New chick pecking/feather eating

[NanaKimberlyB]

I picked up 3 approximately 2 week old chicks on Monday from a breeder. They spent about 3 hours in a box in the car and were pretty scared when I got home. I put them in my smaller brooder coop. When I checked on them one of the chicks back had been pecked of her feathers. I watched them and they didn’t do anymore than facial pecking at the food bin. This morning I woke up to all of them having bald patches. I separated them and applied a no more pecking product and added a red light. A little while ago I tried to put them back together and they just picked the face to go after on each other. I don’t know what to do. They are an olive egger, mint egger and a Beilefelder. I have juvenile EE that are separated from them and they have never done this so I am at my wits end.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How warm is your brooder? How big is it? What are you feeding?

 

[NanaKimberlyB]

75 to 80 is the temp. I have no warmer on as the breeder told me they had not been under a heat lamp before I picked them up. I use 18% chick starter. The coop is 2 foot by 4 foot for these three chicks. I raised my 5 EE in there until a couple weeks ago and they never did this. They will be moving to a bigger coop that is 8X12 when I integrate them in a couple weeks but they even did this in a 2 foot by 10 foot run

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do you know if these chicks can from the same group? We're they raised together?

You may need to divide your brooder up to 3 sections for a few days until they settle in more. Than maybe try again combining them.

 

[NanaKimberlyB]

I have one in a pet crate and one in a box with one in the coop for now. That’s a good idea to maybe keep them apart for a while. Since she breeds several kinds I’m thinking they weren’t together before this.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That would explain their hostility if they were from different groups or batches. Let them become familiar with each other through the fence for a week or so.