Roosters pecking at chicks

[anisa]

Another question. How old are the roosters? A dominant rooster should not peck those chicks but two immature cockerels easily could..

Azygous, supposedly it's the "roosters" pecking, not the hens.

the rooster i have no idea how old ..maybe someone here could tell me by the pic

 

[anisa]

the rooster i have no idea how old ..maybe someone here could tell me by the pic

also i dont have a hen as she dies about a week and a half ago

 

[azygous]

So the rooster is the only adult chicken in your flock now? If so, he may be taking on the job of nurturing. It happens some times. There are gentle pecks delivered to the back that aren't aggressive but disciplinary.

If he pecks on the head of a chick, that's dangerous aggression, though. The chicks need to have a place where they can run to that the rooster can't follow to continue his attacks. That's why I recommend a protective enclosure with chick-size openings.

It doesn't have to be a fixed pen, either. If you free range all of them, you can utilize a pet crate with a modified door covering with a chick-size hole cut into some hardware cloth with sharp edges taped over.

Or just pen the rooster away from the chicks until they get to be full-size.

 

[anisa]

So the rooster is the only adult chicken in your flock now? If so, he may be taking on the job of nurturing. It happens some times. There are gentle pecks delivered to the back that aren't aggressive but disciplinary.

If he pecks on the head of a chick, that's dangerous aggression, though. The chicks need to have a place where they can run to that the rooster can't follow to continue his attacks. That's why I recommend a protective enclosure with chick-size openings.

It doesn't have to be a fixed pen, either. If you free range all of them, you can utilize a pet crate with a modified door covering with a chick-size hole cut into some hardware cloth with sharp edges taped over.

Or just pen the rooster away from the chicks until they get to be full-size.

thank you a million .. you have been so helpful

so the big rooster is an adult and yes it was on the backs of the chicks ... the small rooster did peck alot and everywhere ... this small rooster is my lazy one he is always sleeping and doesnt crow ..also i have a what i thought was a hawk but just a baby but turned out to be a falcon and my small rooster attacks him and the falcon runs away .... when i did have my hen she use to peck at the small rooster all the time as they both came together when i got them

 

[GodofPecking]

I'm pretty sure looking at the pics that they will be just fine. It is normal to have some pecking like that. The rooster should be genetically programmed not to hurt them as they may be his kids. Did you take pics with the phone ? you might be able to do a video but I wouldn't worry, they seem just fine.

 

[anisa]

An update

well out of all the chick we have 4 left

after we moved them out all went well the the smallest of them died ... our dog manged to get a hold of 2 of them he ate one and left just the stomach and the other he caught it by it back and took most of it's back off .... then just recently one got hurt and it's leg broken so we had to kill it so it wont suffer

but the rest are doing well and have grown so much ..tomorrow i will take a pic and show you all

 

[Mrs. K]

It does happen to the best of us.