...and HI ! Been lurking as a visitor and now that my chicks have arrived I'll introduce myself.
I grew up on a broiler farm (25,000) birds and haven't been involved in chicken farming since the mid-1980's. My mom and I share the old farm and have just purchased 10 5-day old chicks to raise as laying hens.
4 Black Australorp
2 Buff Orps
2 Barred Rocks
2 NH Reds
Our chicks arrived from Ideal yesterday. They are doing well in the brooder; eating, drinking,pooping,sleeping, etc.
I have a question about one little chick that may be the problem child. It is aggressive. By that I mean it will strut through the other chicks looking for a fight, pecking eyes , wings and feet of the others. It will even grab another chick by the toe and drag it across the brooder amking the poor thing peep it's lungs out. No blood has been drawn yet. This one chick, (so far it is named "Adolf") is smaller but more advanced than the others. It scratches through the feed with it's feet and tries to fly already.
Could this behavior mean Adolf is probably a rooster?
Can anyone offer advice on curbing this aggressiveness? I hate to seperate it from the other chicks, thinking that may lead to other anti-social issues, but will do that if necessary.
I grew up on a broiler farm (25,000) birds and haven't been involved in chicken farming since the mid-1980's. My mom and I share the old farm and have just purchased 10 5-day old chicks to raise as laying hens.
4 Black Australorp
2 Buff Orps
2 Barred Rocks
2 NH Reds
Our chicks arrived from Ideal yesterday. They are doing well in the brooder; eating, drinking,pooping,sleeping, etc.
I have a question about one little chick that may be the problem child. It is aggressive. By that I mean it will strut through the other chicks looking for a fight, pecking eyes , wings and feet of the others. It will even grab another chick by the toe and drag it across the brooder amking the poor thing peep it's lungs out. No blood has been drawn yet. This one chick, (so far it is named "Adolf") is smaller but more advanced than the others. It scratches through the feed with it's feet and tries to fly already.
Could this behavior mean Adolf is probably a rooster?
Can anyone offer advice on curbing this aggressiveness? I hate to seperate it from the other chicks, thinking that may lead to other anti-social issues, but will do that if necessary.