Trouble at bed time......

[rebeccabaird]

I have 4 brown leghorn 9 week old chicks and every night when they go in to the coop to roost at least one will jump on the others to try to get between two of them. They make a heck of a noise, someone usually falls off and gets really angry then they do it all over again. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for your help!

 

[bburn]

I believe that is part of the pecking order....your spot on the roost shows your position in the pecking order....

 

[rebeccabaird]

Well that makes sense, but how do I make them stop? I don't want them to hurt each other.....

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Perfectly normal. Even my four and five year old birds fuss with each other at roost time and they've been roosting together their entire lives. It seems to be sport with them.

 

[rebeccabaird]

Thanks! It sounds like they are killing each other.