I have psycho chicks!

[Jeremy Parker]

Hi All,
Have a question???

I have 60+ plymouth rock chicks there are aproaching 1 week old.
They are psycho they are getting there wing feathers and jumping and acting stupid and trying to jump out of the box!

I'm used to the more docile meat chickens. Is this behaviour normal??

They are fun to watch a bug got in there and they went crazy.

I'm keeping the temp at about 29C

Blessings,
Jeremy

 

[Kismet]

Normal. Sounds like they need more space. Like active two year olds, they want to run and jump. This is a wonderful age to just sit with a cup of coffee and watch. You learn a lot about chicken behavior.

 

[Jeremy Parker]

thanks for your input!

They have .8sqft per bird in the brooder is this not the normal space?

Blessings,

Jeremy

 

[Yardbirds286]

I would go with more space. I am at 1.5 sq ft per bird. They still play but there is room for a sleepy chick to get away from the non sense.

 

[catdaddy66]

As my brooder space shrank my chicks got much like you have described yours. It is a territorial issue (usually) and the extra space will be a good start to solving it. It happens to all flocks but more frequently when the birds are stressed.

 

[Jeremy Parker]

Well I doubled there space and guess what??

The are even more psycho, now the can run across the pen and jump in the air and do a front roll when they land

They all come running to me when I go to fill the feeder now, do you know how hard it is to not step on 63 psycho chicks running around and now they climb right onto my feet and start peeping.

its going to be hard to cull when I have too

Blessings,
Jeremy

 

[Critter Crazed]

Haha! They are so adorable, aren't they?! My chicks do that. My one brahma seems to be a bit calmer than the others though. I think breed matters when it comes to personality and stuff like that.

My chicks will try to fly up at me so i pick them up!

I think I need to increase their space too.

 

[sydney13]

Quote:
mine were a little crazy in their small brooder but when i moved them to their large new brooder then totally went crazy and would chase after each other with strawberries for hours none stop

 

[MaKettle]

My brown leghorn, Chicken Sally, is an absolute maniac. The hatchery gave her to us as an "extra" but passed her off as an Auracana. I love her but sometimes I wish I could drop her back off!