6 Week old banty roos fighting

[BirdBrained]

I have 7 banty babies GS that hatched out 6 weeks ago,3 roos and 4 hens,yesterday the roos decided to establish dominance and fought for a while,this may be normal to some degree but when I got home and saw them(I was at work,my son called me) it appeared to be fairly brutal.All 3 were bloody and one bleeding quite a bit above his eye.My question is,is this comman and do I need to seperate them or is it just sibling rivalry?

 

[gumpsgirl]

If they are getting that out of control, it's either time to separate them or re-home two of them.

 

[NYREDS]

Normal behavior-they are establishing the pecking order. Too many people on this site have trouble accepting normal chicken behavior for what it is.

 

[BirdBrained]

Quote:
I have no problem accepting normal chicken behavior,it just seemed unusual to me coming from 6 week old chicks. Thank you for the advise and input.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Although this might be "normal" chicken behavior, it is hard for me to sit back and let my cockerels beat the poop out of each other to the point they are bloody. A little chest bumping dominance and a squabble or two I can handle. It's the part when they are trying to tear each other's heads off that I can't take.

 

[BirdBrained]

Quote:
My point exactly,I wasnt sure if others had expierenced it or not.

 

[hinkjc]

For me, when roos squabble, I watch them closely. I have found some roos will not live with another and have to be the only roo in the flock..or blood/death occur. Other roos will allow a lower ranking (typically younger) roo and only give peck/chase now and then to keep them in line.

Whenever excessive fighting or blood is involved, we must step in. Roosters can do a lot of damage with ongoing fighting. Damage we may not even see..internal to the head/neck. I've seen roos knocked unconscious by other roos. If this type of behavior is seen, it is our responsibility to separate them and try to keep them safe (even from each other).

I had 2 araucana roos live together from baby up to 4 years. One day the low ranking roo had enough of being pushed aside. He stepped up and would not back down. Needless to say, the top roo wasn't backing down either. Till we caught them, they were both a bloody mess. After four years, who would have thought they just couldn't live together any longer. We ended up finding a home for the one roo and I was heartbroken to see him go, but it was for his own good/safety.

 

[BirdBrained]

thank you for the input,if they continue I will be forced to seperate them but I wont re-home any of them,I'll keep them to breed from.

 

[speckledhen]

I had to rehome one of my BR roosters. They shared about 35 women and the older brother just would not allow the younger one to co-exist. After watching them stay scabby and bloody for months, I decided that the younger one would be happier with his own flock elsewhere. It just would not work, though it surprised me with them having so many women to share.

 

[BirdBrained]

Them doing this at such a young age is really what cought me off guard.