Aggressive chicks

[TJAnonymous]

I hatched some chicks via incubator about 3 weeks ago. In the past week and a half, I've noticed a couple of them seem to be rather aggressive. Does anyone think this is abnormal for a young chick?

Let me explain the aggressive behavior... When you reach into the brooder for ANY reason, these 2 particular chicks launch an all-out attack on your hand. And I don't mean just a simple peck. They are actually BITING and hold on. If you push them back, they come right back at you.

One chick is a Silverudd.... And, I think, going to be a rooster (based on his comb appearance). The other chick is a Black Copper Maran. Can't decide on the sex of the 2nd chick....

My question is around the likelihood of the chicks being aggressive as adults if they are already showing aggression as a 3 week old chick?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Sorry. I find this funny, and adorable.

 

[50-45-1]

Have you raised chicks before?
At three weeks, I think its play, or they are hungry and associate your hand with the arrival of food.
I have had this happen.

 

[esme13]

Chicks go back and fourth with confidence as well. They might start off more assertive and become later on shy. Pecking I would just remove my hand away from them.

 

[sourland]

How much space do they have?

 

[MarshyRooster]

It kind of depends on how much space they have, how much they eat and if they've established a mini-pecking order yet. They could be trying to show dominance to you, or, frankly, want to eat your hand.
But I don't know if this determines how they act when they're older. My rooster Dove was an aggressive chick, and he turned out to be a VERY nice rooster.
His sister Dawn was aggressive too, and she turned out to be a delightful hen.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Have you raised chicks before?
At three weeks, I think its play, or they are hungry and associate your hand with the arrival of food.
I have had this happen.

Yes, I've raised several batches of chicks over the past few years. I've never had any that acted this way which is why I'm curious...

We try to hold them at least once a day because I want them to be tame. So they should be used to handling beyond just food.

The past few days I've been scooping them up each time they launch at my hand. I hold them for 10 seconds or so and then put them down. If they launch at me again, I scoop them up again... This goes on and on for a while until they stop.

I really don't want to get rid of them but I don't want them to grow up being aggressive either.... It is cute RIGHT NOW but it won't be adorable once they are fully grown and attacking people in the barnyard.

 

[TJAnonymous]

It kind of depends on how much space they have, how much they eat and if they've established a mini-pecking order yet. They could be trying to show dominance to you, or, frankly, want to eat your hand.
But I don't know if this determines how they act when they're older. My rooster Dove was an aggressive chick, and he turned out to be a VERY nice rooster.
His sister Dawn was aggressive too, and she turned out to be a delightful hen.

They are in a 2' x 4' brooder. Seven chicks in all... They have free choice chick starter and water at all times. I don't think they are hungry but likely trying to establish dominance. I am just wondering if they grow out of this aggressive behavior or if it is an early indicator that they will be aggressive as adults?

 

[yakitori]

They are in a 2' x 4' brooder. Seven chicks in all... They have free choice chick starter and water at all times. I don't think they are hungry but likely trying to establish dominance. I am just wondering if they grow out of this aggressive behavior or if it is an early indicator that they will be aggressive as adults?

I think the holding is a good method. I would probably hold them for longer. Say a minute or 5

My last two chicks were also excitable, at 5 days old they were chest bumping and one was mock flogging. So at 2 weeks I put then in the run with the older 10wk chicks and laying hens to have them learn some manners. They had a safe zone to escape to. I didn’t see the mock flogging again in the week following...

unfortunately, one was already an obvious roo, so I gave them away at 3 weeks. In the end I don’t know the long term efficacy of this method.

I don’t know whether it will work for you, but maybe it’s worth a try...

 

[TJAnonymous]

I went ahead and moved them into my small coop which houses my Silkies and a couple of game hens. They are in a dog crate for the time being to allow everyone to be introduced safely... Tomorrow night I will open the door so they can get out. I'll leave the dog crate in the coop with an attachment on the door so the chicks can get back in but the adults can't follow.

Maybe being around the adults will teach them some manners.

There are 2 downsides to this plan.

The first is that the crate is small. Only 18" x 24" so I can't leave them in it very long.

The 2nd is that some 2/3rds of the chicks are not yet fully feathered. Luckily it will remain above 70 degrees at night all next week so I think they will be fine but I will need to make sure they don't get chilled.