Chicks pecking the back of another- Help :-(

[NicholeT]

I have 18 chicks in a brooder- I just added 8 to my 10 that I hatched from the local feed store. Two of them have bald spots on their back and they seem to be getting ganged up on and pecked by the others. Is there anything I can put on the two that have bald spots to prevent the other chicks from pecking at them? If I need to separate do I need to create a separate brooder with a heat source, food and water (ugh)? Worried they may draw blood and the situation will escalate :-(

 

[nuthatched]

Just use some hardware cloth to section off part of the brooder.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

How big is your brooder? What ages? You could put something on it like blue kote, but if your brooder isn’t big enough for that many chicks they will be picked on regardless.

 

[NicholeT]

My 10 hatched Monday - so a few days old and the 8 I integrated are a week old. They are all around the same size and all Black Sex Link. The brooder is an extra large dog crate- they all seem to fit well for now. The heating pad is also extra large. If I used hardware cloth to section off, how would the two get heat?

 

[rosemarythyme]

My 10 hatched Monday - so a few days old and the 8 I integrated are a week old. They are all around the same size and all Black Sex Link. The brooder is an extra large dog crate- they all seem to fit well for now. The heating pad is also extra large. If I used hardware cloth to section off, how would the two get heat?

That doesn't sound very large for 18. You really should have 2 heating pads with that many chicks anyhow, to reduce the risk of them from crushing each other. Is there anything else in there to keep them busy? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/