3 roosters - 1 rooster = happy coop?

[Lauren4868]

Hello and thank you to anyone that reads this. I will try to make it short and sweet...
Up until this week I had a flock of 18 chickens, 3 were roosters.
My head rooster is an Easter Egger (4 yrs old) and the other 2 were Cochin brothers (3 yrs old). Everyone has gotten along very well over the years. My head rooster would chase the younger boys once in a while but that was always the extent of any 'bickering'.
A few days ago the 2 younger roosters started going after the head rooster and sparring with him. He gave up over time, changing the dynamics of the flock. I let this go one for a day or two but it was getting to the point where the head rooster submitted but the other two wouldnt let up. It was obvious that they wanted him dead.
I brought the injured head rooster inside and cleaned him up. He's been living in my garage for 4 days in an XL dog crate. He's doing great and very eager to get back into the coop.
I decided to cull one of the Cochin roosters because it was apparent that the 3 of them could not get along any longer and the 2 were ganging up and picking on my head rooster.
I would like to reintroduce my head rooster back into the flock. Is there a possibility that now with only 2 roosters, they will balance themselves out? And has anyone done this before?

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Poor guy! I would give it a shot, but watch them closely, especially for the first couple of days.
That being said, I have not had any experiences like this before.

 

[sourland]

Young roosters are always looking to depose the head roosters. It's all about the DNA. I would remove the remaining young rooster from the flock, reintroduce the senior rooster, wait a couple of weeks before reintroducing the young rooster. Expect fighting, but hopefully the old rooster can retain his position. Monitor closely.

 

[Lauren4868]

Poor guy! I would give it a shot, but watch them closely, especially for the first couple of days.
That being said, I have not had any experiences like this before.

Thank you for your reply! It's so upsetting that I've had a happy and balanced coop for so many years.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Of course! I understand that completely! My flock was just fine last year, until a broody hatched out too many roosters. Things got chaotic until I managed to sell the extras.

Thank you for your reply! It's so upsetting that I've had a happy and balanced coop for so many years.

 

[Lauren4868]

Young roosters are always looking to depose the head roosters. It's all about the DNA. I would remove the remaining young rooster from the flock, reintroduce the senior rooster, wait a couple of weeks before reintroducing the young rooster. Expect fighting, but hopefully the old rooster can retain his position. Monitor closely.

I thought about doing that but on a much smaller level... I was going to put the Cochin (younger fellow) in the crate inside of the run and let the head boy hang out with his ladies until nightfall. Once it was dark, I was going to put the Cochin back into the coop to sleep and hope that everyone got along better in the morning.
I think your idea is much better. Thank you so much!!!!!

 

[sourland]

The older rooster will need time to regain his mojo. Just as the presence of a dominant rooster results in lower testosterone level in subordinates, I think that a beatdown/deposing does the same thing to a once dominant rooster. Sometimes they never regain their confidence.

 

[Lauren4868]

I think you're right. I'm going to give that a try. I really would like to be able to keep both roosters. Fingers crossed!
I'll be sure to update in a few weeks.