2 roosters keep going at it....fight till the death?

[Stegs]

Ill start out by saying, i dont want either dead, but these 2 guys, young birds are full of piss and vinegar...and i dont want to get in the middle of it


Little back ground. I got chickens (from chicks) this spring. I ended up with 4 roosters, but sold 3. The rooster i kept is a isa brown. He is a beautiful rooster, but in the last month he has turned into a little pain in the butt.

He is fine if i face him, but as soon as i turn my back, he comes at me and starts attacking......believe me i was seconds away from saying enough is enough and doing what i had to do


Now, a few days ago i took in 5 more chickens from a lady that was moving and couldnt keep them

I got 2 brahmas, 1 barnevelder, 1 americauna and a cuckoo maran rooster.

All birds i got from here and the ones i had previous were all chicks this spring...so they are the same age



Anyway, i took them home, put them in 2 dog crates, and put the crates in the run. I figured it was a safe way for everyone to meet without hurting each other


I left them in there for 3 hours, until i let them out into the run

everyone was fine, a few hens did a quick peck but for the most part they stayed apart and got use to eachother


Well they went into the coop fine together tuesday night, i come home yesterday from work (wed) and both rooster look like they got the **** beat out of them. Obviously a fight broke out between the 2


Now today, to give them the most room, i opened the door to the run and let them wander my acres. My wife calls me this morning and said the roosters are fighting again, what can i do?


I told dont get in the middle, let them solve there issues.....They have 3 acres to roam, plenty of room to get away and have space, but they want to fight it out


Any tips or just let them be chickens and resolve it?

again, i dont want to kill either one, and i know if i gave it away it would be killed and go for soup.


Should i let them hash it out, and if one dies thats nature? Ideally i want to keep both, but i think when i get home today it will be ugly


any suggestions?

 

[Pork Pie]

Ill start out by saying, i dont want either dead, but these 2 guys, young birds are full of piss and vinegar...and i dont want to get in the middle of it


Little back ground. I got chickens (from chicks) this spring. I ended up with 4 roosters, but sold 3. The rooster i kept is a isa brown. He is a beautiful rooster, but in the last month he has turned into a little pain in the butt.

He is fine if i face him, but as soon as i turn my back, he comes at me and starts attacking......believe me i was seconds away from saying enough is enough and doing what i had to do


Now, a few days ago i took in 5 more chickens from a lady that was moving and couldnt keep them

I got 2 brahmas, 1 barnevelder, 1 americauna and a cuckoo maran rooster.

All birds i got from here and the ones i had previous were all chicks this spring...so they are the same age



Anyway, i took them home, put them in 2 dog crates, and put the crates in the run. I figured it was a safe way for everyone to meet without hurting each other


I left them in there for 3 hours, until i let them out into the run

everyone was fine, a few hens did a quick peck but for the most part they stayed apart and got use to eachother


Well they went into the coop fine together tuesday night, i come home yesterday from work (wed) and both rooster look like they got the **** beat out of them. Obviously a fight broke out between the 2


Now today, to give them the most room, i opened the door to the run and let them wander my acres. My wife calls me this morning and said the roosters are fighting again, what can i do?


I told dont get in the middle, let them solve there issues.....They have 3 acres to roam, plenty of room to get away and have space, but they want to fight it out


Any tips or just let them be chickens and resolve it?

again, i dont want to kill either one, and i know if i gave it away it would be killed and go for soup.


Should i let them hash it out, and if one dies thats nature? Ideally i want to keep both, but i think when i get home today it will be ugly


any suggestions?

Managing cockerels is something that may be worth reading up on. Whilst some are just plain nasty, I believe that the way in which we act around them has a lot to do with human aggression.

Not sure how many pullets you have, but what is your end game in keeping two males?

I've had two 3.5 months old brothers beat the living daylights out of each other - to the extent that i killed them both that same day. Maybe keeping one male separate for a few months may help.

 

[Stegs]

i have no plan for them.

I was told to keep a rooster because he will protect the hens (which i have 13)


I dont need them, i just know that if i give them away, they will be soup for someone.


My hope is that they get along, live a happy life together and everything will work out. But im thinking that these 2 are beating eachother up so bad that 1 will come out winner, and the other badly hurt or dead.


Again, they have plenty of room to roam, but they are persistant in getting in eachothers face.


Ill see what the outcome is, but i may have to kill one.......if one isnt dead

 

[Pork Pie]

In my experience, roosrers are good alarm callers but thats about where it ends (and an alpha hen will often do the same). Either way, good luck

 

[FarmerTony]

Cockerel aggression towards each other is normal. Just observe, do not interfere. By interfering you have made yourself a target. They now see you as competition, rather than as 'farmer'. Let chickens be chickens. Unless you have a cockerel or a hen going after biddies , not just setting the pecking order, but chasing them, in which case its time to cull that chicken.

Since the problem already exists, its time to set the pecking order. Next time the rooster charges you try to grab it and chase it until it breaks into a full out panic run. After that you shouldn't have any problems as long as you don't interfere with any more. Avoid petting the hens too, the roosters see this as mating behavior.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

You don't need a rooster for protection. My top hen beats my rooster down all the time. In my experience, hens are happier without roos to pester them.

Ultimately... I would never introduce birds without quarantine, even from the same place.

Also, had you employed a longer look but don't touch period, it MIGHT be a little less intense right now.

So, are you telling me you don't eat chicken? Many people (myself included) will humanely cull a rooster before freezer camp. They will never even feel the slice across the throat before they pass out. We have all cut our finger, no big deal right? As opposed to taking a beating from the other rooster and being stressed out, I bet he feels that every day!

I understand if you can't personally do it, but we all have to eat and that is the circle of life. The life the market birds live before we get them is horrific, are you putting those on your plate? No judgement, just trying to open your mind to see that the soup pot is OK even though we have seen the birds before they were on our plate doesn't make it any grosser or sadder (technically). I do realize the emotion though. And if you might have to kill one anyways... let it feed a family instead of dying in vain.

I keep roos for breeding.... but truly KNOW my girls would be happier without them.... They run to me to get away. I would consider letting them both go. You have no obligation to your neighbor and did your best.

If you do keep them both, put them in pens side by side for a while so they can work it out through the fence a little before contact. Also, a dog crate (depending on type) might not have quite enough visual interaction to be effective. Most people do this for a couple weeks minimum. Chickens can be very brutal.

Good luck!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Cockerel aggression towards each other is normal. Just observe, do not interfere. By interfering you have made yourself a target. They now see you as competition, rather than as 'farmer'. Let chickens be chickens. Unless you have a cockerel or a hen going after biddies , not just setting the pecking order, but chasing them, in which case its time to cull that chicken.

Since the problem already exists, its time to set the pecking order. Next time the rooster charges you try to grab it and chase it until it breaks into a full out panic run. After that you shouldn't have any problems as long as you don't interfere with any more. Avoid petting the hens too, the roosters see this as mating behavior.

Oh ya, that's a whole other can of worms! Human aggression is not tolerated. Good advice to chase the rooster and let him know you are cock of the walk. But.... I WILL pet my hens all day long and even go knock the rooster off the hen sometimes! Chicken meet pot... if he don't like it.

There are good roosters. If you want to have one, I suggest you cull (just means eliminate in whatever manner) until you find one that meets your needs. Cockerels are hard to judge since they don't know how to treat the ladies yet.... but I won't have a bird that I can't turn my back on, life is too short.

 

[Stegs]

thanks for the tips, sounds like most of you agree that its basically "let chickens be chickens" which is what i was thinking also


I stopped home on my lunch to see how bad the damage was. The new rooster was there, didnt look to bad....looks like leftover from yesterdays fight

I couldnt however find my isa brown that ive had since a chick.


I dont know where he was, he sticks out like crazy being all white. There wasnt a sign of him, not even a crow like he normally does when im around


Maybe he wandered off to die? maybe he is hiding from the new rooster?


Maybe my rooster problem solved itself?


I dont know where he was, but i will say this......the hens are doing fine around eachother. They still roam the yard in seperate groups, but for the most part they get along.


The new rooster seems good around me and the hens. No issues as of yet.....but i think your right....hens would probably be happier without a rooster around,....maybe its time to put them in the freezer and let me hens be happy

 

[aart]

I'd put at least one in the freezer, or keep it in the crate until you decide.......or maybe the Marans took care of it for you.

 

[lazy gardener]

2 roos is definitely not a good thing. Your ISA was human aggressive. I'd introduce him to the stock pot and give the other one a shot at being flock master. If he can't behave himself, there's always room in the freezer. IMO, better to humanely dispatch one or both roosters than letting them beat the crap out of each other, perhaps fighting to death.