Day Old Serama Chicks are Attacking and Killing Each Other - Please Help!

[PeepersMama]

This is a very common problem. You aren't alone, but I know how helpless you're feeling.

Chickens have brains that are sometimes wired a little off sometimes, and they suffer from obsessions like humans. Your aggressive chick is doing what its little brain is telling it to do, which is to focus on parts of other chicks. I've experienced this with a few chicks I've had, and I came up with a method for changing the behavior. It's really pretty simple. It uses a technique other chickens use in disciplining younger ones.

You need to be observant and on the ball for a couple of days. Put the chick back with the others, and give it a poke on the back with your finger the second it goes for another chick. If you can anticipate when it is thinking about attacking, give it a poke even before it attacks. Very young chicks can re-wire their brains with this behavior modification. If this chick is harming the others, remove it when you can't be there to watch it, and return it when you can spend time modifying the behavior. This usually doesn't require more than two days for it to work.

I wrote an article about this for BYC. Everyone who's used the technique reports it's worked. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior

This reminds me of Cesar Millan - chicken style