Hello from Cape Cod

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reddog1970

reddog1970

In the Brooder
8 Years
May 17, 2011
30
0
32
Cape Cod
Hi everyone,

New to keeping chickens, although my wife had them when she was a child. I am still building my coop which is about 3/4 done. We have 2 buff orpington chicks that are a little over a week old. Yesterday we added 2 barred rock chicks that are half the size of the orpingtons. They are all in a brooder that I built that is 2' x 4' and 2' deep. The 1st 5-10 minutes were rough for the BR's, but then the orpingtons accepted them. However, after about 2 hours, the BR's became aggressive toward the orpingtons. One of the BR's seems to be much more so then the other. They are going after the eyes of chicks twice their size. We separated them for a few hours, but had some trouble regulating the heat. So, took the divider out and things went a little better, but still very concerned about the aggressivness of this one little BR. When I divided them, I put in separate food and watereres which I have left in now without the divider, so i'm not sure if that is helping defuse things or not. I know they have to establish a pecking order, just worried about the BO's eyes.

Mike
 
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from Pennsylvania!

I got an order of 6 day old chicks last Wednesay and had a similar experience. One of my Partridge Rock chicks was pecking the eyes of one of my Golden Buff chicks (for some reason, even though I have 2 Buffs, she only bothered one of them). She would literally grab the Buffs' eyelid and drag her around the brooder. The poor thing would peep and peep. It got to the point where the Buff's eye swelled shut.

I did a search on here and it's a common issue. Especially with the lighter colored chicks because their eyes stand out more. I placed the offending chick in a glass aquarium inside the brooder so she could see but not peck. After 2 days and nights I reintroduced her to the others and after a few minor eye pecks she has left her alone.

Hope that helps you some. Good Luck.
 
Hello and welcome from OHIO!
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Don't worry too much about the chicks.....Sometimes you just gotta let them hash it out. I believe your chicks are young enough to get along. Things will smooth over in no time.

Just last week, I had two orp chicks that were my youngest. They were in my newly hatched brooder. Then my large brooder was full of older chicks. These two orps had to be moved in with the bigger ones. It was a little hard to watch, because the bantam frizzle chick I have really chased the male orp chick and intimidated him....The poor little newbies would stare at the wall like they were very scared. But I left them in there, and went to work, and after work, there was still some intimidation, but the next day all was well.

I'll bet things will be fine in two days.

Sharon
 

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