weird pecking habit of my misfit chick

[chickenmommy25]

hi all!! i have a weird question. i have a 3 1/2 month old americauna who does the weirdest thing when she's pecking for food. it's almost like she pecks with no purpose. i've been watching her lately and it seems weird. all my other chicks peck and get their food, but this one pecks all over til she finds something. and she does it very "aggressively." we call her our misfit chicken!! any advice??

 

[Kelsie2290]

I have one three year old pet EE (hatchery bird that lays brown eggs but came with a shipment of EEs only) that does that, she has done that her whole life, I have always thought there was something off with her eyesight. She pecks at food but does not know exactly where it is and sort of pecks around it until she accidentally connects with what she was aiming for. It is just like her depth perception is off. I noticed it when she was fairly young and kept her back because of it. Her eyes "look" normal, but I have not had them looked at by a vet or anything. She does not have problems moving around the yard and never runs into anything. She is a dominant bird and very very friendly (which is why we still have her), and seems otherwise normal. She is a little slow to get up on the roost at night, but I don't think it has anything to do with her eyesight, she is just a big heavy bird. She has moderate cheek puffs and beard when she is in full feather, but she does it even if her head feathers are molted off.

 

[chickenmommy25]

Ok, so it's not totally uncommon. glad to know other birds do this, too!

thanks!