aggressive chick!

[kbeerice]

I have a group of 5 "easter eggers" and what I believe is 1 black sex link. they are supposed to be 1 week and 4 days old but the bsl is smaller than the others. he/she is so bossy! and attacks the other larger chicks! could it be a rooster? why is he/she doing this? what should I do?

 

[PSJ]

They are establishing a "pecking order". All chickens do it. Unless that one is actually harming the others (drawing blood, pulling out feathers,etc.), I wouldn't worry about it. If it starts to become a major problem, take that chick out and put it by itself for a week or two. The, re introduce it to the rest of the flock. That will lower its rank in the pecking order.

 

[Shadow722]

Mine do a lot of feather plucking. They have bald spots just over the tail that are red where they pick each other. The only time I have noticed they don't pick much is when I let the out to range. I can't leave them out all the time because there are 3 or 4 hawks in the nearby trees I see them often. I let the chicken out when I am home mostly afternoons. I have a few chicken who have kept all their feathers and they may be my aggressors. I have three different pens for them. One has a 6'x18' that has 14 hens and a rooster and they have a 3'x6' coop with 5 nest boxes. Another pen which is 8'x8' with the same coop design with 2 hens and a rooster. The other pen is 10'x10' with 6 hens with a shelter and nest box separate from each other. I think they have enough room.

 

[kbeerice]

they are still pretty young, only around 2 weeks old with plenty of space.