And now...chicken jail.

[MontyJ]

When I check on them in a little bit I will see if they are still being tormented. If so, I will swap them and rename the jail to the new hospital wing

Well, Thistle, I know that by mid May at least 26 of them will have learned a new trick...play dead. They will learn to roll over too, but I will have to help them with that one

 

[catjac1975]

I once read that a little salt in the feed would stop them from pecking. I know I tried it and it seemed to work.

 

[MontyJ]

I gave the two pecked chicks a dousing of blue kote. I now have purple butt chickens running around :/ but at least the others don't seem interested in pecking them anymore. The two jailbirds have been released on probation.

Today brings yet another adventure. The 'lorps are battling it out for dominancy. Aren't they a little young for that??? They will stand next to each other and try to be as tall as possible. Then all heck breaks loose. I'm starting super brooder version 3 tomorrow. They will have even more room to move around. I'm hoping that will settle things down some. Interestingly, it's 'lorps fighting 'lorps. The others pretty much stay out of it. I know it's too early to discern roos from hens, but could this be a signal? It seems that only two or three are doing it.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

if you have a pic of the offending 'lorps i might be able to tell you if they are going to be roos. but it does sound like they are going to be from the behavior. :/ i've seen it before in a few of my cockerels at a young age. the pics you want are head shots showing their combs and beak if you could. sometimes i can also tell if the legs look thicker than the others. the cockerels will have thicker legs. don't go looking for spur bumps since the pullets will have those same bumps.

 

[MontyJ]

Thanks chickie. I will post some pics tomorrow. The 'lorps were straight run, so I could very well have roos in the mix.

 

[canesisters]

The bully behavior isn't a very good indication of sex. With my girls, the biggest chick (a SLW) picked at the smallest (BCM) SOOO BADLY that I ended up having to seperate them for several weeks until they were big enough to go outside. As it turned out, the bully chick is my smallest hen - but still the queen of the flock. The tiny, pitiful, needing to be protected chick turned out to be my only roo - who is now HUGE but still a pansy with his hens.

Yes, as soon as they are able, they will start sorting out the pecking order. It's sortof funny to watch, as long as it doesn't go to far.

 

[catjac1975]

Once they have more room there will be less fighting. I agree the fighters are the boys.

 

[bj taylor]

hey monty; I think blu kote is a a wonder worker. it treats the wound while camouflaging it at the same time. my experience is when the kids get some size on them all heck tends to break loose. they get bored, restless, and want to show the world they are boss.

so far my babies are doing ok, but by experience I know within one day the dynamics of a brooder can change drastically. they're such beasties.

 

[MontyJ]

I took a good long look at the fighters today. They have much larger combs than the others. They are still doing their crazy "I'm taller than you" thing. But now I have one of the amberlinks being a bad girl. She is sneaking around and snatching small feathers off the other chicks and eating them. I caught her and actually took a small black feather out of her mouth. What's up with that?

I didn't get any pics of the fighters today, but I will tomorrow when I move them to their new apartment. I think they are really going to like it.

 

[so lucky]

I have read that real feather eating, as opposed to just picking, is a sign of protein defficiency. Maybe this little amberlink is not getting her share of the grub?