Someone please tell me why ?????

[leslie0815]

The first of Oct. I received 8 day old buff Orp. 4 feather legged bantams which turned out to be 1 bantam cochin, 1 silkie and 2 that I still am not sure of and 8 std cochins. I have them all in a very big cage lots of room, plenty of food and water, fresh air......for some reason the buff orp are killing all the feather legged bantams I am now down to 2 out of 4, and they have killed 3 of the std cochins........I thought buff orps were pretty docile. What is up with my chickies ?????? Please help me. I separated the buffs tonight but I still am at a loss for the reasoning of the killings from the Buff orps. Thanks for any ideas.......
Leslie

 

[emys]

What are you doing for light? Is it a white light on constantly?

 

[firedove]

Some chicks are just bad like that. As for Orps being docile birds, it's like any other animal. Personality will vary by the lines. While Wyandottes are generally docile birds I've heard of many people getting Wyandottes that were nasty, especially from hatcheries (though my hatchery Wyandottes are very sweet). You can't always judge an animal by it's breed.

People have had some luck in separating nasty chicks with clear dividers and re-introducing them later into the group. It's also very important to stay vigilant. One bad peck that leads to blood can cause all the chicks to peck at the red spot, it's instinctive for them to peck at red (I'm not sure why). So if a chick starts to bleed it is in big danger of being pecked to death. Some chicks/chickens never get over the nasty nature even when they grow up and end up being good soup in the end.

I hope your chicks grow out of it!

 

[leslie0815]

I am using a red heat light........

 

[emys]

Are the dead ones pecked and bloody or just squished?

 

[leslie0815]

pecked and bloody....

 

[emys]

Sorry, I don't know then. (Not a heat issue)

 

[leslie0815]

Thank you anyway.......

 

[wombat]

Are they too crowded?

 

[leslie0815]

No, I have them in a very large rabbit hutch.....