Leghorn Chicks eating my Bielefelder chicks. Suggestions??

[AlexCary]

Hi evryone, just joined BYC but have been lurking the forums as a non-member for months.

Great info here!!!

Here is my situation:

I hatched 9 Bielefelder eggs and purchased 12 White Leghorn Chicks (day olds). 2 weeks ago I put them all in a brooder that is about 8 feet in diameter made from brooder guard. All was fine until last night when I realized the White Leghorn chicks were pecking the Bielefelders tails at the base and causing them to bleed. I created another brooder and removed the Bielefelders. The White Leghorns do not peck at each other, only my Bielefelders. They go after the Biels like little Piranha.

Will the leghorn chicks stop this behavior or will they have to be separated for life?

The problem is I built another coop to separate my Bielefelders into two flocks to minimize in-breeding. My plan was to keep extra Leghorns for eggs. I do not want to waste an entire coop just to keep the Leghorns separated.

So do you think they will stop the pecking at my Bielefelders or will they need to find a new home?

Thanks for any insight!

Alex

 

[Impress]

What are you using for heat in your brooder! Sometimes changing to a red bulb helps this, it keeps the blood from being so visible. Blue-cote any bloody areas so they stop pecking them.

 

[lazy gardener]

What is the temp in the brooder under the light, and at the area furthest away from the light? Leghorns have a rep for being aggressive, as do most of the mediterranean breeds.

 

[AlexCary]

I have a 100 watt bulb (spot). Not red. I will let the Biels heal up first and switch to a red bulb and try putting them together again.

If that is a temporary fix great, but will they grow out of this cannibalism?

 

[AlexCary]

It is 87 degrees on the floor under the brooder lamp. It is 74 degrees farthest away from the brooder lamp.

 

[azygous]

Overcrowding can cause chicks to peck each other bloody. But sometimes an individual can do a lot of damage as well. Have you observed these two breeds when you've had them all together to actually see which ones are doing the pecking? If it is most of the leghorns doing the picking,then you may have no alternative to separating them.

There are things you can do to discipline individuals and also things you can do to provide distractions so the chicks aren't as likely to peck each other. I wrote about this issue linked below my post.

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, your temp is too high. I know "they say" start at 90 - 95* the first week, and drop 5*/week after that, but many of us find that chicks actually do better with the temp lower. Try dropping the temp an other 5* and see how they act. You need to use the lowest temp that will keep them content. And during the day, it's helpful to turn that heat off altogether for an hour or two, and increase that time according to how they are acting.

 

[AlexCary]

I raised the lights to lower the temp. I still have to get a red bulb. I like the idea from azygous' post. I may just watch them and peck the little gremlins on the head when they go after the Biels. See if that works. I'll let you know.

 

[donrae]

If you can brood them separate, that may be best. After they're feathered out and in the coop, things may be different. Do you have lots of space for everyone?

 

[AlexCary]

Yes, lots of space. I have a huge roll of cardboard brooder guard and made a very large circle on my basement floor that is 8 feet in diameter newspaper bottom covered with pine chips.

Oh and yes, I made two brooders and they are separate now.