Fighting young chickens

[MyFeatheredGirl]

I have some baby chickens (about 10 weeks old) there are 4 with one mother. I am not sure about sex yet. I have seen some normal pecking but yesterday one of the chickens start chasing and pecking it's sibling. It pecking it so hard it was cut and bleeding right under the eye ball. I took the injured one inside, cleaned it's wound and kept it here over night to let it heal. The other chicken was relentless and keep chasing this poor baby so it was hiding. The mother saw it but didn't seem to care. what should I do? They free range and have a whole barn, food and water so space etc... not an issue. There has been no change since they were hatched, no new stress. Why is this baby being mean?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Could be a young rooster. I had one about that age that was attacking a sick hen. So perhaps the pecked one was acting odd. Have you noticed any abnormal behavior out of it? I probably would remove the aggressive one, either temporarily or permanently.

 

[silkielover88]

I'd guess it's a young rooster. What's the parents behavior like? I noticed the silkies we get from TS, the males are very aggressive at a young age. We hatched a few egg from a pair from there and the chicks would spur at your hands and just a few days old. We eventually gave them all away that were like that.

 

[aart]

I have some baby chickens (about 10 weeks old) there are 4 with one mother. I am not sure about sex yet. I have seen some normal pecking but yesterday one of the chickens start chasing and pecking it's sibling. It pecking it so hard it was cut and bleeding right under the eye ball. I took the injured one inside, cleaned it's wound and kept it here over night to let it heal. The other chicken was relentless and keep chasing this poor baby so it was hiding. The mother saw it but didn't seem to care. what should I do? They free range and have a whole barn, food and water so space etc... not an issue. There has been no change since they were hatched, no new stress. Why is this baby being mean?

Are these your only birds?
I'd isolate the aggressive one, not the injured one.
Wonders if mama is weaning them, 10 weeks is pretty old for broody to still be mothering them, so they are establishing a pecking order amongst themselves.