Too mean??

[JustCluckin84]

I recently got a total of 10 chicks and they are all finding their place. They seem to be establishing who is in charge. One of them appears to be too mean. She pecks all the others and seems to bully them. She will step on them and chase them. I thought maybe she was bored so I have included extra things for her to climb on and entertain herself with however it seems to only work for a few minutes. I am worried about injuries. Is this normal behavior? Should I separate? Any advice would be much appreciated!!! All my chicks range in age from about a week or so to maybe three weeks. She has rightfully earned the name Chyna!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It's not a good idea to mix ages like that. I would assume the bully is an older chick. You may have to divide up the group until they get bigger. A one week old chick is totally different than a 3 week old chick as far as behaviors.

 

[JustCluckin84]

Could the combination of ages cause Chyna to be aggressive to others that are her age? She is bullying all the other 9 chicks, no apparent age discrimination. All five other chicks that are the same age as Chyna appear to be ok with the smaller ones and treat them the same as ones their age. If seperating the groups is best, I certainly will do so. Maybe seperating the two groups will confirm if Chyna is aggressive to all regardless of the smaller ones being present or not. Thanks for the input!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You won't know until you try and see. Could be Chyna is a rooster??? Otherwise more room and getting them outside during the day in a movable temporary pen on some grass if it is warm enough can keep chicks busy and tired enough not to make troubles.

 

[JustCluckin84]

This is Chyna - we get her from a pullet bin at Atwoods. We decided to seperate the 4 younger ones and noticed there were two older ones that Chyna injured. We put those two with the smaller ones. We have been putting them outside during the day and sitting in the run with them. Chyna does appear to do better with others then. We will continue to try new things and figure this out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do you know the breed? Certain breeds can be more feisty than others. It isn't a breed I'm familiar with.

 

[JustCluckin84]

I don't know the breed. We are going to Atwoods tomorrow for more feed and bedding. I'm going to see if the regular person who works with their chickens is there so they can let us know; they weren't there the day we got em. The older ones were just in a bin titled "assorted heavies - pullets". The younger ones were in a bin titled "straight run bantams". Hopefully Atwoods will be able to let us know a little more tomorrow. I will post any updates regarding breed when I speak with them.