Bantam chick from hell with little man syndrome... How do I break this tiny cute A**hole?

[NeedToKnowItAll]

This 3 week old bantam has little guy sydrome BAD (not the feather legged one). Idk what to do with him/her. I'm running out of room and want to put everyone together that are around the same age (slow introductions of course) but he/she will NOT allow it. Let's call this bantam HULK for now. Hulk grew up in a brooder with two Easter Eggers and the other unknown feather legged bantam, they all the same age, until he was about 2 weeks old. We got them all at the same time, same place so we put them in the same brooder. At 2 weeks old, feather legged bantam and Hulk caught a cold (I think) so i seperated them and brought them inside and nursed them back to health. They're both doing great now so back to the screened in porch they went with the others. Im running out of room with brooders and wanted to put the two bantams back with the two easter eggers like they were before, but every time I even give him a second near the Easter Eggers he attacks. He attacks anyone other than the other bantam immediately and he won't stop until i pick him/her up. I wish I could record it to show you. It's funny to watch bc Hulk is TINY but I'm scared Hulk is gonna get himself killed or hurt another chick so I stop it immediately. The Easter Eggers are harmless and the sweetest things so they're just sitting there screaming and running like "WTF mom get this little thing off of me." Hulk use to follow the Easter Eggers around like they were his mama and curl up under them to sleep and everything. Not even a second goes by and he's on the back of their neck or literally anywhere he can reach with his SHARP beak. I know it hurts bc he can hurt my finger if he wanted to. We have 4 week old Wyandottes that are ALOT bigger than the 3 week old chicks we have and I tried to put Hulk in with them to see what would happen. He did great with not attacking for about 5 minutes, he walked around straight up chest out and ran around like he belonged and owned the place. About 6 minutes in he was attacking relentlessly again. He's a 1/4 of their size. He tries to kill, intimidate, and hurt any other chicken other than his feathered leg bantam friend, but he still attacks her too.... The feathered leg bantam is as sweet as can be and loves everyone. When I put her in with others to play i have to leave Hulk in his brooder alone and Hulk cries LOUD until she comes back and then Hulk attacks her until I break it up and then he chills out and curls up with her. He acts like an abusive possessive partner than literally has little man syndrome. During nice days I let the chicks around the same age all play in the chicken tractor. I distracted Hulk with treats and he did great but then he attacked feather legged bantam for playing with other chicks and then turned around and attacked the other chicks. What do I do? Is Hulk going to continue this as he/she gets older? Can I break this behavior? I do not want to deal with mean chickens at ALL. Is it best to rehome while still cute? That's sounds awful . He's sweet to me ans I love his little self but he's going to be living alone if this doesn't stop bc I can't put him in with the rest of the flock. I'm literally lost at what to do.

 

[nuthatched]

Seperate with wire mesh, so he can see but don't touch

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Seperate with wire mesh, so he can see but don't touch

X2

 

[Lainey-chick]

Can you give an update? What did you do and how did it go with Hulk?

 

[NeedToKnowItAll]

Can you give an update? What did you do and how did it go with Hulk?

I took a couple peoples advice and allowed him to mingle but with a fence separating. I threw together this little set up where its essentially a recatngle play pen with a fence making it into two squares and its back wall is the fence for our big chickens run (I'll put a pic up bc I feel like I'm describing this terribly). When its nice outside we take field trips for the daylight hours out here. At first Hulk and his other bantam friend where on one side and the other chicks on the other side. When he stopped paying attention to the other chicks I allowed the Easter Eggers he grew up with the first couple weeks to come to his side and sat with them all to make sure he wasnt going to be mean. The Easter Eggers are the most chill chicks we have so when he charged they just ran instead of attacking back. I found that he is more scared than anything and not an asshole. At first he immediately went to charge, so I picked him up and noticed he was shaking to death. I held him until he stopped shaking and then placed him back down. He only charged twice and both times I picked him up until he stopped shaking. After those two times he went on about his day and played like there was never a threat. After about two days of getting along with the Easter Eggers, I introduced another two chicks, and then after two days of getting along I introduced another two chicks and so on.... and now he is a happy little camper who loves to play with others. The entire time he could see them through the fence and if he really wanted to he could walk through it to them. He's also a spoiled little baby and wants to curl up in my lap and sleep every night bc I've given him so much attention. But I'm relieved that I don't have to worry about him hurting the others and they can all be in the same coop now! I feel like what I did isn't very conventional or by the book, but I am very interactive and hands on with my chicks and a stay at home mom so I do have alot of time to mess with them. If anything the fence between them where they can see but not touch is the best advice I can pass along.

 

[Lainey-chick]

Thanks for the update! I always read these stories and wonder how it turned out. That’s great news that he is doing so well now!! And, I like your set up!