Anyone ever had MEAN chicks?

[cheeps]

I hatched two turkey poults five weeks ago and after their second day they were still not eating and drinking so it was suggested to me here that I buy some chicks to teach them how. So off DH ran to the feed store to buy me some chicks. He picked up two day old barred rock chicks. I handle these birds every day and they sit in the middle of my dining room so they are very used to people. But for some reason these chicks are crazy and MEAN! Every time I open the cage and stick my hand in they get this crazy look in their eyes and start attacking me! I've been through quite a few generations of chicks now and have never EVER seen anything like this. Today I was changing their water like I do every day and one of them actually attacked my hand, pulling on my skin with her beak and drawing blood. Needless to say they are for sale on craigslist right now! But I was very curious if anyone else had experienced kamikaze chicks like these before!!

 

[cheeps4u]

I've had barred rocks be mean. I will NEVER get them again.

 

[dragonlair]

I did once. I was at the fair when my son announced he wanted some baby chicks. The incubator guy (they hatched out eggs every day of the fair and sold the chicks) had a bunch for sale, sex links so I knew which were pullets. I gave my son a crash course in chick sexing and he picked out 6 day old pullets. The guy tried ot get us to take some roos (free of course) but I said NO! When I went to pay for them, he dumped a cockeral in the box my son was holding. I didn't realize it until it was too late.

Anyway, this cockeral was the meanest baby I ever saw. He was as nasty as the pullets were sweet. From the time he was about 3 weeks old he would attack like you described. By then we had grown attached to the blood thirsty little beast child, so he stayed. He grew up to be a monster. He was ok with me, but he would chase my kids and attack them. He would go so far as to hide around a corner when the boys would stick their head out the door to see if the coast was clear. When they didn't see him they would step out and he would attack!

I would never keep another chick who acted like that no matter how attached I got! I guess humans are not the only ones who can be born deranged!

 

[suzyq53511]

All my BRs are very sweet. they all come when i call them!

 

[operator16]

I don't have any experience with this.

But, I just read a post by another BYC member and they were talking about this exact thing. I'm going to cut and paste it here for you. Best wishes!




columbiacritter
Overrun With Chickens
From: Scappoose Oregon
Registered: 06/07/2008
Posts: 804
E-mail PM

"Too late now, but turkeys are very vulnerable to a disease chickens carry but aren't hurt by called black head. I've known people to raise them together successfully and I've known people who've lost every turkey.

Ironically turkeys carry something that makes chickens more resistant to Mareks disaease so runnign chickens through a turkey coop is great for the chickens but really bad for the trukeys."

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Discipline and respect starts in the brooder. The next time one grabs/bites you tap it on the back with your index finger hard enough to get the point across that you are the boss. You could also grab it by the fuzz on the back of it's neck and very lightly thump it on the back of it's head. Most of the time one time is all it will take for them to respect the hand that feeds them. If you don't get this under control now you will have a harder time later. You do not at all want to hurt them but you have to show disapproval in a language that they understand.

 

[speckledhen]

Never had a Barred Rock do that and I've had many of them. In fact, they're my favorite breed. However, some lines may be different than others. I have Delawares that I love, including a rooster, but a few years ago, some hatcheries were propagating an aggressive strain of them and I sold off four that I hatched here due to them being flighty and aggressive, just nasty birds. Had to be talked into trying them again. Generally, Rocks are very sweet, friendly birds, as are Delawares, but a mean strain could be the cause of your problems with those.

 

[Imp]

I had a Black Australorpe that was a mean chick. Just like you said cheeps. Every time I went to feed them it would attack. If if could get its beak on my skin it would scream and hang on. Got to the point that this grown man was afraid if that chick.

Eventually it grew out of it and was a pretty mellow adult.

Imp

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I have a BCM cockerel that bites. He has since he hatched. The other BCM chick turned out to be a pullet, but for awhile she was biting me too. The CM's don't do it. I keep threatening him that if he doesn't get his act straight, mama's gonna find out REAL soon what Marans tastes like...

 

[mk4lh]

I had a couple of chicks in my batch that was a bit aggressive compared to the others. I cured it by grabbing the chicks by their feet and hanging them upside down for about a minute. I would put it down and if it tried again back up it would go. Out of the 29 BR's I have it was 2 of the roosters that were the one to bite the hand that feeds them, but a couple of time hanging upside down took care of that. Now they are 3 months old and I'm getting ready to cull some of the roosters (12 of them) there're a couple of males that are still a bit mean, but when they try pecking at my feet now one of the mature roosters will come grab it by it's neck and pull it away. Gotta feeling that is one of the ones that were corrected when he was younger. (he's one of my keepers)