New Bantam Chicks chest bumping and dancing at eachother? Breed type?

[bantambabe1]

I have had my new bantam straight run chicks for about 3 weeks now. I purposely picked out all different kinds so am interested in what anyone thinks they might be. But also, I notice several of them dance around eachother, peck at eachother and chest bump in a sort of macho show-down. Is this rooster behavior or do both sexes do it?

If anyone knows what these might be, I am welcome to interpretations...lol

1 started out jet black, now black with a grey stripe from throat to stomach, black feet, eyes and beak This one is "Raven", he is laid back, very intelligent and the others rarely bother him. Already a good flyer and loves human company.
1 started out black and yellow with furry feet, feet are now completely covered in black and white speckled feathers. Wings are black with white tips, beak is black and yellow and eyes are smoky blue. He is huge and sits alot.
His body heat is about 3 times hotter than the others. Very laid back unless eating or chest bumping. We've named him "Sumo" because he is huge and 2-3 times the size of the others.
1 is pure white with feathery feet, yellow legs and beak and gold eyes and puffs of feathers under the eyes. This one is not nearly as fat and fluffy as the one above and it's feet are not covered as much. We've named this one "S.B." for sh#$%y britches because he kept pasting up until he figured out how to squat. His personality is a riot, he is jealous and extremely curious and is continually craning his neck and head to look at what you are doing. He will jump on the others to get them away from you so he can get all the attention.
1 started out silky orange/yellow but is now yellow with black flecks on her feathers and tail, gold eyes and beak and bluish legs. This is "Goldilocks". Sort of smart and demure...
1 is tan and brown with no eyeliner, this is "Gwen"
1 is tan and dark brown with eyeliner and dark racing stripes down the back (a Welsummer or Easter Egger maybe?), this is "Runt". He is the smallest but makes up for it in ferocity and takes on Sumo in chest bumping contests constantly. It is a riot.

Also, these are my first chickens. Are there major differences between bantams and chickens that I should know about? For instance, I'm not sure how many weeks old they should be when they can be moved outside.

 

[Tamrajh]

Don't know about any of your questions, but I can tell you pictures of your babies would definitely help in identifying them.
Congratulations on your first batch!

 

[WildWalker]

The chest bumping you're noticing is normal sparring, usually between roosters - though two of my babies that I suspect to be hens have done it too if one of the roos gets in their face. When they do this, do they stand up their little neck feathers? When one of them ducks and turns away does it stop? All they're doing is establishing a pecking order, which is perfectly normal for chickens. I would only intervene if it gets too rowdy where they might get hurt, which rarely seems to happen when they're young. If they're older birds and getting too rowdy I would consider separating them to give eachother space.

Pics and an age estimate would definitely help with the ID, as well as where they came from - I'm no expert but I think at least one of the ones you listed might be a crossbreed. Pay in mind that the younger they are, the more their feathering might change as they grow/molt. One of my babies started out as a white chick, sprouted tan/black flecked feathers and then molted into red/blue feathers - odd, isn't it?

Raven - I've no clue what it is.

Sumo - If it has yellow feet I want to say its a Mottled Cochin.

S.B. - feathered legs and a muff or beard as they call it makes me think that this one might be a Porcelain D'uccle or maybe a Brahma - though brahmas usually have darker sections of feathers on the neck, rump and feet I think.

Gwen and Runt - these two may well be EE's I would check their leg color - if it has a green or slate/blue tinge I would say they're EE's or Ameraucunas.

 

[elmo]

All of my bantams chest bumped, and only one turned out to be a rooster.

You treat bantams the same way as you'd treat a standard chicken, with the possible exception that if they're very small, pellets that standard chickens eat might be too big for them, as well as typical scratch. Instead of scratch, I offer a seed mix for doves.

 

[bantambabe1]

Thanks so much for the info. My husband is laughing at me and says I am now "obsessed". I'll see if we can't upload some pics. They are now approx. 23 days old. I got them from the Tractor Supply Store in Knightdale, NC and all it said was mixed straight run bantams. Don't know if mixed meant they were not a particular breed or if it just meant several types of breeds were in the lot.

Almost all of them will chest bump except for Raven. He (or she) seems to be the leader, calm, cool, collected, but that seems to be changing as well as Sumo and S.B. seem to be vying for it as well. The two that chest bump almost constantly are Runt and Sumo which is a riot given their sizes are the two opposite ends of the spectrum. On Runt and Gwen, Runt has the grey/blue feet and Gwen has yellow feet, although their markings are very similar. Sumo's feet are yellow but completely covered with black and white flecked feathers. His beak is also black and yellow. I worry about his size. He is the only one who cannot fly to the edge of the large plastic storage bin I have them in as a brooder and he sits constantly. S.B.'s feet are yellow, Raven's are black, and Goldielock's are sort of yellowish/bluish.

Also, any good places to look for simple and inexpensive coop/pen plans to build? I have just been laid off after 27 years with the same company (when I went out for knee surgery!!!! Go figure...) so we are watching our pennies now. I had bought a temporary coop when I bought the chicks, it serves as either a rabbit hutch/chicken coop, not very Winter proof but our Winters are relatively mild in NC. I'm more worried about predators, it does have the heavy gauge wire (not chicken wire) and a wire front with a wire bottom and then a droppings tray that comes out for cleaning. Has an "egg door" on the back where I guess a nesting box could be attached. Says it is big enough for 3 hens or 6 bantams. At this point, not sure how many hens vs rooster bantams I will have (or even if they all will BE bantams considered they were mixed but I did pick out the very smallest so I guess we'll see) so it should be large enough for now. I have some scrap lumber from tearing down our deck etc as well that could be put to use and some cinderblocks. I thought about putting the coop on top of our picnic table to elevate it's height so I wouldn't have to bend to clean it. It is on stilts now and stands around 3-4 feet tall. I saw a picture on byc coops where someone had the exact same coop and simply put it inside a dog kennel fence. I suppose that is an option but I'd still have to dig down wire all around and wire the run with smaller gauge wire and a roof. So any thoughts in this area are appreciated as well.

As for Runt and Sumo, when they get out of hand, I stick my hand between them and they calm down, but generally, when one will back down, it stops, only to start back up again a short while later. It is funny now but I imagine it would not be if they were grown. For all the bickering they do, they seem bonded. If I take Sumo out in my hand, Runt starts screeching loudly. (Feisty but still the baby!)