Do Pullets and Cockerals Chest Bump EACH OTHER to Establish Pecking Order?

I don't think behavior in the brooder means much of anything other than that chickens are hard wired to establish a social order. I watched my first batch for many hours and worried about all of them being cockerels at some point. The one that actually was (sexed pullets so he was a whoops) was the one that hid in the corner while the toughest pullets duked it out!

Yours are a bit young yet for anything but a guess. With all of those single combs, it should be obvious by 8 weeks.
 
Yours are a bit young yet for anything but a guess. With all of those single combs, it should be obvious by 8 weeks.
Thanks so much Debid, this really helps a lot. One thing you mentioned was "with all those single combs, it should be obvious by 8 weeks." I'm pretty sure you said this because the cockerals will have combs that are more red and the pullets will be more yellow. Is this what you meant or is there more to it than this?

Thanks so much,
Guppy
 
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Thanks so much Debid, this really helps a lot.  One thing you mentioned was "with all those single combs, it should be obvious by 8 weeks."  I'm pretty sure you said this because the cockerals will have combs that are more red and the pullets will be more yellow.  Is this what you meant or is there more to it than this?

Thanks so much,
Guppy
i have 5 rirs that are 6 weeks old 3 roos and 3 hens and found that not only their combs turn large and red their tail feathers turn down not straight out like my hens do
 
They are really to young to tell but I'm just going to say.

your 2 Rocks are roosters. Size of head, comb.

YOur buff orp 1 is a rooster 2 and 3 are pullets.

Your Australorps 1 and 2 are pullets and 3 is a rooster.

YOur RIR 1 a rooster and 2 a rooster, maybe a pullet.

Your mystery breeds both look like pullets. I would say maybe a Copper Marans ( black one ) and the barred one just a nice mix.

Again this may all change. Just an early guess. So 6 roosters and 6 pullets. Wow.lol. half and half.
 
I too, am trying to figure out the chest bump stuff. I have 6 NH Red pullets that bump with my black (blue) Ameraucana, but don't with each other. So, I am not sure if the Am. is male or female. I can also relate to your dilemma with the little guy not doing well. I hatched 10 Cream Legbar chicks and based on the info I read, the males have a little yellow spot on their heads. Well, wouldn't you know, 7 of the 10 had yellow spots! I want to keep one, but what do I do with the rest! I hatched these babies, I can't feed them to the hawks! I am asking around and posting on Craigslist. Hoping for a good home for them! Good luck with your little guy!
 
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i have 5 rirs that are 6 weeks old 3 roos and 3 hens and found that not only their combs turn large and red their tail feathers turn down not straight out like my hens do

Thanks for the tips for the RIR, JKHenry. My 2 have very different tails so far, one short and the other long, which you can see in these pictures. My guess is one is a cockeral and the other is a pullet, not sure which is which so I'll look for the turn up/down difference. This will work, I was just hoping to get lucky and get one of each (vs both cockerals). Much thanks for your help.
 
They are really to young to tell but I'm just going to say.

your 2 Rocks are roosters. Size of head, comb.

YOur buff orp 1 is a rooster 2 and 3 are pullets.

Your Australorps 1 and 2 are pullets and 3 is a rooster.

YOur RIR 1 a rooster and 2 a rooster, maybe a pullet.

Your mystery breeds both look like pullets. I would say maybe a Copper Marans ( black one ) and the barred one just a nice mix.

Again this may all change. Just an early guess. So 6 roosters and 6 pullets. Wow.lol. half and half.

CluckCluckLuke (cute name, BTW), thanks for taking a stab at it! I'll take even just 5 pullets. Little MeMe is getting weaker by the day so I have to count her/him out. Poor little thing... Thanks again, much appreciated.
 
CluckCluckLuke (cute name, BTW), thanks for taking a stab at it! I'll take even just 5 pullets. Little MeMe is getting weaker by the day so I have to count her/him out. Poor little thing... Thanks again, much appreciated.

smile.png
Thanks. Your welcome. I could definitely tell you when they are older. Hope MeMe gets better. Might want to try some Vitamin Supplements. I am not sure where to get them from but you could ask about.
Oh I just read your little post about her. Does her poo look alright?
She may have cocci!
I would keep her separated and of and dirt. Keep her of the ground on something that can either be cleaned or disposed of.

Again, your very welcome.
 
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I too, am trying to figure out the chest bump stuff. I have 6 NH Red pullets that bump with my black (blue) Ameraucana, but don't with each other. So, I am not sure if the Am. is male or female. I can also relate to your dilemma with the little guy not doing well. I hatched 10 Cream Legbar chicks and based on the info I read, the males have a little yellow spot on their heads. Well, wouldn't you know, 7 of the 10 had yellow spots! I want to keep one, but what do I do with the rest! I hatched these babies, I can't feed them to the hawks! I am asking around and posting on Craigslist. Hoping for a good home for them! Good luck with your little guy!

Hi SullyD, I probably should clarify that the roos I can't keep, I would like to try to place to real homes. Those I can't place, I'm going to try to prepare for the table. I say try because I am the type to catch wasps and spiders and let them go outside. Although I'm a vegetarian, my husband eats meat, including chicken. We've all seen the news/documentaries on the horrible conditions table chickens experience before they become meat we buy at the grocery store. I know I will raise my roos more humanly than those were treated. So, at this moment, I hope to have the roos I can't keep or place feed my family. We'll see if I can follow through when the time comes. I don't know if I can actually do it... but like with all things, time will tell.

Little MeMe is another issue all together. I can't get him to grow and he's starting to get hurt/bumped/feathers broken by the other chicks. He's miserable, peeps/cries nearly all the time. He likes his food so I feed him separately to make sure he gets all that he wants and isn't hurt in the food rush. But he's never going to feather out enough to go into the coop. If he was happy and just small, I'd keep him in the house for as long as it takes but he cries because he feels bad for some reason. He even tries to crawl under the other chicks, as if they were his mother hen. I'm at a loss. And for all I know, he's got something the other chicks can catch but at this point, I don't think so. But I'm not sure, I don't have enough experience at this point to know anything for sure! Feeding him to a hawk is just a way for me to a) let his life and death provide value to another creature and b) not have to kill him myself. How to feed him to a hawk? Sheesh, heck if I know. Poor little thing would die of exposure if I just put him outside. He's no bigger than a week old chick at best. Sigh.... what to do, what to do.

One thing about your Legbar chicks. I did a ton of research trying to figure out what sexing techniques really work for each of my breeds. That's how I know with pretty good certainty that my 2 Barred Rocks are roos. This forum is great for searching for things like this, especially because these folks here often post pictures and you can start seeing were multiple experienced people say the same thing. So, maybe the little yellow spot means a male but maybe that's just one person's view that's not true. I bet you probably already did this but make sure you have lots of people saying the same thing.

Let me know how the rooster placement goes so I can use it if it works. We are so far out in the sticks we don't even have a Craigslist for our area. I would have to find another way to reach people who truly need a rooster to watch over their hens.

Thanks,
Guppy
 
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Thanks. Your welcome. I could definitely tell you when they are older. Hope MeMe gets better. Might want to try some Vitamin Supplements. I am not sure where to get them from but you could ask about.
Oh I just read your little post about her. Does her poo look alright?
She may have cocci!
I would keep her separated and of and dirt. Keep her of the ground on something that can either be cleaned or disposed of.

Again, your very welcome.

Hi CluckCluckLuke, I don't think it's cocci and here's why but see what you think. MeMe's poo is fine, really good, actually. No runny-ness, no blood, just good looking chicken poo. She eats a lot, drinks enough. I just looked in on them and there she was at the feeder munching away. I also feed them chicken, eggs, lettuce, meal worms, oats, she eats it all and quite a bit of it. I think she's not digesting her food perhaps because she sleeps alot and when she's awake, peeps most of the time. I added probiotics to the water but no effect. The brooder is warm (85+ F) which is too hot for the other chicks, actually.

So, I don't think it's cocci, based on the research because she's been like this for well over a week and hasn't gotten any better or worse. Maybe she was not completely developed when she hatched. I wish I could figure it out. I even tried turning off the light (when it was warm enough) to see if it was light sensitivity. I'm just at a loss. Maybe her digestive system is just not fully developed. Wish I knew... sigh.

What do you think? Does this give you (or anyone else) any ideas?
Guppy
 

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