Are my chicks fighting or playing?

[ErikaV7]

I have three chicks right now—a buff orpington (BO), a black sex-link (BS), and an Amercauna (AC). They are all about 4 weeks old but I suspect the Buff Orpington is a little older because she is quite bigger than the other two. Anyway, last night in the middle of the night they were really making a racket in their brooder, which is still in our house until we can finish the run. I got up to see what was happening in there, and saw the BO running around with one of the AC’s feathers in her beak.



At first I thought she must have been pecking at the other two but then after watching for a minute, I saw the other two chasing her and trying to retrieve the feather from her. It was almost like a game. She would hide the feather under pine shavings and stand on it. The other two would look for it and just before they found it, the BO would snatch it up and run for it. The other two would chase her and try to get it back. And boy were they noisy!!



So my question is were they playing or fighting? Can chicks actually invent a game?? I’m not sure if I have a trio of prodigies on my hands or if they are starting to hate life in the brooder!



Advice please!!!



Erika

 

[cafarmgirl]

I suspect they were just having fun. Any time youngsters find something different, even just a shed feather, they'll often pick it up and run off with it. They seem to want to keep it all to themselves but all the while can't help but but announce to all that they've found something interesting! Silly things.