Fighting, all the time!

[aart]

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.

You picked up one of the aggressors?
And that stopped it's aggression?

Fascinating...I hope you keep posting your progress good or bad.

You could always have 'Cornish Game Hen'...like you buy in the store, which I think are just younger CX's?

 

[Sabz]

Oh no, sorry. I was not clear.

I took in the one that was getting beaten up. He had some minor injuries on his head and he looked bad. I wanted to clean him up, give him a chance to eat (in case the others didn't let him).

He looked like this when I brought him in:







I have seen a lot worst, but I don't like when my animals are in pain so I tried to give him some time off so he could recover a little bit.

Last summer I did the same with a chick that had a leg injury and was getting picked on by the others. After a few days eating by himself he had taken on so much more weight compared to the others, when I put him back with the others he was perfectly able to defend himself

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Wow....

He is actually a she

, I'm curious how your feeding the birds.

I have 6 week old birds that are pushing 6lbs! I feed them twice a day. This site don't like me posting pictures but I'll try and post a pic of them later

 

[pattyhen]

Years ago I bought a cornishxrock and it was suppose to be a white rock. By 3 months old she weighed 10 pounds and she went lame. The only time she was agressive was when I put the food bowls out. She would take her half out of the middle of all food and dare anyone to eat with her. Other then that she was a sweet chicken but when it come to food that was her downfall. She lived to be around 9 months old. I still miss her.

Well you might try the waterhose they don't like to be sprayed and breaks up fights real fast. Good luck and I'm glad the little one got to spend sometime away from the bullies.

Patty

 

[Sabz]

Your 6 week old is 6 pounds???? Wow.

I feed 3 times a day but after looking at the charts I realize I may not feed enough for optimal growth.. although I don't want to push it too mush, I like that my birds are active and can jump, run..

I feed a mix of starter turkey and start chicks. The highest protein % that I can find here is 18% for chicks, where the turkey is around 30% I think.
I find the protein content of starter chick to be a little too low, so that's why I mix.

You're sure it's a female? I have a whole bunch of them with smaller combs like this. I thought it would develop over time. This place has only be wrong once (I always ordered cockerels and last batch I had one female). And this is for sure since I was taking the testies out when processing them .

If this is a female, then I have about 50% females in that flocks :S. This could explain why some weight around 1.5 pd and other 2.6 pd. I just thought it was the pecking order

 

[pattyhen]

Oh no, sorry. I was not clear.

I took in the one that was getting beaten up. He had some minor injuries on his head and he looked bad. I wanted to clean him up, give him a chance to eat (in case the others didn't let him).

He looked like this when I brought him in:







I have seen a lot worst, but I don't like when my animals are in pain so I tried to give him some time off so he could recover a little bit.

Last summer I did the same with a chick that had a leg injury and was getting picked on by the others. After a few days eating by himself he had taken on so much more weight compared to the others, when I put him back with the others he was perfectly able to defend himself

Omg they did a number on that poor chick. If you can ever find the aggressor some people put them in time out away from all the other chickens. That calms them down.

On second thought I think you might try a pressure washer instead of the water hose after seeing that injury.

Patty

 

[Sabz]

LOL Patty! Wasn't that bad, but in that picture it was not cleaned so it looked worst than it was.

I am not sure it's a female. Looking at this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/834828/sexing-chicks-by-comb-colour-legs-and-feathering-reference

The chick's comb looks developed like a male's. I have three layers that are about the same age, I could take pictures and compare!

 

[pattyhen]

I'm not for sure if it is male or female. Look at the other chicks that you have that is the same breed as this one and compare their comb size. That is if you can get near them. Alot of times to the males will be larger then the females and the legs will be bigger around then the females. I think you got ahold of a bad hatch for them to be this aggressive.

Patty

 

[slingshotandLAR]

This guy is four weeks old, that why I was thinking it was female. By that age my birds are easy to tell

 

[Sabz]

Alright I did that I compared all the combs and they are all similar. I hope they are males.. more meat

Oh I see Slingshot. Yours is more colored and larger too. I noticed last year that when it was really warm, the combs were more red. We still haven't got to summer here yet.. it is not really warm - not like last summer were I lost 4 chicks in a period of very high heat. Maybe that's why their combs are pink instead of red Or maybe just a breed thing..

Thanks for the pic.