Friendly chickens have suddenly turned aggressive.

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

Angry baby sounds a bit boyish in behavior to me too... you will know when they crow, or start reacting to each other’s crows... hopefully you’ve got a bunch of little hens, but my luck has tended towards the males. Get them as much room and distractions as possible until your weather clears up... my first hatch was stuck inside until over 9 weeks old due to weather, and they started getting squirrelly as well.

Clear boundaries and limits to where they can go... if you don’t want “house chickens” then don’t let them run rampant in there. My cats are with fine for me, but know they have my mother terrorized, stealing food from her plate, pawing her face to get breakfast in the morning. Refusing to eat the food she puts down. Give them an inch and they will try to take a mile.

I suggest getting them outside ASAP! Chickens are mostly outside animals IMO. Hope it works out well for you!

Good points @Kris5902... I would get them a heating lamp keep them stable heat wise in the garage, it's often good enough to climb 15-30 degrees up. $22 at Tractor supply... bulb and all.

Few batches ago, I would gather these 5 weeks old and watching TV... while they napped on my chest... not a good idea long run. Now I can't lay by the pool without these monsters climbing on my chest..... killed my tan man... feathery spotty joking... just good to keep distances @Tatuana .... they're sweet as hell but they grow up... don't get me wrong, I've done my share of living room chicken gathering...

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

Also as sweet and lovely as chickens may seem to be, never forget that they are descended from dinosaurs.

LOL... I've seen Jurassic Park... and that's not true @Keeperofmunchkins how dare you :0 You're sweet.

 

[Kris5902]

Some cockerels are great, I have three good gentlemen out of fifteen. I don’t know how much of that’s odds, breeds, or husbandry... 2 more are borderline ok. 10 are slated for my freezer this Saturday/Sunday, they are unmanageable and intolerable in their behavior.

Watch the behaviors... I had to sort a few out, but the ones that changed first (first to come into testosterone poisoning) were also the first to accept that I am not “their lady”, or their target/competition and have turned out to be the good gentlemen. The most cuddly as chicks are more troublesome (with one exception to prove the rule, but I don’t know if the toes are crooked genetically or broken by improper handling when I wasn’t present so he’s also for freezer camp) My very limited experiences... I have 25 chickens 17-20 weeks old (“ish” because it’s too late for me to math ATM!)

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

Some cockerels are great, 10 are slated for my freezer this Saturday/Sunday, they are unmanageable and intolerable in their behavior. testosterone poisoning.

Cold sister... ...

but now that I think of it, ... shoot, my wife just verbatim quoted you earlier, talking about my behavior... plus she just bought a sweet 11" knife from Costco (one with the the 2 J.A. Henckles guys on it)...

j/k, was raised on a ranch (in Quebec!)... know the drill..

 

[Kris5902]

Cold sister... ...

but now that I think of it, ... shoot, my wife just verbatim quoted you earlier, talking about my behavior... plus she just bought a sweet 11" knife from Costco (one with the the 2 J.A. Henckles guys on it)...

j/k, was raised on a ranch (in Quebec!)... know the drill..

Run now... screaming optional!

 

[Kris5902]

Seriously though... another challenge you might be facing in the near future is in integrating the groups, you have both different ages and breeds, with some size differences as well. Not a criticism, I’m in a similar circumstance myself due to chicken math...

I’ve got tiny CCLxLH boys beating up Barnvelders half again as large because they have them outnumbered and they look “different”... My Marans boy being big boss chicken over an Olive egger and three Large Barnvelder guys... so far as I can tell there are many contributing factors to flock dynamics. As you babes grow up you’re going to need to guide them a bit...

 

[TeenageRooster's Dad]

Seriously though... another challenge you might be facing in the near future is in integrating the groups, you have both different ages and breeds, with some size differences as well. Not a criticism, I’m in a similar circumstance myself due to chicken math...

I’ve got tiny CCLxLH boys beating up Barnvelders half again as large because they have them outnumbered and they look “different”... My Marans boy being big boss chicken over an Olive egger and three Large Barnvelder guys... so far as I can tell there are many contributing factors to flock dynamics. As you babes grow up you’re going to need to guide them a bit...

Very good point @Kris5902... got lucky this batch as 2 are half brahmas and the other one is a juicy RHR (pretty sure it's a rooskie), so they're already a good size to stand their own, being 8 weeks+ and all.

Tonight was the night where everyone is in the same house and so far so good, just came back from a harassing session cracking up pistachios and see who's relaxed enough to eat those greenish goodies... teens are doing good, rooster is super stressed out for some reason... we'll see at 6AM tomorrow who's still alive...

But at least they've got some nice background music in the new coop.. got them a little sound system with classical music, works for Jersey cows...

 

[Tatuana]

So that could very well be part of it @Tatuana ... but as @oldhenlikesdogs mentioned, looks like they're getting into "teens" age, so that'll play in as well. I have 3 "teens" all born on jan 10th, minutes from each others and right now and they're challenging each constantly. Also I'm pretty sure the darker one with the lighter head who flew to the couch (Angry Baby?) is a lil' roo, just by his behavior. At that age, you should start seeing lil' spurs coming out, maybe 1/8". But then again, I've had a few hens with mini spurs so as frustrating as it is, gender ID is a dark art... at least for me

Oh good lord, the teens age sounds like it will be such fun. Angry Baby is adorable with his neck fluffed out, but not good for the other chicks! He's for sure the leader of the pack. Tallis is the one who flew to the couch - Angry Baby is a Barred Rock on the chair. She's... odd. VERY timid (terrified of my hands and runs and screams from me?) but aggressive. She used to be the second in command. I think she may still be. She's joined Ellywe and Oogity Boogity to make their own pack. (Eyllwe is her sister, Oogity is a Black Copper Marons. I forget what Tallis is. It's diamond... something. Silver laced. She'll be black and white) They're the non friendly ones. Non of the others *seem* aggressive. I think.

Angry baby sounds a bit boyish in behavior to me too... you will know when they crow, or start reacting to each other’s crows... hopefully you’ve got a bunch of little hens, but my luck has tended towards the males. Get them as much room and distractions as possible until your weather clears up... my first hatch was stuck inside until over 9 weeks old due to weather, and they started getting squirrelly as well.

I've pretty much known he was a he since he hatched! He used to stand on the little heating cave in their brooder and SCREAM for hours. He wasn't cold, wasn't sick. He just liked his voice. And then his comb came in fast and large. It's turning already. Honestly, if he was a girl I'd be very worried. I also fully expect Oogity to be a male (The leg chaps one). Jury is still out on Ava, but if she's a guy I won't be surprised either.

I'll have to find out what chickens like to play with. They LOVE paper towels. Too much.

Also as sweet and lovely as chickens may seem to be, never forget that they are descended from dinosaurs.

Yess, I fondly call them my little demons.

Seriously though... another challenge you might be facing in the near future is in integrating the groups, you have both different ages and breeds, with some size differences as well. Not a criticism, I’m in a similar circumstance myself due to chicken math...

Oh yes. I've already run into this. Morath and Zinthos want to be part of the pack SO BAD. But the older babies are cruel. I'm not sure how it's going to work out, to be honest. It's also hard with Killian. She's still puff ball sized even though she's a week old. The other babies at two weeks are three times her size. She's so tiny I'm kind of worried. Adding her to the flock would be deadly.


They're still obsessed with the chair in the living room. I locked them out for several hours. I had to leave the door open for less than five minutes to take out some trash. I came back and they were asleep on the chair. I booted them out again (gently) and in the struggle to close the screen door Ava got hurt and went into shock for a few hours. (Pinched leg, she's fine. She tried to climb over Angry Baby to get in and got mashed against a wall. I wasn't really moving the door so she just favored her other leg for an hour and slowly got over it.)

I have no idea what it is about that chair that's so beautiful to them.They pooped all over it! Maybe it's high up? I've no idea. Breaking them from their obsession will be tricky. And their need to be in the house. If they want to be house birds, they're getting diapers. And nobody wants diapers.

Do they just break over time? Locking them out enough? I love them to death, but that chair is in my sewing room and I can't have them eating strings. Or my patterns. Or the blinds. The pins. The sewing machine. The chair ties. The wood on the chair. Yeah, they need to go out.

 

[aart]

Yeah, they need to go out.

Yes. Yes, they do.

 

[Tatuana]

Ah, I think I solved the reason for being aggressive. Angry Baby crowed today. And then looked shocked.