Fighting

[Tony101775]

Hi everyone

My little balls of fluff are now 2 weeks and 1 day old.
All 5 are doing well and growing nicely.
Up until last night I have kept them in a fairly small container with a lamp for warmth.
I decided they needed a bit more room as they were growing and too be honest they were making a right mess in their smaller container. Water splashed an food mushed in it, the bedding wet. I was doing a complets change of everyting twice a day. So I boarded in a corner of my workshop out the back wher i do printing and they now have a nice large area. I have a cut out box with fresh warm bedding, and the food and water are away from each other so they cannot make so much mess. They look really cosy, if a bit lost in a bigger area. They snuggled up to each other and it all looked nice a clean and hygenic with loads of space.
This morning i have checked in on them and I think they are loving the large space they now have. the food had gone down in the night as did the water so they have found that ok. Problem is they seem to be fighting now they have space to fight. They are all bouncing up and down at each other. It looks fairly nasty and I do not think they are playing? None are damaged and they all seem to be giving as good as each other. Maybe they are just having fun in their new 5 star accomodation LOL.
I hope they are not all cockrels. What age would they start fighting if they were? Surely 2 weeks is a bit young.

Thanks in anticipation

Tony

 

[jmtcmkb]

I cannot give you an "expert" answer because I am very new myself. I have 5, almost 5 week old chicks and it seems like every day I am going into the room the chicks are in settling them down, in fact I just did so a few minutes ago. Chest bumping and one will always unsettle everyone else by jumping and flying like a maniac

I sure hope it's not a sign of a roo...I will say my red star sex links who should be 100% girls never seem to start the craziness

 

[eggsrcool]

I suggest you keep the fighting chicks apart; better safe than sorry. Since you have more than one container, would it be possible to keep a few in each one (assuming you can keep both brooders warm)?
Yes, two weeks does seem a bit young for them to be fighting. Normally it would be 8 weeks onward, give or take a week or two.

Good luck.

Edited for punctuation.

 

[Lollipop]

Chick fights are the norm, rather than the exception. At 2 weeks there shouldn`t be a problem, depending on the breed. I`ve found that when the serious fighting begins, like in some breeds some will appear to have smooshed strawberries for heads, you have to determine which one is the aggressor and seperate that one. If you merely devide the chicks into groups, the main aggressor will continue to produce the strawberry heads. In most breeds this is not a problem, but in any of the game breeds it can be. In Asils, for instance, chicks engage in mortal combat before they are fully feathered and you don`t know when it will happen, which it usually does while you are away shopping, etc. In Asil breeds, 2 week old chicks will break wings, legs, even necks, making them extremely difficult to raise. Assuming that you have normal barnyard breeds, your problems should be minimal.......Pop

 

[Fred's Hens]

All normal. The chest bumping, etc. It is also not a reflection on sex of the birds, as pullets chest bump too.
Hyper activity is often caused by too many hours of white light. Dim their surroundings to near darkness. Red light for warmth, if needed. They'll calm right down. Bright, white light triggers lots and lots of rowdy behavior.

 

[Tony101775]

Thanks for the replies.

They seem to all cuddle up together lovely under the bulb as night draws in.
The light I have is a red light. I cant dim it and I daren't turn it off as it is getting pretty cold at night now in the UK.
As I said they are in my print workshop out the back but there is no heating throughout the night.

I have been watching them today and I think it may just be boisterous play now, like kids in the playground play fighting?

They are all eating well and there doesn't seem to be one in particular that is more aggressive than the others nor one that is being picked on more than the others.
In fact one is tiny compared to the other four and he/she joins in as much as the others and i am sure one of the bigger ones could easily dispatch it if it wanted to.

I think I was a bit surprised this morning when I saw them bopping around all over the place, as I had only ever seen them just huddled together due to lack of space.
I am fairly sure after watching them for a while that they are just rough playing and enjoying their play area.

I am looking forward to some beautiful tasty happy eggs in the new year from them.

Best regards

Tony