broken or is it just feather damage/loss, which is what it looks like in the photo?
Do you only have 2 chicks and no other poultry? Two is not a good number because if you lose one you end up with a lone chick or hen and finding a companion of a similar age can be difficult. 3 or 4 is much better.
Mites live in the coop and crawl onto the chickens at night to suck their blood. They can cause anaemia and pass on infections but they don't usually cause feather loss. Lice live and breed on the chickens and whilst they don't pose a health risk as such, they do cause irritation and can lead to the chickens over preening. Ensuring that chickens and chicks have access to a dust bathing area is an important part of chicken management, so that they can keep themselves clear of these pests.

The best way to assess a problem like this is to spend time just observing them and see how they are behaving. If it is feather picking, usually lack of space and boredom are the key factors.

I hope that has given you some ideas to look out for and/or hopefully put your mind at rest.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Courtany Anderson]

Hi

It's difficult to make out from the photos but it looks like pin feathers coming in which would suggest it's just a juvenile moult. Is the skin actually broken or is it just feather damage/loss, which is what it looks like in the photo?
Do you only have 2 chicks and no other poultry? Two is not a good number because if you lose one you end up with a lone chick or hen and finding a companion of a similar age can be difficult. 3 or 4 is much better.
Mites live in the coop and crawl onto the chickens at night to suck their blood. They can cause anaemia and pass on infections but they don't usually cause feather loss. Lice live and breed on the chickens and whilst they don't pose a health risk as such, they do cause irritation and can lead to the chickens over preening. Ensuring that chickens and chicks have access to a dust bathing area is an important part of chicken management, so that they can keep themselves clear of these pests.

The best way to assess a problem like this is to spend time just observing them and see how they are behaving. If it is feather picking, usually lack of space and boredom are the key factors.

I hope that has given you some ideas to look out for and/or hopefully put your mind at rest.

Best wishes

Barbara

Yes I only have 2 chicks however, I have 20 full grown hens. And I'm raising these two separately and when the time is right I'm going to incorporate them into the rest of the flock (at night of course) .! Thank you so much for the advice