Baby Chicks Fighting!!! Help Please

[djmooney]

i know that shamos are an aggressive breed but my baby chicks are just over a week old and they are already sparring up and fighting pretty hard. i had two seperate them last nite because the were pecking at each others eyes and i didnt want them to go blind. The pull allot of feathers. i have never seen anything like it at this age 9 days old. what would you do?

 

[greenpeeps]

wow, at nine days there fighting that bad, I guess i would seperate them, but somehow keep them close so they can still see one another. Good Luck!

 

[dntd]

My 2 day olds fight alot and they are just barred rocks(they fight the most!) and some mixes. They peck at each others eyes and such. I figured that was normal??

 

[Brindlebtch]

It is pretty normal to peck at eyes, initially.

Are your shamos too hot in their brooder? High heat can sometimes cause aggressiveness. Do they have enough room?

 

[catdaddy66]

if possible can you use a red bulb to prevent some pecking? is it blood that they are pecking? are they too crowded? plenty of H2O and food?

 

[FluffyChic]

I was also going to say if you're not using a red light yet, that may be the problem. Whenver I had white light in the brooder the chicks went after each other like crazy. Put the red light on and immediately they were calm.

 

[JordanFamily]

My advice would be to keep them in seperate crates but still able to see eachother and give them something contructive to peck at... You can let them tare up a paper towel tube... or you can get some shiny sparkly rocks to place in different places in their cage so they spend time checking those out for a while... Maybe you got a lot of Roos

 

[Lollipop]

It`s unusual for Shamos to fight seriously at that age. It`s usually Asils that do that. However, it sounds like you have them in a brooder, sooo, I would make a small barrier out of something like hardware cloth and section off room for both of the troublemakers, near the light so they can share the warmth. You probably will find that only one is the aggressor and the other is the defender, in which case the aggressor will continue to pick on another and then another. He`s the one that needs to be alone. Later on, more aggression may start with others and they will need their own pen. It`s not as hard when they have feathers. I once had a big pen that was called the tic tac toe pen. It was 3 levels of 3 pens that were 30" x 30". That`s where I put all my aggressors, as well as broody hens and injured birds. Sometimes, if space is not an issue, you can put them in a large roomy pen with a mature cock to police the action. The idea is "if anyone is gonna kick butt around here, it`s gonna be me". That usually works until they are about 8 months old when they begin to "turn on", after which all the stags must be penned alone. If you aren`t prepared for this, you will have a huge problem. Julia Keeling, "The Shamo Lady", says in her book that Shamo stags are "big puddings" until they reach that age. There are exceptions, of course. Oriental gamefowl are not for the faint of heart......Pop

BTW: chick fighting is normal, even in regular barnyard breeds, which Shamos are not. Don`t be alarmed unless damage is being done and blood aprears. You have to watch them constantly. It`s the time when you go off to town for a couple hours that will produce the carnage.

 

[djmooney]

They are in an old 55 gallon fish tank wich is 12 inches wide and 48 inches long. Their is only three of the and they have plenty of space, food water and everything they need. the only thing they dont have is a red light. Their is no blood yet but they are eating feathers, there parents are very very game and must be separate from my other birds so maybe i will just have to keep them apart.

Is this the sign of rooster at this young age. or are they too young

 

[Lollipop]

At that age, the pullets fight as bad as the stags. Stags of that breed are usually darker colored than the pullets.......Pop