Baby chicks pecking/picking on one in particular HELP please

[username taken]

Last week I got four, four day old chicks, two australorps and two rhode island reds.

A few days ago one of the australorps died so we replaced it with another australorp, from the same hatch.

When first introduced, they seemed fine, not hassling her or picking on her.

Now, it seems the biggest RIR (the bully) has decided she is good to peck. She and the other RIR are pecking her and picking on her, they have drawn a little bit of blood.

Now, I can separate her but what are the chances of her then being able to be integrated back with the others? Obviously I dont want to be keeping a single bird away from the others, by herself.

Or, I can leave her with the others, are they likely to take it to an extreme level and really hurt her? I've experienced pecking and cannibalism before but only in mature birds, layers, not such young chicks.

Or, I wondered if I should put her and the other australorp into a separate brooder, let them buddy up, and introduce the two pairs back together?

 

[Eastins Eggs]

Do you have lights on in brooder if so make it as dark as possible just light enough that you could read a newspaper with difficulty. Also you could spray Blue-Kote on the wound.

 

[username taken]

thanks for the suggestion, they seem to be easing up on her a bit now, so I'm keeping an eye on her. Yep, I've put an antiseptic/antibacterial spray on the wound.

 

[Schroeder]

Same thing happened to mine at 4 weeks old. They picked on one so bad there was a bare spot on her back about half the size of a playing card before I found it. (Her wings covered the spot.) I sprayed it with Blu Kote and isolated her for 2 days. One day by herself, the second day in a mini-cage in the brooder coop with the other 11 chicks. I let her join the rest last evening. The others still seemed to want to pick at her moderately even though there no longer was any blood showing. (The Blu Kote covered the featherless area.)

She seemed okay this morning but I'm afraid what I might find when I return home this evening to check on her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You should be able to successfully integrate them later. You are forewarned so you'll need to plan it.

If it has worked out, good. Ignore the rest of this post.

My first question is, can you put a divider in the brooder with wire so they can still see each other. If so, I'd split them up. My first choice is to put the bully by herself and see if that stops the pecking. I'm not trying to punish the aggressor so much as changing flock dynamics. If this works, after two or three days, you can try removing the separation.

Second choice if that doesn't work would be to put the two australorps together.

If you cannot separate the brooder, do you have hardware cloth or something similar you could form into a bottomless box and isolate a chick in the brooder. Consider this "protective custody" instead of "chickie prison" if that makes you feel better. If you do this, make sure they all have food and water and watch the temperature. The one(s) in the small wire box cannot move away from the heat.

My last resort is total isolation, but that does make reintroduction a little harder.

If you do isolate one, expect a lot of loud plantive chirps. They are social animals and want the comfort of being with the others, even if it is just to peck at them. You can try adding a feather duster or small stuffed toy with the isolated one for its comfort.

Hope it has worked out.

 

[lilchick]

Remember the stuff you could put on fingernails to stop the nail biting? Well try Vics Vapo Rub on the picked areas.
That should break the others from picking rather quicky! They will hate the taste....

 

[ZepChick]

also, a red light seems to have a more calming effect on them than a white light~ Kim

 

[Schroeder]

Wouldn't the Vicks burn the raw area?

 

[Chicky Tocks]

That's what I always thought about Vicks..that it would burn.

 

[username taken]

thanks everyone, it all turned out okay, and now I know what to do in the future