Can baby chicks hurt each other?

[as110]

I have a 9 day old chick and a 2 day old. I just put the little one into the box with the other one and she is happy to be with someone else. The older one was lonely last week, finally I have a second chick but she is pecking non stop and posturing. She is twice the size and twice as tall.

The little one needs to sleep but they just made so much noise. I separated them for now, put the first one back into the smaller box. They both freaked out. Bigger one tried to jump out, the smaller one was looking for a mate.

They screamed for 45 minutes. Now they settled and both are sleeping or quietly chirping and resting.

I need them to be together, they will be integrated together, but I am still waiting for new hatchlings. I don’t want them to take each others’ eyes out.

What are the chances that they can hurt each other or kill each other?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

9 day old chick and a 2 day old. I just put the little one into the box with the other one and she is happy to be with someone else. The older one was lonely last week, finally I have a second chick but she is pecking non stop and posturing. She is twice the size and twice as tall.

What are the chances that they can hurt each other or kill each other?

Chances are the 9 day old can hurt the 2 day old - she's pecking her non stop right?

How is your brooder set up - you have 2 separate heat sources for both chicks?
Only 1 chick of each age? How did that happen?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

X2.

 

[as110]

They are in an appliance box in the kitchen. I have several stages of eggs in development in the incubator. I had a broody in the coop. Her eggs got messed up with everybody else’s eggs. Then she stopped brooding. This is a long story but the chicks will all have to go outside together when they are old enough and the weather is warm enough that they won’t need a heat lamp.

I had them separated and they slept for 1.5hr. I put them back together, they were doing fine for a couple of hours, I didn’t hear any weird noises. In the evening the pecking restarted so the bigger one is back in isolation and both of them are sleeping.

The little one just wants to follow the bigger one.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

They are in an appliance box in the kitchen. I have several stages of eggs in development in the incubator. I had a broody in the coop. Her eggs got messed up with everybody else’s eggs. Then she stopped brooding. This is a long story but the chicks will all have to go outside together when they are old enough and the weather is warm enough that they won’t need a heat lamp.

I had them separated and they slept for 1.5hr. I put them back together, they were doing fine for a couple of hours, I didn’t hear any weird noises. In the evening the pecking restarted so the bigger one is back in isolation and both of them are sleeping.

The little one just wants to follow the bigger one.

View attachment 1732811

I'm sorry!

 

[chrissynemetz]

The older one really might hurt the two day old. I think I would separate them when you can't be around, with supervised together time

 

[as110]

Yes I think that's what I will do. The older one can stay in the original small box. I thought they would be ok in the larger space, but the little one didn't care for it, and the bigger one was happy but looked territorial. She is used to the small box so that's where she will sleep. I am here all the time so I can watch and hear. They are back together and eating and drinking, talking to each other.
I am fine with a little pecking out of curiosity, but not ok with outright savage bullying.
Plus they both still need more sleep than being disturbed.

 

[aart]

They might work it out, they may not....have had to go both ways.

With disparate aged chicks already,
and more on the way(I'm sure there's a story there too),
you may need to upgrade you brooder setup to a single much larger box divided with 2 separate heat sources(see notes below).

What's your plan to integrate all these chicks with your flock outside?


Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[bald Rooster]

I have a large brooder with built in heater. I made a wire petition that goes right through the middle of the heater and the little ones go on one side and the bigger ones on the other.
A wire wall of half inc hardware cloth, will allow them to be together but safe from each other.
I agree with Aarts statement on heat with baby chickens and Turkeys.
It really has a lot to do with the size of the bird.I keep all my birds outside in my barn.
And I have found If I leave chicks in my hatcher all day ,(they don't need food first day)that they do well at a cooler temp. in the brooder.,Also if you have a few they can bunch up to help regulate there temp.I would say ideal temp for chickens day 3 is about 85 deg. If you keep an eye on them you will be able to tell if any need more heat as they will quickly start losing energy.
Im guessing but after about a week when there feathers are nice and thick and fluffy I turn the heat off. This may not be the case for you if you live in a colder climate. But 75
isn't bad for featherd chicks over a week old normally.

Heating pads and lights give off heat continuously.If you have small, weaker fowl, they may need a warmer more constant heat.