Aggression

[misshell]

I have two suspected roosters in my flock of ten. They are pretty aggressive with each other and usually fighting. I noticed one is starting to attack the girls now. He (or she) grabbed one by the neck today and made her scream while having a death grip on her feathers. It was their first day out enjoying an even larger space than they already have. I expected them to explore and have fun, not beat each other up. Would a rooster attack a hen? And what should I do about this? They are only seven weeks old.

 

[Perris]

young cockerels are subject to their hormones, and are liable to behave more or less badly towards any pullets or hens. Mature hens or cocks will teach them a lesson or three, but if your flock is all youngsters, that's not an option.

Make sure there are lots of escape routes for the girls to run away. Put clutter in the run for them to dodge and hide, and avoid dead ends where they could get trapped. They will all start competing for rank, not just the boys, and you just have to let them sort it out. At least at first. It's tough but unavoidable; they are flock animals and they need hierarchy.

 

[misshell]

young cockerels are subject to their hormones, and are liable to behave more or less badly towards any pullets or hens. Mature hens or cocks will teach them a lesson or three, but if your flock is all youngsters, that's not an option.

Make sure there are lots of escape routes for the girls to run away. Put clutter in the run for them to dodge and hide, and avoid dead ends where they could get trapped. They will all start competing for rank, not just the boys, and you just have to let them sort it out. At least at first. It's tough but unavoidable; they are flock animals and they need hierarchy.

Ok. Thank you for the great advice. Its hard to watch, and yet they get so upset when they are separated, even for a split second while I put them back in the run. Its like a love/hate relationship.

 

[LaFleche]

I would like to add that depending on how old they are, the hormonally agitated cockerels will be trying to mate, while the pullets still need at least 2-3 more month to mature and welcome the attention. Continually being roughly attacked and chased around might lead to the pullets not getting enough rest and food making them more susceptible to illness and could even lead to serious harm.

If you want to keep the cockerels, separate them from the pullets and in case you have some adults let them run in their flock to learn the ropes and get taught some manners.

 

[aart]

Would a rooster attack a hen?
And what should I do about this?
They are only seven weeks old.

How much space do they have, coop and run, in feet by feet?

FYI-PSA.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

 

[misshell]

How much space do they have, coop and run, in feet by feet?

FYI-PSA.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

Thank you. I'm all new to this and learning a lot from being on here. The run is 13ft long and 6ft wide. They were out of the run and roaming the yard when this happened though. The lot is about 8,000sqft. Here are some pics of the space in the backyard. Theres more room than the pictures show. Behind the cottage, theres a bunch of various fruit trees you can walk around and pick fruit.

 

[aart]

The run is 13ft long and 6ft wide.

How about the coop?
Beautiful yard.....but I don't see the coop and run?

I expected them to explore and have fun, not beat each other up.

Yes, 7wo young cockerels can start to spar and dominate,
and start grabbing the girls.
2 males make exponentially more trouble due to competition.
Might decide now what to do with those boys.
If you don't plan on hatching chicks, a male is unnecessary,
and can be a real pain in the butt and injurious to young children.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

How about the coop?
Beautiful yard.....but I don't see the coop and run?


Yes, 7wo young cockerels can start to spar and dominate,
and start grabbing the girls.
2 males make exponentially more trouble due to competition.
Might decide now what to do with those boys.
If you don't plan on hatching chicks, a male is unnecessary,
and can be a real pain in the butt and injurious to young children.

Yes, they may act like that, but roosters are a invaluable tool if you are going to be free ranging them. Roosters also make the hens give you fertile eggs, which you can sell. Roosters and Cockerels are also normally just tons of fun to have around after the leave the teenage stage.

 

[birdlover2]

I have two suspected roosters in my flock of ten. They are pretty aggressive with each other and usually fighting. I noticed one is starting to attack the girls now. He (or she) grabbed one by the neck today and made her scream while having a death grip on her feathers. It was their first day out enjoying an even larger space than they already have. I expected them to explore and have fun, not beat each other up. Would a rooster attack a hen? And what should I do about this? They are only seven weeks old.

Your cockerals are sorting out which will be the dominant with eachother, and as long as no blood is drawn and there are no serious injuries, let them do it. They need to sort that out now if they're to live together later. As for them being agressive with the hens, most likely they're trying to mate. My mother's bantam roos went through that stage for a while. Now they've figured out that they won't generally succeed in mating by doing such a thing, (in fact I never saw them actually succeed in getting atop the hen by pecking and pulling at neck feathers), and they'll leave the hens alone. Now hers only attempt to mate at night when the hens are roosting, (I don't know how successful that is!) and I only see and hear that generally at the start of the night before they go to sleep. They'll figure it out eventually if you let them. Let the fights happen so long as no-one has drawn blood or injured the other in a serious way, and seperate them only if it gets that bad. If they continue to fight eachother and the fights keep getting worse and they're drawing blood and neither seems submissive or they can't come to any arrangement of rank, then you may want to rehome one.

 

[Chickassan]

This just sounds like chick fighting to me.
Chicks can be brats very much like any other young creature and often they are just that.
At 7 weeks you've got brats, enjoy.
In about 4 to 6 more weeks the hormones will start flowing and the real fun begins.