Bully chick

[bethmikulic]

Hello,
I just brought home my first 6 chickens! I couldn't be more excited except I have one chick that seems to want to peck at all the other chicks eyes!! Any suggestions on what to do about this? Thank you for any advice you can share!!

 

[DylansMom]

Hello,
I just brought home my first 6 chickens! I couldn't be more excited except I have one chick that seems to want to peck at all the other chicks eyes!! Any suggestions on what to do about this? Thank you for any advice you can share!!

I am by no means an expert here, but I have seen chicks like this and usually as soon as someone else pecks him in the eye a couple times he will stop. If no one pecks his eye he will likely continue. I think it is just how they learn.

 

[25 chickens]

First timer here also and having the same issue. None of the others seem to peck back,they just take it and do nothing.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! If you are using a white lamp, switch to the red heat lamp instead. It will help. Do the chicks have enough room? They do grow really fast! What breeds? Some tend to be more aggressive than others. Add toys and stuff, scatter food in the litter, to make things more interesting for them. Are there any injuries? If not, just see how things develop. Mary

 

[25 chickens]

What do you suggest as far as toys? What types of things could be used? Thanks

 

[azygous]

Chicks love to peck at anything shiny. If you can get hold of some marbles, scatter them around the brooder. If you don't have any marbles, get some shiny duck tape and stick short pieces of it around the walls of the brooder. Look in your junk drawer in the kitchen (we all have one, don't be embarrassed), and look for anything shiny but too large to swallow that you can hang or just toss into the brooder. I've even had luck with pieces of string. A chick will pick up a three inch long piece of string and run around the brooder and the classic chick game of "keep away" ensues.

Lettuce leaves, melon slices, bits of tortilla - all good chick diversions.

 

[TheChickGirl01]

Another thing you could do is put vaseline on your chicks that are being pecked. We hade to do this with one of our bantam hens. She was picked on a lot so we but vaseline on her and now she is awesome!

 

[bethmikulic]

Thank you for all the great information!!! I ended up separating 2 of them and they get along great. I will definitely try some of these suggestions too!!!
I just started taking them outside on warm days..do you think I should re-introduce them in the pen I have out there? They are in 2 big clear plastic storage containers next to each other now in the house.
Thanks again!!!