Fighting, all the time!

[Sabz]

I am raising meaties and they are now 5-6 weeks old. They are starting to fight seriously.

I am not too sure what to do. They are outside in the run all day. I feed them 3 times a day + I throw in some greens to make them search, scratch and for them to eat. Plus there a some plants in the run so the chicks jump to eat the leaves. They free range on my property a few hours per day, but while I'm at work normally they are in the run, with the coop door open so they can go inside if it rains. I thought the environment was not that bad..

But now, the problem is that they are all white And I can't find the trouble maker. When I step in the run, everyone runs away and I can't find the one I think is always initiating the fights.

The fights started a few days ago. Nothing serious yet, but this morning the two problematic chicks were really mean. They were jumping, clawing, biting.. That part I have seen a few times with my past flocks, but then they completely stop. They are head to head and it seems to be some kind of challenge. Then BANG, into the fight again. They are looking pretty aggressive.

So should I:
- Continue to try to find the chick that I think is the dominant and aggressive one to separate it and see what happens?
- Just separate the whole flock in 2 groups? Don't know how this would help..but I may have a few females in there. And I was told that mixing males and females would create fights. I could try to separate the girls (I could be wrong about that, I ordered only cockerel.. last time I had one female in the batch and could recognize her but now, theirs combs are not all at the same stage of growth and it's hard to figure which one is which).
- Leave them be and try to increase the mental separations in the run (more things to climb, hide) give more food (greens) and things to play with?

I have increased the size of my run this year. Not sure how much space they have total, but it is around 4 square foot per bird.
The coop is 12 x 8 foot (with a semi-second floor so it increases the living space a bit). The run is.. about 16 x 20.
So that's 416 square foot for 39 birds? a little bit more than 10 square foot per bird. Hey that's great, if I didn't mess up the calculations I am way above that 4 foot per bird. That's great But doesn't help for the fights

 

[aart]

You calculate coop and run separately.
Coops tight at 2.5 sqft per bird.
Run too maybe at 8.2 sqft per bird.

Never heard of meaties fighting like that...what breed are they?

 

[Sabz]

Why would I calculate separately?! Makes no sense to me, door is open all the time and they can access both at any time. There are always a few in the coop, a few outside. I serve greens and veggies inside, so some are tempted to go inside

Anyhow, even if we calculate separately, I'm still way over what people allow for meaties normally, especially in tractors. Plus the 2 hours of free range per day, I really didn't think it was a space issue. Could be though, we'll see if others comment. I really hope not, otherwise I have no idea how the chickens in a tractor don't fight. Maybe from the lack of height, they can't jump? I don't know

I don't know the breed. In Quebec it seems we don't really care about that?! The many places I've check just say "Meat bird". They are white. I figure they are cornish cross but I don't know for sure

The guy that sells them to me said all males wouldn't fight, but include a female in there and there will be cockerel fights! I had never heard that before.

 

[junebuggena]

They need a total living space of at least 14 sq ft per bird. You aren't even close to having enough space for all of them. They are overcrowded and letting you know it. The coop needs a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird. Your coop is way too small. They need at least 10 sq ft of outdoor run space. You barely have 8 per bird. Quite simply, they need more space.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

They need a total living space of at least 14 sq ft per bird. You aren't even close to having enough space for all of them. They are overcrowded and letting you know it. The coop needs a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird. Your coop is way too small. They need at least 10 sq ft of outdoor run space. You barely have 8 per bird. Quite simply, they need more space.

I'm not a big fan of absolutes....

I use 12x10 tractors that have 75 birds apiece without issue. I've seen the males tussle a bit at about the 5 week mark but only briefly.

If I did the math right it's 1.2 square foot per bird. They have plenty of room, they mostly all lay together anyway. 14 square foot per bird is a crazy number.

Ive never seen fighting like your talking about with my birds, and mine are all straight run. Could be you have a really aggressive bird, if so turn him into chicken salad.

 

[Sabz]

They need a total living space of at least 14 sq ft per bird. You aren't even close to having enough space for all of them. They are overcrowded and letting you know it. The coop needs a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird. Your coop is way too small. They need at least 10 sq ft of outdoor run space. You barely have 8 per bird. Quite simply, they need more space.

I completely disagree. No document states 14 sq foot per bird. This would be ridiculous. 2 bird = 28 sq feet? For bird that will be in that space 5 weeks????? I highly doubt that the majority of people here raising meat bird have more than 10 sq foot per bird.

I have 10.6 sq ft per bird, which is what you recommend. I disagree about not considering the coop in their living space since the door is opened and the coop full of windows. The birds DO GO inside... you can't simply ignore the coop space just because it is a covered space and not an exterior run. Makes no sense to me. The chicken and their territories have nothing to do with the roof or absence of roof?! The total space needs to be considered.

I'm not a big fan of absolutes....

I use 12x10 tractors that have 75 birds apiece without issue. I've seen the males tussle a bit at about the 5 week mark but only briefly.

If I did the math right it's 1.2 square foot per bird. They have plenty of room, they mostly all lay together anyway. 14 square foot per bird is a crazy number.

Ive never seen fighting like your talking about with my birds, and mine are all straight run. Could be you have a really aggressive bird, if so turn him into chicken salad.

Ok phew.. thanks. Starting to think I was a big mean person to my birds now. So you house more bird in a smaller space than I without issues. Can they jump or the tractors are not high enough?
Mine are at that 5 week mark. I will leave them be for a few days. If it gets worst, I'll try to separate the really aggressive one. If it fixes the problem he'll be salad.

Thanks

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I completely disagree. No document states 14 sq foot per bird. This would be ridiculous. 2 bird = 28 sq feet? For bird that will be in that space 5 weeks????? I highly doubt that the majority of people here raising meat bird have more than 10 sq foot per bird.

 
I have 10.6 sq ft per bird, which is what you recommend. I disagree about not considering the coop in their living space since the door is opened and the coop full of windows. The birds DO GO inside... you can't simply ignore the coop space just because it is a covered space and not an exterior run. Makes no sense to me. The chicken and their territories have nothing to do with the roof or absence of roof?! The total space needs to be considered.




Ok phew.. thanks. Starting to think I was a big mean person to my birds now. So you house more bird in a smaller space than I without issues. Can they jump or the tractors are not high enough?

Mine are at that 5 week mark. I will leave them be for a few days. If it gets worst, I'll try to separate the really aggressive one. If it fixes the problem he'll be salad.

Thanks

 

They are completely contained units, here's how I build them....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/988725/chicken-tractors-a-better-way#post_15373754

They are covered so I'm not sure if I have any actual living space, maybe I have negative square footage lol

 

[Sabz]

aha negative square foot.

I like you setup, it's cute and seems to be strong and easy to move. It actually looks like my covered gardens that I use for winter gardening.

Ok, well I'll wait a few days and see if the hierarchy gets established and the mean guy stops being so aggressive. If not I'll build them a little tractor and separate the group.

 

[pattyhen]

If it won't make the pen to messy I would spray the agressive one with the water hose. It works for me. Good luck.


Patty

 

[Sabz]

Haha Patty!! Didn't think about that one.

Finally yesterday they were out for 3 hours in 30 000 square foot of lawn, greens, veggies, etc and STILL FIGHTING. Space is NOT the issue.

I've watched them and if I walk, they follow me. A few chicks are targeted when they run, eat or become exited in any way. The big guys run after them to fight. I've actually recorded a small fight yesterday night! Wow they look mean for small 5 week old chickens.

Anyhow. Yesterday I tried to put myself between the two chickens and try to get them to separate. I doubt it had any effect on them. I took in the worst chick for the night. At first he was scare of me, scream when I picked him up, etc.

After 2 hours he was following me everywhere. So so cute. I went outside to weight the other chickens on my picnic table. Well, that chick followed all the other chicks on the picnic table. He seemed to say: Calm down, it's not so bad, I know her.

LOL, very funny.

Finally.. they only weight 1.86 pds in average. Some cornish X chart says they should be around 4.5 pounds. Gee.. can't imagine their small body frame with double the amount of meat on it. Ouch.