1 week old chick sparring

[fluffycrow]

I have a 50-50 chance of being right. I say cockerel.

Agreed. My gamefowl have forced me to say keep him, he will turn out amazing

 

[Chickenwithnobrim]

I've never seen a chick kick, that's the weird part.

Normally they have face-offs, regardless of gender, where they stretch their necks up tall and threaten to peck, which is usually enough to determine who has more confidence.

Rivals fighting is not a sign of general temperament.
My 2 gentlest roosters, nice to hens and people, frequently attack the dividing fence, even though one of them, Clifford the Orp, has had other roosters fly in with him and doesn't seem to mind. It's just those two, I think they've called each other's moms bad names.

When my Genetic Hackle roosters were teenagers working things out, they would wrap their necks around each other and push until someone won.

I really wasnt expecting any sparring or kicking until at least 3 or 4 weeks in, and i only saw it once. He also hasnt done it at all since! He also dirtbathed for the first time today and taught his siblings how. He often pulls on sibling wing feathers and toes until he gets told off, and gentle face pecking seems to go around in a circle. No standing and staring into eachothers eyes or anything. But his hackles were fully poofed and he gave a kick! Starting to think maybe he got too excited. He LOVES flapping his wings and trying to use them to speed boost across the brooder / floor and uses them whenever jumping up on things. Maybe hes just an early developer? His wing feathers are much shorter than the other two despite being bigger, and i cant tell if the other two have split wing genetics.

 

[Yardmom]

My current dominant roo in my main coop was 1 of 3 in his hatch. He was one of the only chicks I looked at at hatch and thought definitely a boy. His comb and stance made it obvious. By 2 weeks he started harassing one of the other chicks so badly it would hide between hay bales instead of following mom. He never fought with the other chick. Turned out the chick he would chase off was a boy the other a pullet. The dominance never faltered on the stronger chick. He was in my Silkie coop (standard chicks), but when a fox took my strongest roo in my standard coop within days he moved in and established himself at the top over other 3 other roos. Luckily he no longer chases off other roos and has never been aggressive towards people.

 

[Chickenwithnobrim]

My current dominant roo in my main coop was 1 of 3 in his hatch. He was one of the only chicks I looked at at hatch and thought definitely a boy. His comb and stance made it obvious. By 2 weeks he started harassing one of the other chicks so badly it would hide between hay bales instead of following mom. He never fought with the other chick. Turned out the chick he would chase off was a boy the other a pullet. The dominance never faltered on the stronger chick. He was in my Silkie coop (standard chicks), but when a fox took my strongest roo in my standard coop within days he moved in and established himself at the top over other 3 other roos. Luckily he no longer chases off other roos and has never been aggressive towards people.

Ill definitely pay attention to if hes attacking one specifically, cause it sounds like ive either got a rather typical roo or a fiesty pullet. Ill try to recognize these behaviours, itll be so interesting finding out