Help I Have A Mean 2 Day Old Chick !! Help

[BillT]

I received 51 chicks this morning. One of them keeps grabbing the others by the butt and dragging them around while they are screaming.
Is there anything I can do to stop this or do I have to separate her from the rest of them.
H E L P ! ! ! ! !

 

[CindyG]

Is she doing it to all the other chicks, or just a few? I know that one of my little ones had a bit of poop stuck to her butt, with a little shavings on it, and all the other chicks wanted to grab that thing off there. May be something unusual catching her eye and they will grab anything and everything.

 

[Pollitollito]

They will get use to it, I have a few chicks that act that way, after several days toguether they stop acting like that, All you has to be carefull is that all the chicks are almost the same age, if so relax!

 

[nanawendy]

Keep your eyes peeled for blood. Maybe change the heat light to red if you haven't already.

 

[Jeremy Parker]

From the word grow they start to establish pecking order relax unless you see blood!

i have over 60 chicks and they are a couple of weeks old now and they are doing the same thing!!

Blessings,
Jeremy

 

[azygous]

Did you order all pullets or straight run? It sounds like you have a roo in the bunch.

When I got my six pullets last week, I noticed one was a bit more aggressive than the others. Joyce was chest butting the other chicks and was always the one at the highest spot in the brooder.

Today, four days later, I noticed Joyce had considerably larger feet, and thicker legs. It dawned on me that I had a rooster!

When I took Joyce back to the feed store, they confirmed it by clasping Joyce by the head, and letting his body dangle. A rooster flaps its wings and fights back while a pullet will just meekly hang. Joyce fought in a fury of flapping and feet pumping. Luckily, they had just had a call from a customer wanting a roo of that breed, so Joyce was going to get a good home.

But it wasn't easy turning him in. We had bonded, and Joyce refused to stay in his box during the car trip, choosing instead to ride in my lap. I'll miss that fierce little six day old roo.

 

[dieselgrl48]

If they continue to peck one chick and it get's bloody a lot of time's they will peck it to death.I would remove the pecked chick first.I had problem's raising polish chicks Maybe because they looked diff . So I got a whole new brooder set up just for those when I raised them.I have 3 month old's right now all bantam's minus 5 giant cochin/ frizzle's temp. and there is a lil drama in the pen's yet but nothing major.I never found the red brooder bulb's helpful even with my turkey's so...A couple of my duckwing roo's at 3 month's are missing a few feather's but they just OK right now free range in barnyard until the hens lay but they holding their own very well.Just watch for head injurie's and major butt pecking they will get over it.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Not a believer in old wive's tales myself. But I can pretty much predict that there are as many people to negate that statement as there are to corroborate it. Lots of pullets will "chest-bump".
I've been raising chickens a long time - and the most valuable lesson I've learned is to be very leery of advice given by people working at the feed store.

Most are hired for their retail experience, not the poultry expertise.

To the OP? I've has some hens be very agressive as chicks, to the point I've had to divide the brooder with an oven rack to keep the peace. Do consider a red light, and separating the bigger, more agressive ones out by a wire wall for a bit.

 

[Country Heart]

Quote:
I had a situation where I had to seperate a day-old chick from the rest of the batch for a day or so. She had a foot fetish and was constantly pecking at the feet of the other chicks and pulling their legs out from under them. Since they were all so young (day-olds) they were not very stable on their feet to begin with.

Anyway, long story short, I put her in a clear tupperware container with a mesh lid so she could both see and hear the other chicks - but could not peck at them. Every once in a while I would put her back in with the rest to see how she would act. It took about a day and a half for her to outgrown her bad habit. Anyway, she rejoined the flock and has had no problems since.

Good luck with your problem child.

 

[math ace]

I went to the feedstore to pick up my day olds. I had a really nasty one . . . The one just kept plucking everybody on the beak.

I think it was stress from the shipping. After a couple of days it stopped. They slept for 24 - 48 hours straitght after I got them. They got up, drank, ate, and went back to sleep. They would sleep all day and then play for several hours at night while I was trying to sleep.

I really think our little one was acting so wacko mean because it was stress from shipping. Take your little one to a smaller space. Give her a couple of playmates and see if she settles down - - -She may just be OVER STIMULATED from too many birds, not enough sleep, etc.