baby pecking

[linda_0517]

I have 3 adult banties and 11 five or six week old chicks. One of the banty hens is pecking and pulling feathers from our largest chick, who I've learned is a meat bird. (poor Godzilla) Yesterday morning, the hen bit his neck several times before I could get out there to break them up, and he has sort of an ugly sore which I'm treating with neosporin. I'm wondering why she's doing this. I don't think the chick challenges her, I see him trying to stay out of her way, but she seeks him out. For now, I'm kicking the big ones out of the pen for the day, but what do I do if it continues? Godzilla is actually a little bigger than the hen, but he still peeps like a little baby. It's very sad!

 

[devora]

I don't know about mixing birds of different ages, but once one has any kind of wound the others may well peck at it. Then, if they draw blood, they will keep at it.

Can you separate Godzilla?

 

[linda_0517]

I don't really have a safe place for Godzilla, so I make the big chickens stay out of the pen from early morning till bed time. I noticed that the hen is going after other chicks, but not as viciously as she did Godzilla. I don't hear any commotion after I close up the coop for the night. The babies are starting to climb the ladder to where the big ones roost and wondered if the hens are just trying to keep them in their place? I think the best I can do for now is to keep them separated as much as possible. We have alot of predators, including one of my own dogs, so I have to be really careful.