dancing??

[Hazelnut]

I have five 9-week old chicks, and this morning when I let them out, I noticed that my two australorps were doing a sort of tango dance. They were facing opposite each other with their necks pressed against the other's and were spinning in a fast , start and stop rhythm. There was also a lot bawk-gawking involved too. It went on for some time and once in a while one of them would try to get under the other one. I have seen a lot of playing before but nothing like this. Can anyone explain what they were doing? Is it a dominance game? Is one of them (or both) roosters?

(edited to fix goofy spelling)

 

[RendonRoo]

My pullets joined in the chest bumping game at that age. It is most likely early pecking order stuff. LOL. Fun to watch.

 

[Uppity Peon]

I haven't seen mine do quite that....

But one will sometimes run up to another one and do a karate jump kick to see if it can back the other one down. But the sparring never lasts more than a second or two. Any chicken that is out in the middle of the run seems to be fair game for a little challenge.

 

[Hazelnut]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad it's not some kind of rooster dance. I have seen them do the sparring and kicking but this was definitely different. Almost like some formal ritual. But I re-homed a cockerel two weeks ago, so you're probably right, they are just probably working out some pecking order stuff. It was pretty funny though!