chicks killing each other

[trishamonks]

hi im new to chickens but even i think this is not normal i have {had } 20 chicks about 10 weeks old and cant understand why they trample each other i found 1 dead on saturday a young cockrel and just put it down to them huddling together as they are in a out door coop now but today i watched them squash each other and cant understand it its not cold here today but they just stood all over a hen even the other hens did i could understand if it was all the other cockrels {learning} as they go but if somebody else has any info on this i would be greatly interested to see if anyone can shed some light on this

 

[justbugged]

How big of a space are keeping them in? Often they will trample each other when there isn't enough space.

 

[trishamonks]

hi thanks for your reply theyr in a run thats 15 ft long by 15 acros so plenty space they just huddle together for some reason

 

[sixlittlechicks09]

Hm. When my little chickens went out to the big coop, they were scared of everything, and all huddled together for the first few days. Try putting them in a little bit smaller of a pen and let them tell you when they're ready for more room?

 

[trishamonks]

hi thanks we had them in a smaller pen and i only changed them today i tought that they were short on space the pen they were in was 10 by 10 ft but today still the same with them i cant figure it out im confused on what i should do about it i cant keep all 18 seperated from each other .i dont mind the huddling together its cute but when they trample each other thats different matter

 

[sourland]

Block the corners with cardboard or something to creat a curved effect rather than a corner. Try to "eliminate" the corners so that they have no place to crowd into. Chicks will generally crowd into corners in the evening or if they are chilled.

 

[trishamonks]

hi thats a good idea i hadnt tought of that and thinking of it now it was the corner that we found them in {the same corner}
ill do that first thing in the morning see if that helps thank you

 

[trishamonks]

hi sourland i just wanted to say thank you to you i went out last night and done what you suggested figured no point waiting on another little soul but anyway i done it and so far so good it worked i just wanted to let you know i really appreciated your input

 

[sourland]

You're welcome. When I was a kid (long ago) I used to raise ringneck pheasants. They were really bad about piling up in the corners.After I "rounded off" the corners with sheet metal, no more got crushed. I figured the same thing would work for your birds.

 

[justbugged]

That is good for me to know also. I haven't had many chicks do the trample thing, except for the meat birds. I will be sure to do this the next time i do the brooder thing.