Polish Crested Raw/Bald spot?

[lysanderish]

So my fiance and I decided to raise chickens. Our chicks are about 3 weeks old and all starting to grow in feathers. Our smallest, Poof, has a bald spot on her head. At first I thought it was just her feathers coming in, but this morning we noticed its also red/raw?

Most of what I found suggests she may be getting pecked unfairly, but we honestly haven't observed any aggressive pecking behaviors with our flock. We noticed her head doesn't fit very easily into the feeder holes and is probably rubbing against the inside edge when she pulls her head out. We bent to sharp edge inward on all the holes to help, but I don't think it's a solution that's going to last very long as she gets bigger.

This is our first brooding so despite reading everything I can get my hands on, I still feel like we have no idea what we're doing. I remember being worried after we brought her home that her crest might eventually become a problem with the feeder. Is there some secret step I missed where we are supposed to buy a different feeder once their feathers start coming in?

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. I want to give Poof what she needs to grow up to be a successful hen.

 

[Eggcessive]

Many polish chicks will have their crests pecked by the others. I would recommend plastic feeders if you think the metal one is too sharp. I have read of young chicks having their necks sliced on some of the metal chick feeders. BluKote is what I have used on polish heads before to discourage pecking. There are also bad tasting creams such as Nustock and BagBalm, or anti-peck lotions. This can be an ongoing problem from time to time with crested birds.

 

[lysanderish]

We bought a new feeder today, so I'll be keeping an eye on her to see if that helps any. I'll be sure to pick up some blukote the next time I'm at the farm store (we have to buy more dog food soon anyway). Even if it's not the problem now, it'll probably be good to have on hand just in case the others get offended by her dorky crest later.