theres allways a bully.. Updated

[gabrielle1976]

So I have 3 little 4 day olds , two Barred rock? and a rhod island red? sorry horrble typest and speller. Anyways the smallest one is a bully lol guess he/she is the top of the pecking order? Well she/he has pecked my other little one who is still bigger then her by a bit so much around the face the poor thing has a mildly bloody face and beak and she / he wont stop. Any suggestions ? Im small scale and do not have another light to sperate them at this moment. I got them together and yesterday they did fine with eatch other though it was apernt from about the first hour that the little one was in charge.

 

[gritsar]

If there's blood, you HAVE to seperate the injured chick. They can peck it to death, even at that age. If you don't have a way to set up another heat lamp tonight, you might try keeping the injured one on a heating pad until you can rig something better up. Is there any way you can make a partition in the brooder, so that they are seperated but both sides still get the benefit of the heat lamp?

 

[gabrielle1976]

Well I will make something work if they will kill her/him. Ill see about cutting out some card board and tapeing it as a divider down the middle and hope that both sides get enough heat .
How come there so mean ?

Thank you?

 

[gritsar]

It's not really that they're mean. It's just instinct to them to peck at certain things they see. Red seems to attract them the most.
Once your little one is seperated it's going to be lonely. Try giving it a small stuffed animal or a clean feather duster to snuggle with and keep it company.

 

[flakey chick]

I used a milk-crate to separate a chick within the same brooder. They could see and hear each other- had the same heat, but I had to add an extra waterer and feeder.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Great idea!

 

[gabrielle1976]

Ok I have a peice of cardboard about 7 or 8 Inches high running the length of the brooder seperating it in half. I know they will be able to get over it soon but hopefully not untill 1. the chick is all better or 2. I am able to get a new light or something going . After his/her beak and nose is better can he/she go back in with the others like nothing happend?
Aww the chick that was pecked is acting kinda funny now can you tell me if the chick is just really tired from being chased around or if the chick is ill from being pecked on? The chick just falls asleep standing up eating drinking whatever, if I pick the chick up the chick wakes up peeps at me once or twice then falls back to sleep. Plllease tell me that the poor thing is just a bit sleep deprived.

 

[gritsar]

Unfortunately it could be either. Hopefully it's just stressed from being picked on so bad.

Are the wounds to it's face superficial? Make sure it's eating and drinking.
I know you can give a badly stressed chick a little sugar water to help it cope, but I've never had to do it so I don't know how much sugar to use. You could ask in the emergencies forum.
It'll need to heal up before it can be put back with the others. Do you have a white heat bulb or red? A red one helps to discourage pecking issues.

 

[gabrielle1976]

Now the Atilla the hun has pecked a spot on the other chicks nose. I am gonna try to put that one in with the sick one as well dont need two sick babies I figure I will lose 2 if I keep them it in with Atilla and only one if it picks on the sick baby as well. Is that horrible of me. How come chicks have to be such little snots I have had over the years , Rats gerbils mice hamsters love birds perekeets cocktils cats dogs and finches as well as rabbits.... NOT a single animal ever gave me this kind of stress the hamsters occasionly ate there babies if you bugged them but thats it. I would have thought a farm animal woudnt be so fragil ether that getting pecked on would cause it to get so sick so fast... I had a baby rat that at 5 days old got into some sort of accident and lost part of a foot and had cuts and abrasions not to mention had to be bottle fed and she grew up and lived into ripe old age ... sorry I guess I am rambling but Im just so shocked by this days events . I posted in the other spot for sickness and injuries.

 

[magsrags]

You know, I might take atilla out and seperate from the rest for a bit to calm it down. Otherwise you will end up having seperations for them all before long. Way too much work.