Aggression in the brooder questions

[JustTheYolk]

Hello! This is my first post and this is my first time having chickens.

On Tuesday we had 12 Lakeshore eggers and 3 assorted Polish arrive from Meyer hatchery.

We placed them all together in the brooder. Within 10 minutes all three polish were ripping at the lakeshore's eyes and 40 minutes later, they had their own brooder. Fast forward a few hours and we realized one had ripped all the down out of anothers rump. The bare booty one is an eye pecker and pecked the eyes of both other polish.

I separated them for the night in 3 separate brooders. The next day(yesterday) I tried to put two of them back together. I figured the one with the bare rump needs to heal first. Within an hour, the down ripper was headed for the other ones feathers. They have been in separate brooders again since yesterday.

They are 3 days old today and have yet to be able to be together. I am wondering when it is recommended to try them again in a bigger container and how to go about doing it? I feel so bad because they are so snuggly and sweet to humans but so mean to one another.

Thank you!

 

[azygous]

At three days old, aggression is less of a temperament issue than an environmental one.

Check to be sure the heat footprint in the brooder is not higher than 85-90F. Any warmer, especially in a small brooder and if the brooder is in a heated indoor room, the chicks will get overheated easily, leading to all sorts of problems.

If the brooder is too small, less than one square foot per chick, you are more likely to have aggression issues.

Chicks need to be together with other chicks or they will suffer stress, and this can affect their health. Read this article I wrote that gives tips on combating brooder aggression. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/

It's more simple than you might think to prevent this sort of thing. The good news is it's unlikely to progress beyond the first week and shouldn't happen past the second week.

 

[chickens really]

Space and lots of babies before they learn the difference between food a friend, peck another till about 3 days old. Room and fun is the best Brooder. Things to hop on and a cool area too

 

[JustTheYolk]

At three days old, aggression is less of a temperament issue than an environmental one.

Check to be sure the heat footprint in the brooder is not higher than 85-90F. Any warmer, especially in a small brooder and if the brooder is in a heated indoor room, the chicks will get overheated easily, leading to all sorts of problems.

If the brooder is too small, less than one square foot per chick, you are more likely to have aggression issues.

Chicks need to be together with other chicks or they will suffer stress, and this can affect their health. Read this article I wrote that gives tips on combating brooder aggression. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/

It's more simple than you might think to prevent this sort of thing. The good news is it's unlikely to progress beyond the first week and shouldn't happen past the second week.

Thank you!

 

[JustTheYolk]

Space and lots of babies before they learn the difference between food a friend, peck another till about 3 days old. Room and fun is the best Brooder. Things to hop on and a cool area too

Thank you!

 

[danceswithronin]

Check to be sure the heat footprint in the brooder is not higher than 85-90F. Any warmer, especially in a small brooder and if the brooder is in a heated indoor room, the chicks will get overheated easily, leading to all sorts of problems.

Overheating was a major factor in the chick aggression I experienced last year in the brooder. As soon as I removed the brooder lamp (it was late June, in Alabama) the aggression almost instantly stopped. Not all climates require additional heat, not in the summer.

 

[JustTheYolk]

Overheating was a major factor in the chick aggression I experienced last year in the brooder. As soon as I removed the brooder lamp (it was late June, in Alabama) the aggression almost instantly stopped. Not all climates require additional heat, not in the summer.

Thank you! I have been wondering about this. I unplugged the heat lamp and opened the windows in the coop today and everyone was really relaxed and happy in there.