pecking order 101

[kimpaw]

We got our 29 chicks yesterday and so far they seem ok except for two that have what looks like bad chicken behavior. One is alittle wild and i think it is one of the two free birds labeled by MM as" Free rare chick". This one seems more of an amusement and got the first name "pollo loco". The other is constantly pecking the others to the point we took it out and put it in its own brooder. The main brooder is 3'x3' with a 250 watt red light. So the question is how much pecking is normal? Were we right to remove an aggressive chick? Is this an indication of it being a rooster? thanks, Kimpaw

 

[mmajw]

Unless there is blood or injury I would put the chick back in. They need to make their pecking order and this could take time. Just watch for injury and blood and if that happens remove the injured one as the others could turn into cannibals very fast.
You may want to also increase the size of your brooder as overcrowding could also cause pecking.

 

[chcknrs]

Quote:
I tend to agree with this. From my understanding you need 1/2 sq. ft. of space for each chick, which means you need a 15 sq. ft. brooder. With yours at 9 sq. ft., it is almost only half the size you need.

 

[crooked stripe]

I also had to small of a brooder with just 15 chicks. It was 3x3 also. It worked fine for the first week an a half. I ended up with a 5x4 to keep things calm. John

 

[Cetawin]

Oh I would put it back and let them decide who rules the brooder...unless you see blood.

They will go through it periodically too. Now at almost 8 weeks old...it can get intense. My NHR was the top dog, then the SLW took over now the Lt Brahma is queen. Well NHR has decided she wants that spot back so several times a day, her and the Lt Brahma start running at each other, going airborne and chest bumping. They screech like something is killing them too.

 

[kimpaw]

thanks all , the chick is back in and tomorrow I will up the brooder size to 4x6. kimpaw