3 day old bully. HELP!

[DogRN]

Ok, so to start off, this is my first post. We recently became the proud owners of 6 baby chicks: 2 silkies, 1 wyandotte, 1 Polish and 2 Ameraucanas (sp?). The silkies and the wyandotte are about 2 weeks old, and the polish and the Ameraucanas are about 3-4 days old. The are being housed in a spacious brooder set up with a great heat source and all of the bells and whistles. All seem healthy and are eating and drinking wonderfully.

Now, to the problem. One of the Ameraucanas is a serious bully. She grabs all of the other chicks by the side of the face (right under their eyes) and pulls their heads down to the ground, while somewhat shaking them at the same time. Is this normal? All of the other chicks seem to want to avoid her, and I can't blame them. This has not been an infrequent occurrence. Every time she gets close enough to another chick, she does this. The other chicks chirp loudly and try to get away. We obtained all of the chicks at a dependable local grain store. Should we return this chick? We are concerned about future aggression issues and the other chicks getting injured by her. I just don't know anything about the behavior of little chicks to know if this is anywhere near normal. We are really looking for some honest advice on what to do.

Sincerely,

Confused New Chicken Owner

 

[freespiritmom]

If you return the chick, they will probably have no choice but to cull it. We have had a couple brats that seem to be more aggressive than the others, but once we started to give them some extra TLC and cuddle time, they have seemed to chill. I would try to handle and soothe the little rascal and see if that helps. I am sort of new at chickens raising, but they could be starting the pecking order, I don't know. We also use a time out box for bullies, it helped as well. Good luck and I hope the bully softens some.

 

[thepouts]

I also have a 3 day old chick who is bullying a 2 day old he keeps pecking him on the spot just above his beak. He's doing the same thing you describe, grabbing and and sort of shaking his head. I've separated them and I'm hoping that once his beak is healed he won't be bullied anymore it's horrible to watch

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I always have some toe/eye peckers in every bunch, but nothing like what you're describing. I'd probably separate the butthead for a few days and try again. If it doesn't knock it off, I'd cull. But, that's just me. Good luck!

 

[ChicKind]

I had one similar to that. I only had two chicks, but one would run at and chest butt the other and generally hassle the other. We named him/her Deisel. Heshe was smaller and had less fuzz than the other and had a pecked comb that needed to heal. Turns out the chest butter was trying to get warm. On watching them a couple of days, Diesel was trying to get under Dannie's unfeathered little wing. I held the little one a lot those first few days, gave them sugar water once or twice a day, and turned up the heat a bit, near 100 was best (under the lowered lamp).
Two months old now and Diesel still tries to get under Dannie who at least now has feathers on hisher wings. Not sure yet whether boys or girls, but Dannie is bigger and obviously in charge now. Diesel is turning out to be quite a sweetie. These are my first chickens, but I have 10 more coming in day after tomorrow. Ten different personalities, I'm sure!

 

[chooks4life]

The dragging down of the chicks by biting onto the face and other behaviour you describe is a serious warning sign and I would cull.

Normal is what we've made it and that's a bad thing. While what you're seeing is normal it's not healthy. It is indeed normal these days for chicks to cannibalize one another, as do adult chooks, but this is due to mankind's mismanagement. Naturally raised and also wild chickens do not behave like that.

Healthy chicks (physically as well as mentally) have little battles which are epic but not violent. They stand tall and fluff their neck feathers and jump about and gently kick at eachother.

They do not bite onto heads and try to shake pieces of flesh loose. What you're describing is an attempt to kill and eat the other chicks. It's almost certainly going to lead to that chick mutilating your others, possibly killing them or just eating them alive. Yummy eyes! People have gone to great lengths to get killer chicks and older birds to stop and you may find more info somewhere on this site but chooks tend to breed fairly true especially if purebred and I would not risk it.

 

[ChicKind]

I should say I didn't put sugar in their regular waterer, just a little in a small, shallow lid for the two of them once or twice a day. It warms them, but too much, too long can apparently lead to pasty butt and other problems. They are stressed enough those first few days.
They do love it though! I would also put a sprinkling of sugar granules in the palm of my hand to get them used to me after I saw how they went after it.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Greetings and welcome to the site.

Are you sure you didn't mix up the ages? A 4 day old chick attacking 14 day olds? I'd still cull anyway, sorry. That's a serious stripe of vicious! But you may find someone who can tell you how to deal with it if you choose to do that; I'd guess they'd feed the wannabe cannibal more protein, put it under a red light or attach goggles to its beak so it can't see straight ahead, and possibly cage it separately. I don't know, best wishes anyway.


Quote: Honey will warm them, give them a steady non-addictive energy boot (unlike sugar), and also give them electrolytes, antioxidants, antibiotics, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and more. None of them have negative side effects unlike artificial versions of the same. Now I'm going to state some facts about refined white sugar but please don't take it as an attack. It's not. I've used white sugar when I had no honey for emergency cases with wild animals. I have a sweet tooth myself. The biggest problem with white sugar is that is is usually a staple in the diets of many rather than an occasional treat which would leave the body better able to withstand its barrage. Anyway, some stuff about refined white sugar:

Refined white sugar is the preferred booster feed of everything from cancer to golden staph. Every virus loves it. It directly feeds all infections. All bad bacteria will explode in population numbers when fed white sugar. (That's how it causes pasty butt... It assaults their immune systems so any resident or lurking problem in their system can overgrow the defenses keeping it in check). Lymphocytes (white blood cells) treat white sugar as a direct attack because that is in fact what it is. Scientists have managed to get the human body to consume cancer by simply injecting the cancer with white sugar dissolved in water. Studies were done in jails, where they removed the white sugar from the diets, and murders stopped happening until it was reintroduced. Refined white sugar is classified as a neurotoxin because it alters the way the mind works into an agitated, discordant and aggressive state. It's addictive and there isn't a part of the body it doesn't affect negatively.

Many people cope ok-ish with it, (though while cancer is such a common part of our lives I don't know if that's classed as 'coping'); like many livestock never knowing 100% health but 'muddling on ok' --- it's one of the best-beloved blights of our lifestyles. The facts I quoted are derived from studies that have been coming out steadily for decades now; there is a wealth of freely available scientifically and medically conducted studies and literature on the negative effects of refined white sugar...
It's a major root of disease and death, but most of us love it too much to abstain.

 

[ChicKind]

See, that's why I like this forum! Excellent information! These are my first two chickens. I have used white sugar in very small doses for several animals when they got too cold. I wouldn't have thought of honey, as I heard there can be a bacteria in it that is too much for a human baby's system to deal with, but it sounds like it is a good alternative for baby chickens.

I use the sugar as I would medicine and as a treat when training. Once they got through that first week, I fead them their regular feed from my hand. I'll try honey with the 10 chicks I have coming tomorrow, if needed. Tanks for the info!

 

[ten chicks]

See, that's why I like this forum! Excellent information! These are my first two chickens. I have used white sugar in very small doses for several animals when they got too cold. I wouldn't have thought of honey, as I heard there can be a bacteria in it that is too much for a human baby's system to deal with, but it sounds like it is a good alternative for baby chickens.

I use the sugar as I would medicine and as a treat when training. Once they got through that first week, I fead them their regular feed from my hand. I'll try honey with the 10 chicks I have coming tomorrow, if needed. Tanks for the info!

The sugar could be the problem. Quite possible chick is getting some sort of adrenaline rush. Stop the sugar/honey and see if there is a difference in aggression. Sugar does have the same affect on some children. I personally have never given my chicks sugar or honey(unless it was for an illness)try adding warm water to their chick feed,make into the consistency of oatmeal. My chicks loved this,they would gobble it up.