Is it normal for 5 week old chicks to fight?

[debid]

No, that doesn't sound normal unless you have two early-blooming cockerels both wanting to be alpha. If they are early-bloomers, you should be seeing comb growth.

Now, I will add that some of my pullets have been drama queens. They screech like they're dying over just about anything and almost nothing. But if you're seeing feather-pulling and full blown attacks, something is amiss.

 

[Robert DeTar]

The way i was told to tell a chickens sex is to hold them up by there body and if there legs hang down there male if they pull them up then there pullets so you can tell the sex now

 

[Vasili]

my seabrights are about 5weeks old too. I have 8 of them. theyre fighting like crazy and sometimes it is two chicks biting on the head of one chick. ive had to break them up even. the worst offender, oddly enough, appears to be female. I've tried putting her in timeout for hours and she yells and chirps the whole **** time. when I put her back in after her stint in the shoe she goes right back to attacking other birds.

 

[smhoekzema]

Tha

The way i was told to tell a chickens sex is to hold them up by there body and if there legs hang down there male if they pull them up  then there pullets  so you can tell the sex now

That is an old wives tale!

 

[Beer can]

you might have sworn that it was two cockerels by the way they were carrying on.  Girls can fight dirty too, even fully grown layers.

We gave a young RIRed rooster to a friend of my fathers when I was a kid, he hadn't had a roo in a while. The boss hen fought him hard, just like a roo, I thought she was going to kill him. He ended up winning, but I wouldn't have put any bets on him the way it started.

Chickens can be mean, let them sort it out. They eventually learn there place.
I usualy figure out which ones are roos when they start crowing, haha Lol!

 

[Beer can]

I orderd three differn't breeds and some roos. If I had to think the most agressive, mean chick was a roo in my last batch I would have thought it was the one that looked like a little owl, it beat on all of them when they were in the box. Now that they are almost full grown that little owl is the calmest most docile, friendliest Easter Egger pullet I have.

 

[really4me]

So, my bigger and more aggressive Barred Rock might be a Roo? THey were all pullets and this one is bumping chests, flapping wings, and just randomly picking on the black sex link and Lace wing the same age. I separated the 1 week Leghorn and Silky from the 3 because of size their size. Should I have done that and what is the best way to house these growing girls? I have a long box right now that a trampoline came in. The other 2 smaller and younger are in the largest plastic crate I had next to it. HELP! I'm almost ready to take the Barred Rock somewhere, but she or he is getting feathers and they are so pretty.

 

[Selsley]

It is normal for young chicks to fight. They are probably just establishing the pecking order. That one roo you mentioned may turn out to be aggressive so, I would keep an eye on him! Good luck with your chicks!!!

i wanted to ask the same question, our chicks are 4 weeks old and been outside for 3weeks,
after reading it is normal, as i assumed it was, i agree that rooster could be a problem.
when ours fight they fly at each other, jump about with feet forward performing a bit of kung fu, then both bow to each other doing the hard stare, eventually one walks away while the other holds its posture.. fight over, i 1st saw this about 3 days ago, they are all sibling araucana and they are already spreading about the garden doing their own thing. although they still hang out with mum half the time.

 

[Selsley]

The way i was told to tell a chickens sex is to hold them up by there body and if there legs hang down there male if they pull them up then there pullets so you can tell the sex now

if you give them a little shake the male will rattle