Need some help

[sniper338]

Im in need of some advice. I have 3 week old chicks in my brooder, TSC cattle trough. I had to separate two because they were getting pecked/attacked by others and started to bleed on the wings. I separated a third that was being the most aggressive. They are pecking each other and pulling feathers and eating them. The one most aggressive got the taste of blood and was non stop. How do I remedy this? I sure dont eed them tearing each other up. I know put on blue coat so it taste bad and they dont attack the bloody wing spots... but overall whats the solution?

 

[azygous]

More space. How many chicks in what size tank? You need at minimum one square foot of brooder space for chicks in their first four weeks, triple that after four weeks.

If you're going by how TSC crams so many chicks into a cattle tank you can't see the brooder floor, you've gotten the wrong idea. Many of those chicks are being injured before they are bought. I happened to grab one day-old last spring out of a crowded tank at TSC that when I got her home noticed she had a bloody toe. She later lost the toe.

 

[sniper338]

More space. How many chicks in what size tank? You need at minimum one square foot of brooder space for chicks in their first four weeks, triple that after four weeks.

If you're going by how TSC crams so many chicks into a cattle tank you can't see the brooder floor, you've gotten the wrong idea. Many of those chicks are being injured before they are bought. I happened to grab one day-old last spring out of a crowded tank at TSC that when I got her home noticed she had a bloody toe. She later lost the toe.

14 chicks... 3 weeks old.. 5ftX3ft tank..

 

[azygous]

They could use more space right now. Are they your only chickens? Your climate is ideal for moving them right into the coop immediately. They should already be spending days outside in a predator secure run. They need no heat at all during the day at three weeks, especially with your 70 degree days.

You could transition them to their coop now with a little heat at night for the next couple weeks. By six weeks, they will be good to go with no heat at night.

You would see a drastic reduction in the aggression and injuries.

 

[Shezadandy]

Once they get the taste for blood and figure out how to make blood available, the blue kote really isn't much of a deterrent, especially if the wounds are actively bleeding. I rescued two that had been regularly re-blue koted and put right back in the tank at the feed store where they were attacked within a minute or two - they died that day from their injuries.

They absolutely need more space as soon as possible. Right now they're pretty much in a jail cell with little to occupy their time except … themselves, no view, nothing to watch - and they need other things to do. They should be busy scratching up the dirt and exploring. Even if you've removed the main instigator- that's no guarantee the others won't do it again.

So please please please find them another environment. You can use that same 5x3 tank - set it on the ground so the 5ft side is on the ground. The bottom becomes the back - set it so whatever your wind direction, it hits the closed side. That will give them a familiar environment and they'll have a good transition from their safe place to their next step.

 

[sniper338]

They could use more space right now. Are they your only chickens? Your climate is ideal for moving them right into the coop immediately. They should already be spending days outside in a predator secure run. They need no heat at all during the day at three weeks, especially with your 70 degree days.

You could transition them to their coop now with a little heat at night for the next couple weeks. By six weeks, they will be good to go with no heat at night.

You would see a drastic reduction in the aggression and injuries.

Its in the 50s outside and 32 or less at night. Still too cold for them outside... I have 1 laying hen only. But its too cold and windy for these chicks still. Im in texas, but Im also in the coldest place in texas.

 

[azygous]

Those temps of 30s at night and 50s during the day are my springtime temps in April when I typically get my baby chicks. I brood them outside in my enclosed coop with a heating pad setup. The day-olds are out running around in their large space, only ducking back under the heat when they feel chilled, then they are out running around again soon. It's been down into the 20s at night when I've had chicks n the run, and they are just fine in their heated cave.

Keeping chicks indoors under heat retards feather development and cold hardening. When I was still brooding indoors, I was starting the chicks on day trips outside at age two weeks for increasingly longer periods. By age five weeks they moved into the coop.

Understand that chicks do not spend all their time huddled under heat, no matter how they're brooded. I've watched a broody hen raise chicks, and it's no different than the way I brood in my run with the heating pad. Chicks revel in their freedom in a large space. They even run and flap their little wings and achieve lift-off.

 

[sniper338]

Those temps of 30s at night and 50s during the day are my springtime temps in April when I typically get my baby chicks. I brood them outside in my enclosed coop with a heating pad setup. The day-olds are out running around in their large space, only ducking back under the heat when they feel chilled, then they are out running around again soon. It's been down into the 20s at night when I've had chicks n the run, and they are just fine in their heated cave.

Keeping chicks indoors under heat retards feather development and cold hardening. When I was still brooding indoors, I was starting the chicks on day trips outside at age two weeks for increasingly longer periods. By age five weeks they moved into the coop.

Understand that chicks do not spend all their time huddled under heat, no matter how they're brooded. I've watched a broody hen raise chicks, and it's no different than the way I brood in my run with the heating pad. Chicks revel in their freedom in a large space. They even run and flap their little wings and achieve lift-off.

I dont have an enclosed coop yet. I have a 10x10 wire frame run with tin on the roof, and tin on 2 sides. The chicks can get out of it still, they arent big enough, plus the wind would kill em. I could put smaller wire around the bottom, but that wouldnt help other issues.

If I had a big outdoor coop I would put them in it and do as your saying. But they wont survive outside yet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Get some cardboard boxes (like appliance size or grocery melon type) and tape them together to make a larger brooder. If you have any safe-for-chicken type junk lying around, like old clean flower pots or bucket, cardboard boxes, branches, a pan of dust bath appropriate substrate, add those too, just to give the chicks things to explore and occupy themselves with.

If you still have one that's being outright aggressive then house it separate from the others (but still in view) by either using a small cage or some wire to make a separate enclosure within the larger unit.

 

[aart]

If you still have one that's being outright aggressive then house it separate from the others (but still in view) by either using a small cage or some wire to make a separate enclosure within the larger unit.

Yes. This worked good for that, 1/2" hardware cloth.