Will a rooster know which chicks are male?

[purplesquirrel]

I have 2 x five week old chicks, pretty sure one is female and the other one is male.

I let them out on the lawn the other day in their run, and they managed to escape for about 5 minutes (after I chased them around the garden) my other chickens were out, including my rooster.
All the chickens momentarily chased the two chicks, but my cockerel managed to give one of the chicks a big peck on the back. He was fine, just really startled...3 days later, it's obvious that the chick is a roo; face has gone pink, comb bigger and red etc..

My question is, did my rooster attack the chick because it was just the closest one to him in the chase? Or do you think he knew that this chick is a possible young competitor??

Surely chickens know which chicks are male or female???

 

[Tricoglossus]

Yes I am sure they know. It may have been a coincidence that your rooster happened to peck the male chick, but there is no way of knowing for sure what the rooster's intentions were - i.e. pecking at a stranger that is not in the flock or pecking another subordinate male chicken to put it in it's place.

 

[purplesquirrel]

He's definitely a little boy, but I want to know what the other is. I don't want anymore cockerels!!