5 week old rooster - fighting already??

[Smithyard Farm]

I have 8 chicks still in the brooder.. clearly I have at least 2 roos in there. their combs are way bigger and already turning red. One of them is fighting already with the other roo, and two of my EEs that I don't know if hen or roo yet. Will a roo seek out another roo at this age? or is he just picking on whomever is in his way? Mostly just curious if I have 4 roos..

thoughts?

 

[chooks4life]

In order to know how many males you have you'd need to post pics, but chances are they're the ones with the big crests. Females fight too.

It's like the babies of any species, if there is any play, there is generally play fighting too, and the females do it too. It's just life skills. Males will be fighting males when they grow up, and females will be fighting females, they both have hierarchies to sort out and maintain.

Best wishes.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

I was just curious due to their behavior. The EEs aren't old enough to tell yet. The box is becoming smaller and smaller every day as they get bigger.. hopefully they are just bored

 

[chooks4life]

I was just curious due to their behavior. The EEs aren't old enough to tell yet. The box is becoming smaller and smaller every day as they get bigger.. hopefully they are just bored

Hopefully it's not just boredom is what I'd say, because if they get aggressive with boredom you may have future killers who lash out when restricted or bored or whatever. Some hens you can rely on to turn into nasty bullies if they're caged and don't like it.

Normal youthful play is probably all it is. If they follow a non-combatant and peck at it though that's aggression and bullying, not playing games, and you may have some future troublemakers on your hands. Traits like featherpicking, cannibalism etc often show up in very young chicks. Giving them a larger area as soon as you're able, with more distractions, may help.

Best wishes.