So, I'll tell you something you might not know. Chickens can get an illness called 'avian pox'; literally, chicken pox! About 2 years ago, a flock of young chicks we had here got it and we had 2 chicks die.
Yesterday, I noticed a turkey of ours had a badly scabbed and bleeding beak and the others were really pecking at it, so I separated it out. This morning, I saw that several other chicks had similar scabs around their faces, also
getting pecked badly. By this afternoon, all but 2 of the chicks had the scabby bleeding sores, and I knew it just wasn't a coincidence or bored bully chickens. It looked too much like the pox I had dealt with previously.
The turkeys were really bullying the smaller chickens so I separated them out so hopefully the chicks will be able to heal a bit. One of the turkeys still looked fine last I checked, but two others were in sad shape; one was missing almost half of the top of his beak. :( It will grow back fine if he makes it, but it will really make it hard to eat until it does and so it will likely die.
I am bummed; I hope we don't loose too many birds to this. Last time the symptoms lasted almost a month so it will be a while before we know what the total damage will be. I hope they pass it along to the pigeons that roost under my roof....
