Chick Behavior.

[Sylviaanne]

I have a Red Sizzle Cochin cockerel who is a little over 2 months old. He has to be separated from chicks and older chicks.

If I put him in with chicks his own age/size, he beats them up. If I put him in with chicks older than he is, he gets beaten up. I hate for him to be by himself, I have a Red Cochin pullet to breed with him but she is the same age and he has no problem beating her up. If I leave him with the adults, they must beat him up because he hides.

He is 2 months and almost 10 days old. Will he grow out of this behavior?

 

[Sylviaanne]

LOL No one wants to even hazard a guess?

What about this: I am planning on taking a caponing clinic with Poco Pollo (Coral) and I hate to do it but if he doesn't settle down real soon, I will caponize him.

 

[MarieCallandar]

I had a Pullet who was 2 months younger then my flock to this day she is very skiddish, and still avoids the other chickens but not to the same degree she used to. You have to let them get beat up for a little while. It's not a fun process but after pecking order is established it should stop. So just make sure who ever is getting beat up can get to the food and water occasionally and they will be fine

 

[Sylviaanne]

I had a Pullet who was 2 months younger then my flock to this day she is very skiddish, and still avoids the other chickens but not to the same degree she used to. You have to let them get beat up for a little while. It's not a fun process but after pecking order is established it should stop. So just make sure who ever is getting beat up can get to the food and water occasionally and they will be fine

I have a Welsummer rooster and a Cornish Cross hen. I have their son who had an inferiority complex. He wasn't any smaller than the others his age but he must have though he was. He would hide and one time he almost drown so I brought him in and used a blow dryer on him. He has been my shadow ever since. I did put him back out in the coop but shortly thereafter he disappeared for 6 days. When he showed back up, I was so happy to have him back that I brought him back in the house to be a house chicken. A little over a week ago I took him out with me while I cleaned the coop and he kept me in between him and any other chicken that came up to us. A couple of days later, I took him out with me again and he ventured away from me but came running back if he felt threatened. When I started to come back in, he didn't come with me so I left him out there, thinking I would bring him in when I went back to put everyone in the coop. It was a risk I was taking, he might have disappeared again. When I went out to put the chickens up, he wouldn't come back to the house with me. I had hoped that he would realize he was now bigger than most of the chicks out there. He was still afraid of those his own size but braved it out. Now, he has been out there for almost 4 days and doing well. He still comes right to me when I go out there, something only 2 or 3 of the others will do but as far as I can tell there is only one cockerel and his dad that he is afraid of.

I have a Crested Polish rooster and 3 EE hens and a red production hen. I did have a BO hen, a Salmon Favorolle hen and a black hen that might have been a Australorp. I have mixed chicks from all of these adults, including the Welsummer and CornishX. Most of these mixes are smaller than Prince but he had to figure out that he was bigger than them to get over his fear of them. He's a lover, not a fighter but he doesn't seem to be scared anymore.