Aggression at 1.5 weeks of age already? Is this normal?

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Hey everyone. I've gotten chicks again for the second time after 6 years. I've gotten 3 barred rocks and 1 Ameraucana. I got them a week and a half ago on March 8th, and they were only like a day old then so they're about a week and a half old now. I'm a college student and am only home on the weekends, so I'm not around to see them develop through the week. After a week of not seeing them I've noticed they've become a lot more active (as expected). But today I've noticed that they seem rather aggressive. Especially my smaller one. Just a bit ago I saw my small one hopping around trying to fight another chick, but I've noticed others being a big feisty as well. I'm wondering if this is normal or if there's something going on? Could this be an early indicator of sex? We settled on barred rocks because we wanted to find pullets and then use the sexing method for them based on their markings to increase our chances for getting all hens, but we couldn't find pullets anywhere. So we just picked them out from a straight run. This either leaves us with hens or this was very stupid and we've ended up with a bunch of roosters. I got an Ameraucana pullet since I couldn't discern from the barred rocks left lol. Looking back I wish I just got all sexed Ameraucanas instead of relying on a method that I'm unsure about, but oh well. Their brooder is 820 square inches, they get medicated MannaPro starter/grower. They're at 90°F right now and they have plain tap water. Pine shavings for their bedding.

I'm just nervous with this aggression since I don't want any getting injured, but I just can't remember if this is normal development since it's been so long.

 

[LTAY1946]

I've never had an injury in the brooder no matter how much chest bumping and posturing they go through. As long as they are not overcrowded I wouldn't worry about them to much.

 

[Sussex19]

I think it is normal, although with mine it happens more around the 2 to 3 week mark.
The worst injures I have seen from it are peck marks to the comb and head, which have always healed within a few days.
They grow out of that stage after a few weeks, and will then live in harmony till sexual maturity is reached.
No need to separate them, even if they look very rough.
With mine, it is almost always the cockerels that are the aggressors, and will target both other cockerels, and the pullets.
However, just because that is how it is with mine, does not mean that they will all be cockerels with yours.
Different breeds will very a lot with how aggressive both the cockerels and the pullets are.

 

[neo71665]

Gonna be hard to keep them tame only messing with them on the weekends.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

I think it is normal, although with mine it happens more around the 2 to 3 week mark.
The worst injures I have seen from it are peck marks to the comb and head, which have always healed within a few days.
They grow out of that stage after a few weeks, and will then live in harmony till sexual maturity is reached.
No need to separate them, even if they look very rough.
With mine, it is almost always the cockerels that are the aggressors, and will target both other cockerels, and the pullets.
However, just because that is how it is with mine, does not mean that they will all be cockerels with yours.
Different breeds will very a lot with how aggressive both the cockerels and the pullets are.

I was worried it might be cockerel behavior, but I didn't know if behavior like that would start so early. Hopefully it's just the breeds, but I guess we'll find out...

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Gonna be hard to keep them tame only messing with them on the weekends.

I know, they definitely don't like me. My dad is the one taking care of them this time so they'll probably get really friendly with him lol

 

[NatJ]

they're about a week and a half old now... They're at 90°F right now

Time to start reducing temperature.
You can raise the lamp higher or put in a smaller bulb, so the overall temperature is lower.

It's usually better if they have one warm spot and the rest cooler, instead of having one even temperature all over. That way they can run off to play where it's cool, and come back to the warm spot when they get cold. But it's hard to manage a warm area and a cool area in that size space with a heat lamp, even when you do have it all the way at one end. A smaller bulb, or a much larger space, would make it easier.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Time to start reducing temperature.
You can raise the lamp higher or put in a smaller bulb, so the overall temperature is lower.

It's usually better if they have one warm spot and the rest cooler, instead of having one even temperature all over. That way they can run off to play where it's cool, and come back to the warm spot when they get cold. But it's hard to manage a warm area and a cool area in that size space with a heat lamp, even when you do have it all the way at one end. A smaller bulb, or a much larger space, would make it easier.

We started out at 95 and plan to reduce the temp every week, so this weekend when I come home I'll reduce it to 85. The room that this is in is actually quite cool, so the other side of the box is room temperature. I know I'm a little behind on reducing because I got them in the middle of the week and wanted to do it weekends, but for now (as far as I'm aware) they still seem comfortable and even sleep under the heat as is... unless that could be the source of aggression? They can get away from the heat if needed

 

[NatJ]

We started out at 95 and plan to reduce the temp every week, so this weekend when I come home I'll reduce it to 85. The room that this is in is actually quite cool, so the other side of the box is room temperature. I know I'm a little behind on reducing because I got them in the middle of the week and wanted to do it weekends, but for now (as far as I'm aware) they still seem comfortable and even sleep under the heat as is... unless that could be the source of aggression? They can get away from the heat if needed

That sounds good.

I see too many posts from people who keep their chicks too warm for too long, so I wanted to be sure

Yes excess heat is linked with aggression, but I think that only applies when the chicks are stuck in it all the time. If they can get away to a cool space, it's typically not a problem.