Chick behavior

[Ac7941]

I just brought home 4 baby chicks- they are 5 days old today. I have one buff Orpington, 2 Welsummers, and 1 Barnevelder.

The Barnevelder seems to be the alpha chick - in fact I’m slightly concerned that she’s a rooster. She is very bold, pecks at the other chicks, and is constantly at the feeder picking at the feed. She kicks out a ton of feed and seems to constantly be eating or moving, and I’ve caught her pecking at the other chicks a few times now.

Is this normal alpha chick behavior, does it have to do with her breed, or is she possibly a roo? I know only time will able to be certain if she’s actually a he or not, but was wondering what others thought.

thanks!
anne

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The kicking food out is just a chicken thing and some breeds are better "free-rangers" than others, I always feel those breeds have way more fun kicking their feed around, lol. As far as the chick pecking at the others, is it going for the eyes, toes, or just pecking in general? If it's going for eyes or toes this is sometimes an immature chick not knowing the difference between food and flock mate, this usually goes away quite early. They will occasionally play at pecking order while they're young as well. None of those things determine gender though, young pullets will even face off and bounce in front of each other like you would only think two cockerels would do. Some breeds are just spunkier than others.

 

[Ac7941]

The kicking food out is just a chicken thing and some breeds are better "free-rangers" than others, I always feel those breeds have way more fun kicking their feed around, lol. As far as the chick pecking at the others, is it going for the eyes, toes, or just pecking in general? If it's going for eyes or toes this is sometimes an immature chick not knowing the difference between food and flock mate, this usually goes away quite early. They will occasionally play at pecking order while they're young as well. None of those things determine gender though, young pullets will even face off and bounce in front of each other like you would only think two cockerels would do. Some breeds are just spunkier than others.

She/he is going for the beaks, wing area, and backs of the other chicks, so I guess pecking in general? I haven't seen her go for eyes and toes yet. She is definitely the most high strung out of the four and most active. I thought Barnevelders were calmer, so I wasn't sure if this was establishing pecking order or maybe more aggression...