HELP - Serama Hatchling attacking it's siblings

[doodle doo]

Hello, I've been breeding and raising Serama's about 2 years now, but have never had this occur. On Tuesday I had 5 out of 7 eggs hatch. I left them in the incubator until the next day then placed them in a 2' x 4' brooder with a red hundred watt bulb as I usually do. Within a few hours of placing them in the brooder one of them began attacking the others. Biting their backs, faces, feet, wings, etc. It actually bit and held on to the wing of one and pulled it across the brooder. At first I thought it was establishing pecking order, but it kept attacking the others relentlessly.
I ended up putting it in it's own makeshift brooder, with a small mirror and stuffed animal, last night. Today after it's (time out) I thought perhaps it would go to the bottom of the pecking order. Within a minute, it picked up where it left off last night so he's back in solitary again.

I've read many posts about older chicks becoming aggressive, but not a hatchling.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you stop the attacks. It's so tiny to be such a BIG bully.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

wow, thats crazy. seems like i read a post similar to this a few months back and they ended up culling the chick. guess some are just born bad. lol

 

[azygous]

I sympathize. You're dealing with the problem the same way I would, though I've not been faced with such a heartbreaking dilemma.

You have no alternative, other than culling the chick, than to isolate it. Putting it back would risk other chicks losing their eyes or worse.

You might try what I did when I had to isolate an injured chick (scalped by the rooster). I created a "condo" out of the brooder by putting up a partition of window screening. That way the chick can still interact but not harm the others.

There may be a chance it will change, but I wouldn't want to count on it.

 

[Crysta]

Hello!
Maybe you'd be interested in trying this method:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/how-to-reform-brooder-bully.html
"I physically segregate the problem chicken from others, but allow the group to see and hear each other."

 

[doodle doo]

Thanks for the suggestion Azygous, I cut some hardware cloth and divided the brooder lengthwise. Then put food and water on both sides and re-positioned the lamp in the middle on one end so they could all get to the heat. The little tough guy immediately stopped chirping and went to the divider to see his siblings. That was a few hours ago and things are still harmonious. Ahhhh.............. peace at last.
Thanks again!!!

 

[azygous]

I'll bet you would have thought of it yourself!

Maybe, after a week or so of cuddling up with the "normal" chicks on the other side of the screen, the little devil may mellow out and decide not to kill the others. It really is adorable how they'll all scrunch up against the partition to try to get as close as they can when they sleep.

My injured chick finally was able to squeeze around the end of the screening and join her mates. When I saw they weren't going to injure her wounded head, I took the screen down and left her with them. Normally you don't want to have a wounded chick in with the others, but I was treating the wound with Silvadene, and it probably tasted horrible and that's why they left it alone.

The drive to try to get back with the flock is very powerful. Be sure that hardware cloth is good and tight!