Aggressive chick body slamming the others....

[cmcourt]

We have three Ameraucana pullets we bought from our local feed store. They have been doing great so far but as time passes one is turning into a real bully. They will be two weeks old this weekend. The other two are little sweeties. This one though, goodness she just pecks and pushes and flies right into the others. This morning I caught her chasing one of the others around the brooder repeatedly trapping her victim behind the feeder and waterer. Is this normal??? Is this just all part of establishing pecking order?

Thanks for any insight.

Christine

 

[teach1rusl]

It's definitely part of est. pecking order, although that one does sound especially assertive (at this age I'll choose that term over aggressive). Females do this as well as males, but that does make me wonder if that one is a cockerel.

 

[cmcourt]

We were wondering if this one is a cockerel too. She is a bit bigger than the other two. We looked them all over pretty good this morning and that was the only difference we could see. They all seem healthy. We moved them to a larger brooder just now to see if that helps at all. The first brooder was 1.5 ft x2 ft This one is 4 square feet, so plenty of room for three little chicks. Thanks for the feedback

 

[onthespot]

Look at the feet, to see if they are a tad thicker and larger than the other two. Look at the slope of its back. Roos, even as chicks, will sometimes slope a little from front to back as they are walking around. Look at the cartilage over their nostrils. If it is more pronounced, and the beak seems thicker at the base and points downward a little different from the other two, it is probably a rooster. Hopefully it is just a pushy big sister and all will be well. If it's a boy, see if your feed store will give you a pullet chick. If you get to choose, pick ones with smaller beaks, slender shanks, and a more level back.