Chicks jumping on each other

[sillyredhen]

Hey there!

I am new to this forum, and I am already loving all of the info. This is more of a question born of curiousity. What is up with my six 2-week-old Rhode Island Reds jumping on each other all of the time? They don't seem to be hurting each other, so I am not concerned. Is this normal chick behavior? Are they establishing their pecking order at this tender age? lol I thought they were just stretching their wings and trying to fly, but it looks pretty intentional.

We had older chickens for about a year until we had a very tragic incident with a raccoon. The raccoon was taken care of, The raccoon never actually got into the coop, but he was terrorizing them at night trying to get in and they stopped going in their coop at night. We have 20 acres and they were free range. The raccoon picked them off one by one each night. It was terrible. We got the chickens from someone who could no longer care for them. They were older and pretty skittish. We are hoping that by hand raising these little girls, we can have an easier time keeping them safe.

The little chicks that we have now are already starting to recognize me and react differently when I come up to their box (as opposed to the rest of my family). It's neat how smart chickens are.

 

[Judy]

It's probably just play and boredom along with pecking order. They want to go outdoors and scratch and peck, I imagine.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Wait til you see them bump and grind for the top rung of the roost one day!!!

They love to run and jump on anyone who is calmly sleeping. It's quite intentional and no apologies are ever offered, as far as I can tell.

 

[suebee]

It's called sparring and very common with young chicks. They're just monkeying around. Sometimes they can get a bit too aggressive but mostly it's just normal play.

 

[TheMainException]

Quote:
Yea, my run around flapping their wings violently and then they go face to face moving up and down and mirroring each other. They jump at each other with their feet and look hilarious. Within a few seconds, they get bored and are on to scratching or eating. It's so funny to watch tho!

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Quote:
Yea, my run around flapping their wings violently and then they go face to face moving up and down and mirroring each other. They jump at each other with their feet and look hilarious. Within a few seconds, they get bored and are on to scratching or eating. It's so funny to watch tho!

Ditto
They seem to do this comical behavior most when they seem very happy and excited to be out roaming the yard... so I can relate to this positively

 

[snazzyboots]

mine do the same thing. i could watch for hours. they get bored before i do

 

[Fldeb]

There will be two or three sleeping in the corner and another will walk right over them to lay down and snuggle between them. They are so funny to watch! I never though they would be so entertaining.

 

[sillyredhen]

Thank you for the responses! That is funny that you mentioned them being excited outside. I took them outside for the second time today and they were jumping on each other like crazy. lol It is pretty entertaining to watch.

 

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

My 4 week olds refuse to walk around each other, and choose just to use the others as a stepping stone. Every time they do that, the one getting stepped on let's out a scream, but all is well. It's kind of amusing.
Don't they have any respect for each other???