1 week old baby chicks wings sticking out

[SaharaMarie]

I have a one week old golden comet chick who's wings are sticking out, the right side more than the left. The rests wings are resting against their sides but I have a mix of breeds in here, she's my only golden comet. Is this something I need to be concerned about?? Is there anything I can do to help her? Thank you!

 

[Cheekychook11]

It might be something I’ve heard of called angel wing, where the wings stick out like your chicks wings, maybe do some googling about that and see if it sounds like what is happening with your chick

 

[Eggcessive]

How hot is the temperature under the warmest part of the light? Sometimes they will hold their wings out if they are too warm.

 

[SaharaMarie]

The lamp is just keeping the area warm as we have no heat in our house yet, so the thermometer under where that area is, is sitting at about 74°f. They have a brooder plate in there they use to keep warm instead.

 

[orelsi]

The black chick is holding its wings that way as well in those pics, no?

 

[coach723]

I wouldn't worry too much. When chicks feather out at first the wings can look wonky and uneven sometimes. As they feather out more it usually resolves, and everything is normal looking. Give it a week, and see if things look different then. Angel wing is a bone deformity, more common in ducks. In chicken chicks it's often just the new first growth of the wing feathers that look wonky and it's nothing to do with the bone. Since they have no body feathers yet, just fluff, it makes those first feathers more noticeable.

 

[SaharaMarie]

The black chick is holding its wings that way as well in those pics, no?

Yes, when they are leaned over eating, but their wings stay on their side when they start walking around, vs the gold ones right wing just sticks out all the time. Eating, sleeping, running etc. Plus the black ones are a few days younger so I'm not trying to compare their growth to eachother.

 

[RLaudie]

What ever happened with your chick? I have one with similar symptoms and I’m trying to figure out if it’s just growing in feathers weird or if it’s Angel wing and what to do from here. She is less than a week old.

 

[coach723]

Pictures would be helpful. Angel wing is much more common in water birds than in chickens. I've had many chicken chicks have wings look wonky as they are beginning feathering out and they always have turned out normal as they fully feather out. When their wing feathers are coming in and they are still mostly covered in baby fuzz, it makes those feathers look more prominent. Angel wing is actual a twist in the last joint of the wing causing those feathers to point outwards.

 

[coach723]

Thought I would add a picture. This is one of my current chicks, 5 days old today (hatched here). As you can see, wonky feathers that stick out on both sides. This chick does NOT have angel wing, it's perfectly normal. I have a couple of others that are similar, but not quite as pronounced, again all normal. Different breeds can feather out a bit differently, as well as male/female sometimes making a difference, so some may look this way and some may not, some may be more prominent. It usually resolves fairly quickly as they continue to feather out.