Chick pecking eyes

[wildrootsmama]

Not sure if I have an aggressive chick on my hands or what is going on. I have 12 chicks, hatched just on Sunday and it seems one has started lunging and going after the others eyes in particular. It's not a constant thing, but it seems like when i stay with them for awhile she will start to do it....hard to tell if it's happening when I'm not there. I'm worried about her injuring the others and not sure how I should handle it. I know that there is a pecking order, but JEEZ it nearly breaks my heart to see her go after the others. Is this normal for such young chicks? My Grammy told me to get rid of her ASAP, but I don't really want to just give up like that. Feeling confused and I probably won't sleep well tonight worrying about it! Any advice is welcomed!

 

[Judy]

I would evaluate the brooder carefully, being sure it's not too hot for them, and is large enough. They need 0.5 saa ft of space per chick now, not counting space taken by feedr and waterer. They will need twice this in a couple of weeks. If you are sure they are cool enough and have plenty of space to play and ove away from each other, you may have to consider culling the chick.

 

[wildrootsmama]

I'm going to move them to a bigger space this morning and see if that helps. My online searches also mentioned something about a salt cure....adding salt to their water? Should I try that as well?

 

[Realtree4]

I would evaluate the brooder carefully, being sure it's not too hot for them, and is large enough.  They need 0.5 saa ft of space per chick now, not counting space taken by feedr and waterer.  They will need twice this in a couple of weeks.  If you are sure they are cool enough and have plenty of space to play and ove away from each other, you may have to consider culling the chick.

^this

We had a chick that was doing this, but it got more and more aggressive...I increased space (by a lot!), had electrolytes in the water, used a red light and triple checked temp. We did end up having to cull it and while it I was very sad, I didn't want it to kill any of the other chicks or grow up to I be an aggressive adult.

I called the hatchery I got it from and they said sometimes you just get an aggressive chick and we did the best thing. There's a difference between a bully and a mean chick. We've had both and have succeeded in breaking a bully....not that one though

 

[wildrootsmama]

So I moved them to a bigger space this morning and I haven't seen anyone pecking aggressively at all!!! Keeping positive that maybe the chick was just feeling a little sassy yesterday. Thanks for all the suggestions!