hi have a metal brooder with my 10 aussie hens 5 barred rock hens and straight run of 5 , and 2 cockareals (aussie).
up until 2 days ago i also had 10 jumbo cornish crosses. saw the brooder was getting cramped so i moved meat birds to a big dog crate. thought it was sufficient space for remaining birds got got home from work today and my poor americanus are beat up real bad. i isolated them, why did they get beat up and was it them doing it to each other cause other hens are ok. they are to small to put into coop, they are 4 weeks old now but arnt fully feathered, nights are around 55 here ok to isolate an area in coop and put them in? and is it ok to put neosporin on wounds?
ty
swiss
baby chickens attacking each other need help
they r doing it cuz to cramped and/or boared they need more space, put a red or blue light on them it detures pecking. i don't use neosporin(sometimes it puts them in shock if bad enough) i use bacitracin which is in neo. it heals faster but if they r not deep wounds just surface peck marks then just keeping them clean is enough they don't need either of the others. if u use bacitracin don't use it more than 9 days or their body will depend on it.
clean wounds with sterile saline if they r still bleeding all purpose flower will stop it in a min or less roughly. seprerate them if they r bleeding or show red cuz the blood will attract more pecking. after about 2-3 weeks bantams and standards should be brooded seperate cuz the standards will shoot up to quick the bigger ones will attack the smaller ones and will either peck or stomp them to death. reintroduce when they r older like the dog kennel inside the run for a week to get them used to seeing and hearing one another and introduce them slowly. i don't put babies outside without mommas unless they r 8-10 weeks old. at 4 weeks old the constant heatlamp temp should be 75 degrees throughout night and day.
silkie
That's great info silkiechick! The only thing I could add is about them maybe being bored. I had the same problem with 2 day old turkey poults and with help from everyone here found out that they should be distracted, so they stop focusing on eat other. You could try giving them melon rinds, worms, or oats. What worked for me was small grass clippings...(untreated with any sprays) and watermelon rinds. Mine still did a tiny bit of pecking, but not the hurtful kind. They were so busy pecking at the goodies, they didn't bother each other. It was also fun to watch them with their treats.
I would for sure do the red or blue light as well, otherwise those soars will be temping little targets to peck at and you will have a lot bigger mess on your hands.
Good Luck!
Christy
I've only had one problem with pecking. That was this year. I didn't have bacitracin or neosporin. What I did was to just touch my finger to first aid cream and then touch the sore. One of the other chicks walked up to the injured chick, pecked at it and then started wiping it's beak over and over on the shavings to get the first aid cream off. Never had another problem since. I don't think the chicks liked the taste of it!!
I was just using a standard 100 watt household bulb in a reflector for a heat lamp (that's all I have ever used for chicks). I didn't change it after, and they still didn't peck at each other after the one tasting the first aid cream.
GG
bagbalm works too.
Chicks attack each other when there making a pecking order or one is trying to join the rest.
are these your threaa day olds? they just need plenty of space and feed to peck at. i like to use the chick starter crumble for their footing the first week or so. and putting marbles in their water helps prevent drowning or getting chilled, as well as giving them soemthijng interesting. shiny things to peck at in their brooder helps.
fran bought her chicks toys, but mine didn't like that, they KILLED IT!
also, as the head of your chickens, you can peck them on top of their heads when they do that and say "NO-CHICK!" someone has to teach them. hold them, give them attention, and lots of fresh clean water, NOT COLD, it wil give them pasty butt...
i really hope thise helps. sorry about your other chick. did you hatch these or buy them? were they shipped?
tf
It surprised me, but when one of my chicks started picking on a little one--it stopped when I said "No" very sternly. Actually stopped, cocked its head up to look at me and then ran away. This has happened more than once. There is a lot more to chickens than people think!