Chickens like to peck me
In the Brooder
- Jan 30, 2018
- 47
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ok
do chickens grieve
- Thread starter chickenmama109
- Start date
So sorry! Your poor little baby is severely stressed, and needs new buddies ASAP. Rebuild your brooder!!! Only hardware cloth is going to protect your chickens; chicken wire is useless. I don't know where you live, but if any farm stores have chicks now, consider buying a couple or three to help this chick.
Mary
Mary
Such a sweet and lovely graphic Teila! /hugs
Allen
I agree they have feelings to. My flock experienced a dog attack as well and continue to be alert to anything or anyone they don't recognize. For a week after the attack the survivors would hide and take cover if even a cat walked through my yard.I believe they do grieve and they can absolutely go through stress and even display post traumatic stress symptoms. My first flock went through trauma due to a horrible dog attack, half the flock survived but they were never the same. Luckily your chick is young, and maybe if you get some more chicks similar in size and color, it will help. Good luckI'm sorry this happened to you. Stupid rat!!
Graphic content, as a heads up.
I'm sorry for your loss. They certainly do notice the loss of an individual and can experience trauma but I'm not sure that it's grief per-say. When I had to take my rooster away for a month in a medical ward for an injury during his first year, my hens were all a tizzy for about 3 days, but when I tried to put him back they tried to attack him. This happens to any bird that comes out of the flock for more than 3 days. After that, they just kind of act like they forgot the other bird ever existed.
I have some chicks I raised out to put in my flock this year, 3/9 got attacked by rats and ripped up in the cage overnight. When I looked in on them in the morning I found them trampling and even pecking at the remains of their fallen comrades. They were about 3 weeks old. They did not care, they just wanted to be fed.
When I raise meat birds I have given up going out of my way to not processing them in front of one another after they would sometimes slip out of their temporary pens, walk over to find me to beg for food and then peck at the disembodied heads and blood and organs from their flockmates.
So is it grief? Maybe. Certainly animals including chickens are known to experience positive emotions to each other and experience loss when they loose that support, especially if two flockmates are exceptionally close... But also maybe not and anthropomorphising animals isn't really wise. It can make you see things that aren't there, and miss things that are.
My best guess is your chick is alone and stressed. There's certainly going to be a response to the trauma, they will be alert to avoid that trauma in the future. They will be stressed from the actual act of what happened, the adrenaline, etc. And most critically, chickens HATE to be alone more than anything else in the world. Lone chicks do not do well under non-traumatic circumstances and it's my guess that this is probably what's wrong.
I would try giving your chick an electrolyte supplement and a mirror to start with. Don't forget to check this lone chick for injuries as well. Sometimes they like being held if you are slow and gentle. And ASAP get the lone chick friends of the same age. Hatching eggs is insufficient, those chicks will have too big of an age gap to put them together. There's a real chance that if you try the bigger chick will hurt/kill the smaller ones and that's not for 3 weeks anyhow. Try on craigslist, any local hatcheries/breeders, and feed stores to see if anyone has a spare couple of chicks to raise out with it that are within a few days of it's age, even if they're just packing peanut/mutt male chicks.
I'm sorry for your loss. They certainly do notice the loss of an individual and can experience trauma but I'm not sure that it's grief per-say. When I had to take my rooster away for a month in a medical ward for an injury during his first year, my hens were all a tizzy for about 3 days, but when I tried to put him back they tried to attack him. This happens to any bird that comes out of the flock for more than 3 days. After that, they just kind of act like they forgot the other bird ever existed.
I have some chicks I raised out to put in my flock this year, 3/9 got attacked by rats and ripped up in the cage overnight. When I looked in on them in the morning I found them trampling and even pecking at the remains of their fallen comrades. They were about 3 weeks old. They did not care, they just wanted to be fed.
When I raise meat birds I have given up going out of my way to not processing them in front of one another after they would sometimes slip out of their temporary pens, walk over to find me to beg for food and then peck at the disembodied heads and blood and organs from their flockmates.
So is it grief? Maybe. Certainly animals including chickens are known to experience positive emotions to each other and experience loss when they loose that support, especially if two flockmates are exceptionally close... But also maybe not and anthropomorphising animals isn't really wise. It can make you see things that aren't there, and miss things that are.
My best guess is your chick is alone and stressed. There's certainly going to be a response to the trauma, they will be alert to avoid that trauma in the future. They will be stressed from the actual act of what happened, the adrenaline, etc. And most critically, chickens HATE to be alone more than anything else in the world. Lone chicks do not do well under non-traumatic circumstances and it's my guess that this is probably what's wrong.
I would try giving your chick an electrolyte supplement and a mirror to start with. Don't forget to check this lone chick for injuries as well. Sometimes they like being held if you are slow and gentle. And ASAP get the lone chick friends of the same age. Hatching eggs is insufficient, those chicks will have too big of an age gap to put them together. There's a real chance that if you try the bigger chick will hurt/kill the smaller ones and that's not for 3 weeks anyhow. Try on craigslist, any local hatcheries/breeders, and feed stores to see if anyone has a spare couple of chicks to raise out with it that are within a few days of it's age, even if they're just packing peanut/mutt male chicks.
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