All 11 one week old chicks are picking on a runty one

[bakersdozenroo]

Hello! I just got 12 little chicks, all born on 7/9. 6 from one hatchery and 6 from another. One of the little chicks from the second hatchery came with pasty butt and is significantly smaller than the others. I put her and her sister (both Easter eggers), in a separate brooder as I was concerned maybe they were sick. They both seem to be doing much better and the one with pasty butt kept crying all the time even after she was better. I decided to out them with the rest of the girls and all the other chicks are picking on “pasty butt”. She is still significantly smaller than rest. What should I do? I don’t want to separate her all alone. I can’t sit and watch them all day either. If it was just one bullying it would be one thing but they are all picking on her

 

[Appalachickens]

I'm too new to be much help, but that's so sad! Are they actually injuring her?

 

[bakersdozenroo]

I'm too new to be much help, but that's so sad! Are they actually injuring her?

It is really sad. She is such a cute little fluff ball and has a strong chirp! They keep pecking at her butt and she has no feathers there. I’m not sure if it was from the pasty butt that caused all the feathers to not grow and that’s why they are all now pecking at her butt? She doesn’t have a tail either where all the other girls all have tail feathers. I’ve never had chickens either so I’m not sure if she’s just a runt (does that happen in chickens?). She’s eating and drinking and pooping fine. It’s just sad that she’s getting picked on

 

[Appalachickens]

It is really sad. She is such a cute little fluff ball and has a strong chirp! They keep pecking at her butt and she has no feathers there. I’m not sure if it was from the pasty butt that caused all the feathers to not grow and that’s why they are all now pecking at her butt? She doesn’t have a tail either where all the other girls all have tail feathers. I’ve never had chickens either so I’m not sure if she’s just a runt (does that happen in chickens?). She’s eating and drinking and pooping fine. It’s just sad that she’s getting picked on

They definitely develop tail feathers at very different rates, so I would worry about that yet. They just over a week old, right? Some of mine were getting tiny tails at that age and other still just had little round butts.

 

[LaFleche]

You can screen off a part of the main brooder for her and her sister using some hardware cloth or similar.
This way they can all see each other without her getting bullied or injured.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any photos of your brooder? Even at a young age, space and distractions matter.

 

[bakersdozenroo]

Sorry, for some reason I didn’t get notifications of the other messages/suggestions. Thankfully they stopped and she and her sister are doing great! Guess she just needed a little time and confidence to stand up them

 

[sourland]

Sorry, for some reason I didn’t get notifications of the other messages/suggestions. Thankfully they stopped and she and her sister are doing great! Guess she just needed a little time and confidence to stand up them

Monitor closely. This behavior can sometimes escalate to cannibalism.