Picked-On Chick at 5 Weeks~~What Would You Do!!??

[chickens4jojo]

I have a five week old chick who is named, "Sweetie" who is being picked on unmercifully by all the other chicks (all the same age.) She has hardly any neck or tail feathers now because of this. The chick pen is very roomy for all the chicks, but they still persist in this behavior only toward this one chick.

Sweetie has been extremely docile from the very beginning. We can pick her up, she will sit by us, come up to us, etc., and so nice to have around really.

I just separated her from the rest of the flock~and she is peeping a lot as she is all by herself in her own pen even though she is near the others.

QUESTION: Would you find her a "One-Chicken Home?" Or would you just try to keep her separated from the others till all her feathers grow out properly & try to put her back in with them eventually & see what happens?

Thanks for any advice you may have for my Little "Sweetie!"

 

[smom1976]

just a thought never tried this.. but what if you pulled out one of the other chicks and put just two together.. the other one might just be sooo lonely that they become friends?

 

[arlee453]

Isn't it weird how they will gang up on just one baby?

Keep her separated until they mature a bit more - I'd give it at least a month personally. You could try putting just one or maybe two other, calmer chicks in with her to keep her company and see how that goes. They may not pick on her at all in a different group dynamic and it would make your life easier (unless you want a house chicken

)

As far as reintegrating - do it at night - put your chick on the roost with the others during the night and hopefully they will accept her in the morning. You'll need to keep an eye out on her though...

 

[chickens4jojo]

Oh no! A "house chicken!!" I think my own family might separate me from them if I tried that though that would be fun for a while, I think!!!

Really though, those are great ideas I never thought of....I am going out right now to get a couple of "calmer chicks" for her so she is not so lonely & watch them for a while.....and let those feathers regrow for her, too. :aww

Thanks so much for all your help~~~I love this BYC forum!!

 

[mirjam]

A thought here: If you end up keeping your bullied chick seperated from the others, make sure it can see her buddies. The "flock" instinct is so strong in chickens that it can be quite stressful for the individual if there is no visual contact to other chickens.

Hopefully you will be able to keep her with a couple others while she heals.

Best of Luck and keep the forum posted!

 

[chickens4jojo]

I had two other chicks in with her: One picked on her and so far the other seems not to, but I keep on checking on them.....I'll let you all know what happens.

Thanks again for all the suggestions....

 

[chickens4jojo]

BTW~~~I removed the "pickin' chicken!!"