I'm new here and I need your HELP, Please!!

[minimomny]

i was checking out this website before i recieved my chicks and now that they have arrived, i have joined. this is the 3rd brood of chicks that we have raised.
the chicks are a week old and my son and i noticed that some of the chicks were bleeding, in the tail and wing area. we witnessed some of the other chicks picking on them until they bleed.
i have the injured ones seperated from the non!!! so i now have 2 boxes of chicks in my house!!!
can someone please help me, as i dont know whats going on!?
thank you for your time.

 

[Cheryl]

Keep them separate until the injured ones heal, as any injuries will just inspire the others to continue to pick on them!!!

 

[asher]

If you use a red brooder light, it will reduce the pecking.

Alternatively, they may be overcrowded.

I'm not sure why else brand new chicks would be doing that. I've honestly never had little biddies do that before.

 

[Anne]

There are a few reasons chicks may pick at each other:

1) Not enough space/they're bored

2) Incorrect nutrition

3) No reason at all, really (rare)


My first line of attack would be to get them a bigger brooder box and make sure you're feeding them the right food (some sort of chick starter feed).

You can also buy a red light bulb (instead of white) for your brooder lamp. This is supposed to discourage picking in young chicks. Once chickens pick until they've drawn blood, things can get out of hand because they're attracted to the red color and the picking increases even more. A red bulb helps because it makes EVERYHING red, so they can't distinguish the look of blood.

I hope this helps!

-Anne

 

[swampyankee]

could be a few reasons for the picking.
1. The brooder is too warm.
2. the light is too bright
3. the chicks are too crowded.

It was wise of you to separate the injured ones. Get some blu-cote at your local feed store and dab it on the wounds.

I hope this helps.

 

[minimomny]

I would like to thank everyone for all your advice so quickly! I do have them seperated, there are 8 of them. They do seem do be a bit smaller than the others, im guessing this is one reason. They are all at the stage where the feathers are starting to form, as well as their combs.