Baby Chick is a bully- could it be a rooster?

[Hillaire]

that is a barred cochin cockerel the hens lay small brown eggs this one is starting to mature which is why you are getting the chest bumping and what not, in my experience with barred cochin roosters they can be pretty spunky and 2 of the 3 I've owned have become a little floggy as well. if you don't want roos then sell it I sold all 3 for 35 a piece when they were mature.

 

[Hillaire]

Oh my bad, your right that is the breed!! Ok, I'll put an ad up for a free baby rooster today. Darn it, he's so pretty and I love the fluffy feet! Your right though, it will become hard to re-home once he's full grown and a full on meany!

If we decided to be completely crazy and keep him is the attitude common for male birds and something that will eventually even itself out when he becomes the head of the flock?

like I said previously I had 3 and 2 of them were just mean. They were younger birds about a year old I'm not sure if yours is a bantam or not (mine were) I know the LF (large fowl) cochins aren't bad but the bantams again are pretty spunky. Without an older rooster to show them how to treat the ladies they can be pretty absurd

 

[junebuggena]

That level of aggression, so early on, is not good. Boys that start showing such dominance, so young, usually get worse. The vast majority of cockerels that I've raised have not been any different than their sisters in temperament until they start to hit puberty. Even then, there are plenty of adults in the flock to beat manners into any cockerels that might get too big for their britches.

 

[jessmeagan]

That level of aggression, so early on, is not good. Boys that start showing such dominance, so young, usually get worse. The vast majority of cockerels that I've raised have not been any different than their sisters in temperament until they start to hit puberty. Even then, there are plenty of adults in the flock to beat manners into any cockerels that might get too big for their britches. 

That's what I was afraid of- we were shocked at how pushy 'she' was being and how fast the comb and wattle was coming in. When I noticed the feather grabbing today I knew I had to check, thank you for the info!!

I wouldn't want him to push around big bertha (senior Orpington) either since she's so gentle but huge. I'm glad I didn't wait for the crowing, it sounds like we would be in for some issues before it got to that point.

 

[jessmeagan]

that is a barred cochin cockerel the hens lay small brown eggs this one is starting to mature which is why you are getting the chest bumping and what not, in my experience with barred cochin roosters they can be pretty spunky and 2 of the 3 I've owned have become a little floggy as well. if you don't want roos then sell it I sold all 3 for 35 a piece when they were mature.

Good to know!! I don't think we will wait to find out, I'm not sure the attitude would ever get calmer since baby chicks are about as easy as they come. We definitely don't have an older rooster to show him the ropes and put him in his place. The only adult girl left is so gentle and has always fallen in the middle of the pecking order over the years of new flock members..I'd feel terrible if she got bullied. Did you sell yours on CL?

 

[Hillaire]

I sold mine through a farm swap group on fb I would suggest looking to see if there is any such group in your area. If not craigslist will work too

 

[cjperrault1]

...

We have 6 baby chicks that are about 4-5 weeks old. They are all starting to get most of their feathers. One of them is already growing the comb/wattle, she is a gray speckled feather footed (sorry I'm bad with breed names) and seems to be a major bully.

She started chest bumping and fly attacking the others about a week ago (which is adorable) but it's escalated to grabbing our 2 black girls by the neck feathers until they scream and run away. She also takes any of the girls choices to fly as an invitation to chase them down and fly at them in return. The stacked firewood is her preferred place to 'roost' through most of the day, like she's watching over the other girls and she often kicks them off her stick if they try and join her.

They are allowed outside in an enclosed run to explore all afternoon so boredom isn't the issue (I've also made the brooder into a playground of sorts with a roost stick, hanging CD's, and containers to climb on). All the girls seem to live in harmony except this one...I'm not sure but am thinking it's a possibility that she could actually be a he? Is there a way to know prior to the crowing? I'm not sure how to deal with it if she's actually just a bully...they are so young!

This is my first time raising them from babes, we only have one full grown girl left (Orpington) who is senior and we want to give her some company and get some egg laying girls back in the flock.[/quote DEFENTLY COCKEREL