Why would a sweet chick turn mean?

[saritastar]

I have this Ameracauna, Fluff. She was the sweetest, most docile (with me) chick. She took over as lead of the others right away, but was still very sweet even to them. They are all about 8 weeks old and just a few days ago, Fluff just started being crazy to the other chickens-chasing them, jumping on them. I have to use gloves to pick her up now, because she pecks me really hard! She's also recently gotten this mean look in her eye--none of the other chicks have it.

I've actually been separating her sometimes to give the other chicks time away.

Is this just normal chick behavior? I've asked over in gender to see if maybe she is a he.

Help?

 

[paddock36]

Sounds like she/he is the dominate bird of the flock and is making sure everyone knows it.

 

[elmo]

Yes, our "mean chick" was Martha. She went through these spells terrorizing the other hens, one of them in particular. I'd put her in time outs, and then when she was back with the flock I'd point my finger right at her and say "no!" in a firm voice when she tried to chase one of the other hens. The pointing finger seemed to intimidate her.

These spells lasted a few days, and then things would go back to normal...until the next spell. When we had to rehome our rooster (a neighbor complained, and we had no choice because roosters are illegal where we live), we sent Martha to go and live with him at his new home. Now Pokey, formerly No. 2, is the mean chicken!

 

[teach1rusl]

Yeah, it sounds like an extreme case of showing the others who the boss is, establishing pecking order. Mine were not aggressive in doing so, but maybe that's because I have such a tiny flock, or maybe just their personalities??? My "meanest" is actually my 2nd in command; she will peck two of the lower birds sometimes, but not that hard, and I've never seen her grab feathers or anything. I do yell "NO" and "peck" at her with my index finger when I catch her doing it. So in your case, since your girls are younger once pecking order is firmly established, hopefully she will mellow out a bit.

 

[saritastar]

Well, it turns out 'she' is a rooster!

I can't keep him, but in the mean time, I'll try the finger pecking (lol). and probably continue with the time outs.