Does "fighting" mean a roo?

[FombellClucks]

Okay so our cute little chicks are now 4-5 weeks old and we couldn't be happier with them except..... Out of 20 of them I think (as a newbie to chickens) that 10 or 11 are roosters? What are the chances? Before my children (and I) become even more attached to them, Does "fighting" mean it's a rooster? I mean standing face to face and looking each other up and down? Or jumping on top of each other? And is it possible for more than one rooster to live together? I am just sick over this - I REALLY don't want half to be roosters - they are all so friendly with us. When will they start crowing so I can know for sure or is there something else that I can look for? All of them had slow growing tail feathers but not all have "bigger" (is it) crowns? (sorry the name just left me) Thanks for any help!

 

[NanaLantana]

The 'fighting' you describe is just natural chicken behavior, all hens do it as well. Usually the boldest one, with the tallest neck, gets to be the boss of the others! They will do this for many months, just sit back and enjoy the antics! If they're all the same age, they will hardly ever hurt each other, it's just a chicken game. After the 'fighting' stops, they forget all about it in about 2 seconds! Chickens are very funny to watch - don't take them seriously unless you see blood - - - -- -

 

[sourland]

If you bought straight run chicks, chances are that 50% or more will be cockerels. The activity you describe is play fighting and is common to both pullets and cockerels. Their "crowns" are more commonly called combs. Crowns are for royalty.

 

[NanaLantana]

Oh - and about the crowing - mine are almost 5 months old, and my little rooster tried to crow, I think, two days ago. It sounded so awful, I think he got embarrassed! Hasn't tried it again yet. Sometimes you can tell by the comb, sometimes not. Depends on the breed, etc. Just enjoy them, and wait and see. You'll know for sure when they either crow or lay eggs! Sounds like you and your family are really enjoying your new chicken venture. I'd say you're very brave to start with 20 chicks! Happy chicken raising

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Maybe you have Friday's royal wedding in your head interfering with your vocabulary

Male and female chicks will "spar" as they sort out the pecking order...

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Whew, I'm glad you said that b/c about five of my chicks are exhibiting those behaviors and I have never seen it in any of my 7 or 8 batches of chx, even among those with known roos.

 

[FombellClucks]

Sorry about the "crowns" comment I couldn't get the right word in my head..combs, I've got it now! Glad to know that they might not all be roos that are sparring. As for me being "brave" at starting out with 20 THAT was a fluke. My husband and I only wanted 6-8. I decided if we were going to have chickens we were going to hatch them ourselves. Enjoy the WHOLE experience! So when I contacted people for eggs they were willing to sell us a dozen or more for a cheap price - so me not knowing how many would hatch I took them up on it. We had 35 eggs but only 10 hatched out and my son wanted get get 5 more since certain ones didn't hatch. (And using chicken math I figured we HAD 35 eggs and since only 10 hatched we deserved more) So we went back to one of the ladies that sold us some eggs and she just kept giving my son more eggs so we ended up bringing home 10 more. (It's the whole chicken math thing I figured) So now I'm just trying to figure out how many could be roos, as I may have to add more to "replace" those that we can't keep.

I mean since we're building a coop for 20 now.

So how do I know or at what age will I know from the comb that they are roosters??? They are BO, EE and the 2 of them crossed. I give up being able to figure out the 3 silkies I have...they aren't leaving no matter WHAT anyway!!!

Some have a little taller combs and others don't seem to have any type of comb..it's much flatter.

 

[Whiskey Bay]

The most dominant chick in my pen right now is a pullet.I was sorting through my colored Orp babies the other day putting the larger on the ground for growout and every new one I dropped she ran over and "Hey you!,just letting you know I"M boss in here...keep a tight line and we'll have no problems..." ...lolThen she'd run back over and stand next to me waiting for the next one...lol... All these she grew up with in the brooder...lol.... or maybe she was telling them I was HER human and make sure you remember that....lol...Since she is so taken to me.

 

[lotzahenz]

I love how your chicken math kicked in. And, 20 birds, that is nothing!

you'll find you just need more coops in the future. I have hens that are always fighting, and they carry on like the roosters do. Finally the ole Roo will go break it up but they get quite mean, pulling feathers and pecking and chest bumping. About Silkies, they so get in your heart, but the Roos I have had finally got past the "keep him no matter what" stage, so were finally were culled. It's the sweet little hens that you cannot help but want to keep in the house and give a doggie bed to for resting. My silkie roos got a little cocky once they grew up. Fast little buggers too, will breed every hen on the farm if you let him.

 

[teach1rusl]

I'd post pictures of your little gang in the gender/breeds section to help ID the sex. EEs are generally harder to sex as chicks, because thier combs aren't prominant, but someone may be able to give you an educated guess