Chicks pecking vents

[Chicka D Mama]

I bought a "baker's dozen" chicks last week thinking all was well until a couple got a slight bit of poop on their down. No pasty butt in any of the 13, but that slight discoloration of poo allowed the vent pecking to commence! I'm glad I checked on them when I did because they were beginning to bleed! I've got them isolated so they can start healing, but then I noticed another chick getting pecked, upon examination, same thing, but I got her removed before any damage!!! Now I've got a total of 5 isolated [ along with a disrespected runt] in their own brooder ( that I now refer to as "hospital"). Their vents are still clear and healing, but I was wondering how long to wait and/or if I washed the poop and returned them to the flock, that the pecking would start again?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I bought a "baker's dozen" chicks last week thinking all was well until a couple got a slight bit of poop on their down. No pasty butt in any of the 13, but that slight discoloration of poo allowed the vent pecking to commence! I'm glad I checked on them when I did because they were beginning to bleed! I've got them isolated so they can start healing, but then I noticed another chick getting pecked, upon examination, same thing, but I got her removed before any damage!!! Now I've got a total of 5 isolated [ along with a disrespected runt] in their own brooder ( that I now refer to as "hospital"). Their vents are still clear and healing, but I was wondering how long to wait and/or if I washed the poop and returned them to the flock, that the pecking would start again?

Do you have pics of your setup? How big is the brooder? What do you use as a heat source? What are the chicks being fed? Are there places in the brooder for the bullied chicks to get away / hide from the bullies?

 

[Chicka D Mama]

Do you have pics of your setup? How big is the brooder? What do you use as a heat source? What are the chicks being fed? Are there places in the brooder for the bullied chicks to get away / hide from the bullies?

Their heat source is a large brooder tent I purchased from Amazon enclosed with chicken pen panels that I can add more for more room. I'm not so sure they are being bullied. None of them were chased, they would just get pecked when they were with the crowd feeding or drinking. They can get away, but being flock oriented, they won't stay away.
Thanks for the good questions, ChickyChook22! Those were definitely some of the things I considered factors!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Might be some useful tips in this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/

 

[Cannibal]

I bought a "baker's dozen" chicks last week thinking all was well until a couple got a slight bit of poop on their down. No pasty butt in any of the 13, but that slight discoloration of poo allowed the vent pecking to commence! I'm glad I checked on them when I did because they were beginning to bleed! I've got them isolated so they can start healing, but then I noticed another chick getting pecked, upon examination, same thing, but I got her removed before any damage!!! Now I've got a total of 5 isolated [ along with a disrespected runt] in their own brooder ( that I now refer to as "hospital"). Their vents are still clear and healing, but I was wondering how long to wait and/or if I washed the poop and returned them to the flock, that the pecking would start again?

I had this same problem with one specific chick. I knew the main thing was to just separate any chicks that went out of their way to attack any vents. They were the criminals, so I put them in a cage so they couldn't get to any of the other chicks but they could still see and kinda interact with everyone. They of course had their own food and water.

In the meantime I started making enrichment toys for them. I bought a fluffy doggy bed off of amazon which they LOVED and built perches and made suet cakes for them. It took about maybe 3 days for the behavior to stop. I'm guessing because of all the other fun things they could do rather than peck butts xD The criminal chick had one chance per day to show me that they didn't have a blood lust for another chicks butt. If they attacked, right back in the cage they went, and I would try again the next day

It was a wild and stressful time with that chick though. I was searching for any kinda answers. I even tried to pawn the chick off to a broody hen but they didnt want them. I'm thankful they grew outta it and I hope that you find something that works for you.

A video of the criminal trying their hardest to peck anyone's butt in range

https://imgur.com/a/ELLgSwc

.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I had this same problem with one specific chick. I knew the main thing was to just separate any chicks that went out of their way to attack any vents. They were the criminals, so I put them in a cage so they couldn't get to any of the other chicks but they could still see and kinda interact with everyone. They of course had their own food and water.

In the meantime I started making enrichment toys for them. I bought a fluffy doggy bed off of amazon which they LOVED and built perches and made suet cakes for them. It took about maybe 3 days for the behavior to stop. I'm guessing because of all the other fun things they could do rather than peck butts xD The criminal chick had one chance per day to show me that they didn't have a blood lust for another chicks butt. If they attacked, right back in the cage they went, and I would try again the next day

It was a wild and stressful time with that chick though. I was searching for any kinda answers. I even tried to pawn the chick off to a broody hen but they didnt want them. I'm thankful they grew outta it and I hope that you find something that works for you.

A video of the criminal trying their hardest to peck anyone's butt in range

https://imgur.com/a/ELLgSwc

.

The title and description of the video...

 

[Chicka D Mama]

All the responses were so appreciated! I resolved the problem by keeping them separated for a week and treated the damaged vents with Vaseline to aid in the healing and to keep any poop from sticking. I thought to increase their space by adding more panels to increase their space and boy, did that ever work!

They've got enough room [now] to literally run all over their enclosure! I also increased the distractions by providing several homemade perches and provided a plastic mirror vase that they can peck at their own reflections! This is the happiest flock of baby chickens I've ever had! I am one happy Chick A dee mama!