Baby Chick Beat Up/Pecked by Other Chicks in Brooder

[dldonaldsn]

Three weeks ago I bought 4 Americaunas and 3 Barred Rocks baby chicks. Everything seemed to be going well until tonight when the Barred Rocks cornered one of the Americaunas (the largest and fastest growing chick) and pecked on her until she started to bleed. Fortunately, I check on the babies often and caught it before it became too serious. I removed the wounded girl from the brooder and set her up in a separate box with another smaller Americauna so she would not be alone. I know a pecking order is normal but not to the point of serious injury (I didn't think). I have no doubt that if I had not caught this that they would have killed her by morning. Is this common when mixing breeds and what can I do?

 

[mboreham1]

how big is the brooder? my 4 week old barred rocks are outside with the other chickens in their own portion of the coop, but outside none the less. they can scratch around, i bet this could be just boredom, lack of room, one speck of blood and they would all be interested and join in. At that age add in some soft fruit, maybe some citrus a lettuce head etc, will keep them entertained less likely to pick on each other. I have put "toys" in the brooder also, a toilet roll tube, a couple logs for them to learn to roost, some sand and soil for them to learn to dust bathe

 

[dldonaldsn]

Thanks, I put the 5 chicks in the "stage 2" brooder (2' x 4') and left the wounded girl and her buddy in the "baby brooder" (a 2' round wash tub). I think I left them in the small one too long. It is still too cold here in Oregon to put them outside. I also added some toys; a small plastic animal, toilet paper tube, and plastic easter eggs. Hope this works. The largest brooder is too big to bring inside, it is the one I use to socialize the new girls with the older girls and Harvey the rooster (separate but they can see and hear each other). I appreciate the help.