Unknown chicks pin feather came off!

[Amelise]

I checked in on my 2 week ild chicks just now and was surprised to see a feather on the brooder floor. Upon further inspection, it was a pin feather with blood on it. I don’t know who it was!! Should I worry about one of the chicks bleeding out??

 

[sourland]

No.

 

[nuthatched]

Why would it bleed out? It will be fine.

 

[Amelise]

Why would it bleed out? It will be fine.

That’s good to hear. I thought that birds were bad at clotting up and loosing a pin feather could lead to too much bleeding. Maybe I’m thinking about parrots. Sheesh now I feel stupid

 

[coach723]

No stupid questions here! No one knows everything and the only way to find out something you don't know is to ask! Sometimes a blood feather will bleed a lot when broken and you might have to pull the shaft out to get it to stop, but most of the time they stop on their own. If it was still bleeding you would absolutely know which bird it was. You can also use cornstarch or flour to help one clot up if needed. Things happen and most of the time the birds do fine.

 

[Amelise]

No stupid questions here! No one knows everything and the only way to find out something you don't know is to ask! Sometimes a blood feather will bleed a lot when broken and you might have to pull the shaft out to get it to stop, but most of the time they stop on their own. If it was still bleeding you would absolutely know which bird it was. You can also use cornstarch or flour to help one clot up if needed. Things happen and most of the time the birds do fine.

Thanks! I’ve been checking in on them and they’re all ok, thankfully. I’ve noticed they’ve been picking at each other a lot, I think they enjoy picking at each others chicken flakes (whatever the name is for the cylinder the feather grows through). Someone must have pecked a little too hard, lol

 

[coach723]

Chicks will peck at everything. If you are having a lot of it going on then maybe they need more space. They grow so fast that a brooder can get too small pretty quick.