few day old chicks attacking mother

[starryhen]

I put some Bar Rock chicks under my White Leghorn broody. 5 days old. They were cute pecking their new mom and hanging off her wattles. Cute no more. She now has a bloody face.
I am reading about unusually aggressive youngsters on this site. What do you think is causing this? My first thought is that there is too much protein in the chick crumbles. Could the genetically modified corn be prompting the strange behavior? I know my horses are developing allergies to corn. What do you pros think out there? What can I put on the mom to deter the killer chicks?

 

[Eggsactly]

So far I have no experience with the chicks pecking the mama, however, I do have experience with chicks pecking other chicks and adults pecking adults. An old timer told me to put Vics Salve on the pecked areas as it tastes bad to them and will deter them from further pecking. It has worked well for me. Once the pecking starts you have to get right on it because the pecked areas become very sore and red and it attracts more pecking...vicious cycle. Whenever I see a sore area no mater if from pecking or not I immediately put Vics on it so no one will even start pecking at it. This gives the area time to heal so it won't be so attractive to the others to peck. You may need to keep reapplying it until all is well healed.

I hope this is helpful to you. I have heard others on here mention a product you can purchase at you feed store called BluKote...I chose not to go that route because it says it's not to be used on animals intended to be used as food. I figure all things topical soon become systemic and it could contaminate their eggs.

 

[cheraboo]

You put the Vicks right on the effected area? I can see how it would an excellent deterant but does it cause any discomfort for the bird you put it on? I have a little chickie that has become a victim of some other chicks and this might be the way to take care of the problem.