Mysterious chick behaviors?

[Birdpants]

There are two funny things going on in my brooder of five three-week-old chicks. I’m not worried about either but I have to know if other birds do this!

1). The smallest of the five (two eggers and three Seramas) has a thing about pecking specifically the beaks of the other birds. They don’t have to be eating. Extremely persistent about this. S/he, like all of them, gets plenty of chick crumble and they all eat like horses. S/he might be younger than the others (I didn’t hatch them). S/he’s the only one that does this and is also the only silked one though I doubt that has anything to do with it.

2) Second question is about what I’ve come to call The Eight-o’clock Holler: at about 8pm every damn day they all start yelling like the coop is on fire. I rush in to check ...everyone is fine. They quiet down. I walk away and they start yelling again. This lasts about 15-20 minutes and then they all crawl under the heater and go to sleep.

familiar to anyone? Explanations?

 

[ChickenGirl555]

There are two funny things going on in my brooder of five three-week-old chicks. I’m not worried about either but I have to know if other birds do this!

1). The smallest of the five (two eggers and three Seramas) has a thing about pecking specifically the beaks of the other birds. They don’t have to be eating. Extremely persistent about this. S/he, like all of them, gets plenty of chick crumble and they all eat like horses. S/he might be younger than the others (I didn’t hatch them). S/he’s the only one that does this and is also the only silked one though I doubt that has anything to do with it.

This has been normal and common in my birds, at least. Everything is fascinating and peck-able in a chick's mind! When they get older I've even observed that this behavior continues, with my sweet rooster sitting perfectly still as hens peck food off his beak--or unfortunately, pull out the feathers below his wattles.

2) Second question is about what I’ve come to call The Eight-o’clock Holler: at about 8pm every damn day they all start yelling like the coop is on fire. I rush in to check ...everyone is fine. They quiet down. I walk away and they start yelling again. This lasts about 15-20 minutes and then they all crawl under the heater and go to sleep.

I assume that means you have a plate heater of some sort, rather than a heat lamp? If they don't have a constant light for their brooder, they will get upset when the sun sets (Which I assume is why it's specifically 8pm, around sunset) and they can't see their friends 24/7 anymore, so until they find each other and get comfortable (Like when they all crawl under the heater) they will scream and panic because they think they're alone. This behavior typically lasts in my broods for the first 2-3 weeks or so.