Chick squabbling question

K0k0shka

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My chicks are 11 days old and yesterday some of them started "facing off" with each other in a way that made me suspicious and curious about whether it's a sign they might be roosters, or if all chicks squabble like that. It's a behavior I've seen in roosters, but then again, it's been a couple decades since I had chickens, and I don't remember all the details :lol: So what they do is they'll stand very tall facing each other, necks craned all the way up, beak to beak, and jump and flap their wings at each other, until one of them backs down. I've seen different pairs of chicks do this, not sure if all of them do. Is this a rooster behavior, or just ordinary pecking order establishing behavior that all chicks do? Is it possible to sex chicks by behavior? The tips and opinions I've read about sexing chicks are about looks, not really about behavior, at the younger ages before the clear sex-specific behaviors like crowing begin.
 
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All chicks will do it. It's partially for play and partially for learning how to assert themselves in the pecking order.
Ditto Dat.
Can happen more frequently when brooder is crowded.
 

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