Fighting chicks?

[centrarchid]

I am still trying to get a handle myself on why chicks fight. Males do it most, but females can as well. It is a combination of genetics and environment. My games are really prone to do it and it can have lethal results. If I produce three broods from a given breeding pair, then one can have a major battle royal, another very little fighting, and the third no fighting at all. Having a mature male around appears to suppress fighting, yet broods with no older male may get along very well. Things that may promote fighting involve high temperature and / or even nutrition.

 

[Folly's place]

C, do you think lighting has anything to do with it? Intensity or soft white vs warm white, for example? I've never has a real problem with my chicks, but I don't raise games.
Mary

 

[Beaglegal]

I assume she used to be part of the current flock. I only bought the place 5-6 weeks ago and never saw her before she came out of the woods with chicks. I get the feeling that she wasn’t a big joiner before, the note left but the previous owner indicated she hung out with a roaming rooster before. For the cockerels the plan is to process them, not sure what age would be good for that. I’m sure I have the room for these little guys, I just have to get them all rounded up. I just keep having visions of the babies scattering every where never to be found.

 

[centrarchid]

C, do you think lighting has anything to do with it? Intensity or soft white vs warm white, for example? I've never has a real problem with my chicks, but I don't raise games.
Mary

I do not know if lighting is a factor. It can occur in brooder with artificial lighting and spring through fall.

 

[Criticalicious]

Give momma a big handful of yummy treats to tut about. All the babies will come running if they are within hearing distance. Maybe try luring her into a fenced area where they can all be contained.

 

[Beaglegal]

Give momma a big handful of yummy treats to tut about. All the babies will come running if they are within hearing distance. Maybe try luring her into a fenced area where they can all be contained.

Well I managed to lure her back in which, they stayed for awhile and then they escaped. This confirms to me that she does remember how to get in and out. Since she does know how to do this I am tempted to stop feeding her and the chicks outside the gates and make them come into the fenced area for food

 

[Criticalicious]

If the chickens can get out, then predators can get IN. I would block off that access ASAP.

 

[Beaglegal]

Remember that out of 11 chicks, half of them will be cockerels. So the fighting ones could very well be boys... but my girls did the same exact thing at that age and my newest layers occasionally still do (at 6 months). It's just them learning how to establish pecking order.


So she's not totally wild. She used to be a member of your current flock?
If she can see through the fence, she'll be confused. My run door is open to the bigger yard all day and my birds still get confused about the doorway sometimes if they're on the other side and want back in or out.



If you can bribe the mama to get inside, then close the door to lock her in, the babies will want inside too... maybe. At 4 weeks they're getting close to the age to be on their own. Do this in the evening and wait til after dark. The chicks hopefully will stay close by and be easier to catch in the dark. You'll have to keep them locked in the coop/run for a week or 2 so they learn that's their new home. If you don't have space to keep them all, you might want to start rehoming them now. Or build a bigger coop!

I have managed to cage mama inside a broody cage and have her in the new house that we set up for them but so far they aren’t tempted. The big problem is that we have large areas of trees with heavy undergrowth for the chicks to hide in. They have regrouped since the caging of the mother and don’t seem inclined to join her, even though she is calling to them

 

[Beaglegal]

If the chickens can get out, then predators can get IN. I would block off that access ASAP.

My chickens are free range for better or worse, it’s the set up the previous house/flock owner set up. It would take a significant outlay of time and money to change that. My main goal is to train them to sleeping in a small coop at night to increase safety and keep them warm and dry.