Devil chicks?

So I decided to get only 2 chickens. RI Red is bound and determined to get out. She's pushed open the door, squeezed through tiny bars of the cage and she is currently spending all her time searching on ways to get out. I've shored up every side, but it's still looking and hoping. Mind you, this is a professional chicken cage from a farm. I had 10 baby ducks in this cage for a week and no one ever escaped.

Chick 2, the barred rock, is my screamer. Other chick too far SCREAM! (technically that's been helpful) RIR eating food/drinking at the same time SCREAM! She does falls asleep and then RIR jumps on her and SCREEEEEEEEM! She does get quiet eventually but when she's angry watch out, she is loud enough to be heard upstairs behind 2 closed doors.

They live in a cage like the one below (mine's 30x30), with 2 of those quart waterers (one with electrolyte, one plain) 1 quart food dispenser. I covered their cage partially to make it more cozy and put in an empty tissue box to see if they wanted to hide. It's 95 degrees as per one of those heat detecting things my husband has.


Is this normal or have I brought home 2 devils?

It sounds as if they are possessed.

sourland said:

It sounds as if they are possessed.

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Anything that I am doing wrong? Should I add some holy water to their food? (joking)

For reals, though, is this normal for chickens?

Is the entire cage 95 degrees? If so, you need to fix that so only one area is that warm and the rest is cooler so they can move to the warm area as needed.

Screamers - sometimes you get one.
A third chick may help calm them a bit. Or you may end up with a different thing to drive you batty lol

Nope not the entire cage. The heat gun reads from 72 in the corner with the water to 95 on the pad, under the light directly (it's only a 4inchish area). I heard 3 was a bad number to have because 2 are buddies and one gets left out.

Right now they are cuddled against me. Quiet and not running away.

Chickens have their individual personalities and temperaments, just as people do. Both of your chicks are breeds that have strong and assertive temperaments. I know they are very young, but they might benefit from a larger space in which to move around, run, jump, and explore.

When our chickens present us with what we perceive to be a problem, I feel it's wise to observe their behavior and let it tell us what the solution is.

azygous said:

Chickens have their individual personalities and temperaments, just as people do. Both of your chicks are breeds that have strong and assertive temperaments. I know they are very young, but they might benefit from a larger space in which to move around, run, jump, and explore.

When our chickens present us with what we perceive to be a problem, I feel it's wise to observe their behavior and let it tell us what the solution is.

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Unfortunately, my only bigger spaces have bigger holes so I can't put them in those for the time being. PR can't get out of the 1"x2" bars but RIR can.

PR, I discovered this morning, had pasty butt. I washed her, dried her and applied some tripple antibiotic ointment and she's quieted down quite a bit. RIR on the other hand---still drying her damdest to escape. I'm not sure it's the size of the container for her, I think it's just that she can get out. My niece and I tried to let her run around the kitchen and all she wanted was to get out where we'd blocked off...or under the door we'd closed. Not the entire room which is probably 12 x12? It's not a small room. But she wasn't interested in exploring...she was interested in how she could get out.

They both do like to cuddle so as soon as I put the baby to bed, I'll cuddle them

Use your imagination. You can easily block off larger mesh fencing with cardboard, even paper taped to the outside. It only needs to go up about a foot. You can introduce "toys" and "playground" devices. I like to place blocks in a brooder for chicks to climb on or a pyramid ladder. A tub of sand placed in the brooder is a huge winner. Baby chicks love to dirt bathe. Try sticking a stick through the mesh of the enclosure for a perch. Try rigging a swing using rigid verticals so the chick using the swing doesn't get tangled in loose cords or rope.

There is no better entertainment than adult chickens. Many of us brood our chicks in view of the adult flock. Part of what you may be seeing is the instinct to search for the "missing flock". Two chicks is only slightly less lonely than a single.

See my article linked below on outdoor brooding with an adult flock.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors

Chickens are flock animals. Chick especially do not do well in small numbers. This is the reason many states have a six chick minimum.

TomNY said:

Chickens are flock animals. Chick especially do not do well in small numbers. This is the reason many states have a six chick minimum.

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Well, I was told here my outdoor set up was only good enough for 2 or at max 3. I can literally run back to the feed store and get 2 more if it will keep them healthier. I had wanted 4.

azygous said:

Use your imagination. You can easily block off larger mesh fencing with cardboard, even paper taped to the outside. It only needs to go up about a foot. You can introduce "toys" and "playground" devices. I like to place blocks in a brooder for chicks to climb on or a pyramid ladder. A tub of sand placed in the brooder is a huge winner. Baby chicks love to dirt bathe. Try sticking a stick through the mesh of the enclosure for a perch. Try rigging a swing using rigid verticals so the chick using the swing doesn't get tangled in loose cords or rope.

There is no better entertainment than adult chickens. Many of us brood our chicks in view of the adult flock. Part of what you may be seeing is the instinct to search for the "missing flock". Two chicks is only slightly less lonely than a single.

See my article linked below on outdoor brooding with an adult flock.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors

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I've added some toys. It's too cold outside for them right now but they will be outside soon. They are by a glass sliding door that's only a few feet from a bird feeder (mostly finches). The baby loves to watch and "talk" to them and sticks her fingers on the bars of the cage and the dog is let outside by the same door so is often around them.