2 week old easter egger chick getting aggressive

[LovesteadMama]

Hey BYC community,

I have 7 easter eggers (sold to me as ameraucanas but we know how that goes) and there is one in particular who is black and white and stands upright with their neck stretched tall that is becoming quite aggressive. (Based on tail feather sexing and the size of feet I suspect it's a rooster) This one even attacked my hand when I went to pick up one of the other chicks. It's only 2.5 weeks old or so and it hurt a bit so I can't imagine what that will be like in 6 weeks. I incorporated 7 chicks 1 week younger in with the EEs. The EE chicks generally let me pick them up and are curious about me but the few of them that aren't have trained the younger chicks to fear me. I selected breeds (brahma, buff orps) for this second batch because I wanted my 3 year old to have some sweet natured chickens to pet and interact with so I'm disheartened that they're running away. So really, I have 2 overlapping problems, the bonding with the younger chicks and the aggressive assumed cockerel. I know it's hard to tell if it's a pullet or cockerel at this point but I REALLY don't want an aggressive rooster although I do see the benefit of one for free ranging purposes. I plan to keep 1, possibly 2 roosters from this straight run of EE in the flock (there appears to be 4). I'm thinking this bird, male or female, will probably end up as a nice family dinner.
So I have a few questions: Will the chicks' nervousness about me change as I handle them more? Is there anything I can do to gain their trust? Is it too late for imprinting? Also, how do I deal with this aggressive one? I've been picking it up each time and petting it, but I really like to let the chicks eat out of my hand to build trust which is incredibly UNenjoyable with one attacking and biting it.

Attached are some crappy pictures of the birds.

I'm new to raising chicks as my current flock was adopted as hens so I'm not totally sure what to expect with the chicks behavior. Thanks in advance for your help and support! I'm really enjoying this community.

Ps: I know they've outgrown their brooder! We're in the process of setting up a new one. I WAY underestimated how fast they would grow! And this is the brooder we moved them into last week when they outgrew the last one!

 

[sourland]

Chicks tend to be fearful when approached from above - the normal reaction of a prey species. Try approaching them on their level and allow them to come to you rather than grabbing them to minimize their fear reaction.

 

[LovesteadMama]

Chicks tend to be fearful when approached from above - the normal reaction of a prey species. Try approaching them on their level and allow them to come to you rather than grabbing them to minimize their fear reaction.

I usually make sure they see me through the side then slowly lift my hand over so its not just a fast reach towards them. I've been letting them eat some food out of my hands but with the rooster (or whatever it is) attacking my hand now, I don't know of I'll continue doing that. Unless I remove him. I'll be more careful to let them come to me. I do want to make sure that I interact with specific chicks a lot but they haven't seemed interested so I have picked them up. Do you think they would eventually come around and be curious about me if I stopped picking them up?

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

Would you be interested in having a roo if he wasn't aggressive? I'm asking because I had two chicks who were jerks in my brooders last spring. I used a combination of what I saw my slightly older chicks doing to put them in line (a quick "peck" with my finger, fairly hard, when they pecked or chest bumped me) and the tips that I saw on here for correcting rooster behavior (I'll look for the links shortly). One is our very good rooster- he's sweet with the ladies, keeps a close watch out for hawks, and is respectful with people and the other turned out to be a bossy hen (she's fine with me now, she just needed to learn how hard was too hard). YMMV, it's the only time I've tried correcting the behavior (usually we send them to freezer camp). We did have one other roo in that batch, a silkie who was a cuddle bug until puberty. He decided to attack MIL and is no longer with us (FC).
Edited to add:
To help figure out motives: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...hicken-directed-at-humans-man-fighting.75750/
To deal with the behavior: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/methods-for-dealing-with-roosters.75979/

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I see 4 males in that brooder already

 

[LaFleche]

I've been letting them eat some food out of my hands but with the rooster (or whatever it is) attacking my hand now, I don't know of I'll continue doing that.

This little cockerel might just be greedy and overly enthusiastic expecting treats out of your hands.

On another note: the chicks seem to be quite crammed in this brooder, please allow for more space or they might start to peck each other due to stress.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

Hey BYC community,

I have 7 easter eggers (sold to me as ameraucanas but we know how that goes) and there is one in particular who is black and white and stands upright with their neck stretched tall that is becoming quite aggressive. (Based on tail feather sexing and the size of feet I suspect it's a rooster) This one even attacked my hand when I went to pick up one of the other chicks. It's only 2.5 weeks old or so and it hurt a bit so I can't imagine what that will be like in 6 weeks. I incorporated 7 chicks 1 week younger in with the EEs. The EE chicks generally let me pick them up and are curious about me but the few of them that aren't have trained the younger chicks to fear me. I selected breeds (brahma, buff orps) for this second batch because I wanted my 3 year old to have some sweet natured chickens to pet and interact with so I'm disheartened that they're running away. So really, I have 2 overlapping problems, the bonding with the younger chicks and the aggressive assumed cockerel. I know it's hard to tell if it's a pullet or cockerel at this point but I REALLY don't want an aggressive rooster although I do see the benefit of one for free ranging purposes. I plan to keep 1, possibly 2 roosters from this straight run of EE in the flock (there appears to be 4). I'm thinking this bird, male or female, will probably end up as a nice family dinner.
So I have a few questions: Will the chicks' nervousness about me change as I handle them more? Is there anything I can do to gain their trust? Is it too late for imprinting? Also, how do I deal with this aggressive one? I've been picking it up each time and petting it, but I really like to let the chicks eat out of my hand to build trust which is incredibly UNenjoyable with one attacking and biting it.

Attached are some crappy pictures of the birds.

I'm new to raising chicks as my current flock was adopted as hens so I'm not totally sure what to expect with the chicks behavior. Thanks in advance for your help and support! I'm really enjoying this community.

Ps: I know they've outgrown their brooder! We're in the process of setting up a new one. I WAY underestimated how fast they would grow! And this is the brooder we moved them into last week when they outgrew the last one!

I had an aggressive Easter egger chick too (but it was a female), she’d always attack the other chicks by flapping at them and pecking them non-stop, never actually hurt them but they hated it. Now she’s friendly to the others but really quiet and scared of people. Also yeah, I had five chicks and now most of them run up to me when I put my hands in their pen