Keep bully chick separated?

[Gilmoregirls]

Our newest chicks are 5 days old. 2 Black Jersey Giants, 1 Brahma, 1 Buff Orpington and 1 Wyandotte. All female. From day one, one of the BJG’s has been pecking at ALL of the other chicks feet, face and feathers. I’ve tried poking her on the back when she does it, but she doesn’t stop. She is a bit larger than her BJG sister and beak is more curved and sharply pointed and she stands up tall (could she be a roo?). Lastnight I noticed the Wyandotte and the Brahma both had bloody noses! So I pulled the bully chick (big BJG) and put her in a separate container. But now I’m concerned that she will decline being alone??? How long do I keep her separate? Is this something that can be corrected? I tried giving them a hardware cloth separation, but they all went nuts trying to get to each other, it seemed more stressful than helpful. Not sure what else to do? Also - secondary question - have chick brooder in garage. Not a lot of good daylight - should I add some kind of daylight lamp for them? They have a heat plate to get under. Thank you!

 

[azygous]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/ Read this and see if there are tips you can try.

You may very well have a cockerel. A few years ago, I found I had a baby chick, a Blue Plymouth Rock, that was excessively aggressive. It was being very hard on the others. At around four weeks, it began to pop out squeaky crows and was trying to mate the others. I decided to cull it.

Yes, chicks need light. Ideally, they need natural sunlight. You can start taking chicks outside on nice days at around age two weeks. Just watch for signs of chilling and protect them from too much sun or chilling wind as well as predators. This begins to toughen them up and get them ready for life outside in their coop and run by the time they're five weeks old. Many folks aren't aware that chicks are ready to live as regular chickens by five or six weeks.

 

[Gilmoregirls]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aggressive-baby-chicks-and-how-to-stop-the-behavior.72029/ Read this and see if there are tips you can try.

You may very well have a cockerel. A few years ago, I found I had a baby chick, a Blue Plymouth Rock, that was excessively aggressive. It was being very hard on the others. At around four weeks, it began to pop out squeaky crows and was trying to mate the others. I decided to cull it.

Yes, chicks need light. Ideally, they need natural sunlight. You can start taking chicks outside on nice days at around age two weeks. Just watch for signs of chilling and protect them from too much sun or chilling wind as well as predators. This begins to toughen them up and get them ready for life outside in their coop and run by the time they're five weeks old. Many folks aren't aware that chicks are ready to live as regular chickens by five or six weeks.

Thank you azygous! I will look for a better set up to give them more daylight.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep them separated and wait to see if she’s a rooster. I just was worried the single one would decline without the social gathering. Thank you for your help!

 

[azygous]

Chicks do need to be together, but you can make a partition to keep the bully from terrorizing the others.

 

[Iluveggers]

This may sound crazy. I had a chick in my first group ever who would peck at EVERYTHING. I thought for sure she would grow up to be agressive. So I added a cardboard wall in the brooder, drew different color polka dots, and added a shiny marble super glued on it (pushed it in a bit to make an indent for the glue). She went crazy, and pecked at it all day! lol. As she grew up, she was not agressive, but would always poke us w her beak when she wanted our attention. Not saying this is a cure-all, but sometimes a distraction and “healthy” place to peck can go a long way.

 

[ChookaPete]

Many folks aren't aware that chicks are ready to live as regular chickens by five or six weeks.

Thank you!