Weak Chick - getting picked on

[Jubaby]

My had four chicks hatch in the incubator. The last chick took a really long time and is pretty weak compared to the other chicks. I left it in the incubator all afternoon and evening, but just took it out and moved it to the brooder.

Now the older chicks are pecking the little chick. I put a piece of cardboard in the brooder to separate them. What else should I do?

I hope he is a little stronger tomorrow and can hold his own.

 

[seminolewind]

I guess the cardboard is fine. I had a weak chick, and the other chicks never noticed. Maybe overnight, they'll stop.

 

[Jubaby]

Okay, everything is fine with the baby chick. During the night, she managed to get out of the cardboard enclosure, and this morning she is snuggling with the other chicks.

I guess I was worried about nothing!

 

[Davaroo]

Not at all. You were seeing what they do to weaklings.

Watch them for awhile, now that it's passed. When awake, they pick at each other, a lot, dont they? If they are healthy and normal it looks innocent - we call it "playing" or something nice and fuzzy like that.

But to THEM, it's organizing the pecking order by, well, pecking. In the process they expose weakness and will, if given the chance, eliminate it. I've seen them ravage a weaker member before I knew what was going on, and kill it outright.

It's not mean or hateful or evil, as I've heard some people lament. It is simply what they do. Call it Natures Way, if you prefer. Harsh as it may seem to us, it is a good reminder that The Chicken's World Is A Savage Place.