Newbie here.... I know this sounds bad but I'm actually hoping one of our chicks is a rooster so we can take her back to the place we got her. She's a Silver laced Wyandotte which I thought I'd read were pretty chill chickens. This one is a danger to the others. She's right about 3 weeks old and she's so dang skittish. If you place your hand in the brooder she runs around like crazy, trampling over anything in her path, including the new less than a week old chicks. While the other chicks are inquisitive and peck at your fingernails, she full on bites your finger. And, she's started rearing up and challenging the other chicks. I thought we'd have a gentle little flock of 5. I fear the days we let her out to free range b/c I think it'll be especially hard to get her back in her coop. Not to mention that she may try to hurt the others, herself, or us. We try the "the more you hold them the more comfortable they'll be" approach... nope, not with her. While the other chicks might not care for being held, they never run or balk at it. Has anyone else had experience with this type of chick? Will she mellow or just get worse? oh, and while we are at it... is it normal for them to hunker down in their bedding and toss it up on their backs as the others stand around and cannibalistically peck at them? I'm going out on a limb and guessing it's just a way of dealing with what I can only imagine would be an itchy situation as feathers come in. Am I guessing correctly? Thank you. Steph
"Gentle little flock?" Sorry, but that is generally not chicken dynamics. Remember they are tiny velociraptors with feathers. The tossing around in the bedding is their attempt at dust bathing.
Three of my chicks are this way, all girls. Keep working with them and they will come around. I promise. When your chicks are a little older, they will all go nose to nose wing flapping and chest bumping. Give it time, it's fun to watch.
Quote: I keep reminding my 6 year old of the velociraptors point. He is not buying it. I imagine he will when they really start going after one another.
Quote:Hi Steph. I had the most adorable black frizzle hen. we tried to introduce her to our flock. She was the same age as our oldest peeps at that time and we introduced her and 3 others. she just turned out to to be a mean chicken. She was chasing after peeps her own size and grabbing their wings and dragging them around the brooder. I am a newbie and didn't want to take on something I had no experience with. I called my neighbor and she took her and has her in a brooder box next to a silkie hen and they have become friends. My advice is that if u aren't experienced enough to handle it (which I wasn't) it's best to find a new home for her then take the risk that something could happens to the other babies u have. Hope that helps! WIshing u luck with whatever decision u make!
Thank you for your suggestions/insight... I suppose we'll hang on to her and just hope for the best. It hasn't gotten to the point where she's attacking them. She just doing more of the "normal" behaviors some of you mentioned. I have to remind myself, these aren't cats and dogs. I've already had my heart broken when we lost our favorite chick a week ago today. I think the lesson there was, don't get so caught up in these guys? Not quite sure. I'll let ya know how things develop. Steph
For whatever reason the three week age is a really awkward one, she may come around but, not all chickens become friendly so don't be to upset if you never really get to hold her as an adult.
My flock seem to get along. I have the timid ones and the brave ones but they have never attacked each other. They have minor disagreements, but they quickly resolve them without pecking their eyes out or pulling feathers. However, I have always made sure they have plenty of room.
I thought I read somewhere that 3 weeks is when the pecking order instinct kicked in. All three of mine did the chest bump thing for a while but that has stopped long ago. They are nearly 9 weeks now. They all move around as a unit of three. There is some shifting in the group when one suddenly flies or something as the rest duck and then hurry to group up again. My SLW is very sweet I would say the middle of the pecking order. I have a RIR that is very nice and the most social to me. My SLW is the one that still actively tries to get away when I am picking them up though. She's my favorite though so I guess I over look that.
My last batch of Barred Rocks were that way. They'd scream and run if I tried to catch one to hold. If I persisted, held on, and kept them in my lap, eventually, they'd calm down, and would sit still and be sweet. My Buff Orps were the opposite, they wanted to crawl into my lap. I have 2 SL Wyandottes right now, a 2 month old, and a 7 month old. The older one was kind of stand off-ish until she started laying, now she follows me everywhere, and wants to be near me. The younger one is not "crazed" like the Barred Rocks were, but she won't come to me without a handful of treats. She was held a lot too when she was young, due to chronic pasty butt. As long as no one is getting hurt, I'd go out and buy some mealworms, and bribe them to be sweet!
