Bachelor pad fighting

[Erikalpowers]

I have a bachelor pad for 2 roosters. They were chicks together. One is a frizzle EE & the other a blue Orpington.
They have been in their pad for a few months now and as of yesterday are now fighting. Combs and wattles have nicks with dried blood.
They are about 7 months old. Is the recent fighting age and hormone related?
What can I do to help?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Separate them would be the best thing I can think of.

 

[3KillerBs]

You'll need to separate them.

It's called "Cockfighting" for a reason -- many males simply will not tolerate other males and will fight for dominance. You're right at a prime age for that behavior.

 

[Mrs. K]

It may settle if they worked it out, but there is a bigger chance that they will fight again, a good chance that the fights will become more and more violent.

Bachelor Pads are often tooted as a solution for keeping multiple roosters alive...but it is not the perfect solution, and even with just roosters, some birds will not work it out.

As you are finding out, once in to puberty and maturity, having been raised together has almost no effect on chicken behavior.

Mrs k

 

[gimmie birdies]

Make bachelor pads away from the hens pen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are about 7 months old. Is the recent fighting age and hormone related?

Most likely. Cockerels mature at different rates. It's likely one was more mature and was dominant and the other just matured to the point he wants to challenge for the dominant position. They were fine for months, it is likely maturity levels is what changed.

What can I do to help?

It depends on their personalities, how badly they are actually being injured, and how much room they have. It is possible they will work it out but it is also possible they won't before one is seriously injured or dead.

Do they have enough room so that if one is losing a fight he can run away and get away? Some will fight to the death but very often if one can get away the fighting stops. There can be repeated fights but they may reach an accommodation and actually get along. If girls are involved that may mean an area big enough that they each set up a territory and have their own harem. If it is only boys they can usually hang to together. But each flock is unique, each chicken has its own personality. You never know for sure how it will work out.

One thing you might try is to give them more room if you can. Or you can maybe improve the quality of what room you have by adding clutter. Just like in integration, clutter gives them places to hide under, behind, or over. And have two different food and water stations not in line of sight of each other.

I've never had a problem where the boys can see the girls but some people say they have. So block line of sight to the girls and see if that makes a difference. It certainly could.

Let it go and see what happens. It is possible they will work it out as is, but it is also possible one could get seriously injured or killed.

You could house them separately but where they can see each other until the hormones settle down, then try again. The "see but don't touch" used in regular integration. That's basically what you are doing, integrating. Sometimes trying to integrate two or more hens together just doesn't work out. Since you are dealing with living animals nothing is ever 100%.