Are Golden Wyandotte roosters extra aggressive towards other roosters?

[Mygoose]

I have a Golden laced Wyandotte and a Buff Orpington and a Black cochin, all roosters, and 33 hens. The Wyandotte and Orpington fight a lot, and the Wyandotte is always starting the fights. They are about the same size and I am afraid they will kill each other. What should I do?

 

[nuthatched]

Seperate and rehome or cull.
Breed doesn't really matter, they're cockerels in spring.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

We had three gold laced and three silver laced. After nearly a year of raising them, we rehomed all of the gold laced birds. I miss them as they were very personable to people and decent egg producers, but we were always patching up damage that they did to themselves and others. No one enjoys sharing pictures of their birds when all of their butts are bare from plucking feathers from other chickens in the flock. I don't have enough experience to say they are aggressive birds by breed, but our birds were aggressive and we will never have the gold laced again, which reminds me that I need a new profile picture.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are about the same size and I am afraid they will kill each other. What should I do?

How old are they (boys and girls), how much room d they have in square feet or square meters, and what are your goals? Does the breed of the girls matter? How do you manage them (do they free range or are they confined to small spaces)? It would really help to know what you are working with (room and facilities) and what you want to accomplish to answer this.

Are Golden Wyandotte roosters extra aggressive towards other roosters?​

Each chicken (male and female) is an individual. Some are more aggressive towards others than others regardless of breed. If you have more than one mature male they will know which is dominant. That is often determines by fighting. Sometimes they work out an accommodation and work well together to protect the flock. Sometimes they die. It doesn't matter if they are Silkies, Wyandotte, or Jersey Giants. Each has an individual personality.

 

[Mygoose]

How old are they (boys and girls), how much room d they have in square feet or square meters, and what are your goals? Does the breed of the girls matter? How do you manage them (do they free range or are they confined to small spaces)? It would really help to know what you are working with (room and facilities) and what you want to accomplish to answer this.

Are Golden Wyandotte roosters extra aggressive towards other roosters?​

Each chicken (male and female) is an individual. Some are more aggressive towards others than others regardless of breed. If you have more than one mature male they will know which is dominant. That is often determines by fighting. Sometimes they work out an accommodation and work well together to protect the flock. Sometimes they die. It doesn't matter if they are Silkies, Wyandotte, or Jersey Giants. Each has an individual personality.

They were born in June, so they're about 8 months old. They have about 450 sq. ft., and we move them around in a portable electric fence. We have them for eggs, and we plan on breeding them, which is why I don't want to get rid of one of the roosters, because we want to breed both kinds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

At eight months old their hormones are still in full swing. They are going to determine which is dominant, usually by fighting. Sometimes they work out an accommodation where they work together to manage the flock but sometimes one of them winds up seriously injured or dead. It sounds like your Wyandotte has decided the Orpington is a rival and the Cochin may not yet be that mature. I don't know if they will be able to work something out or one or two may wind up dead.

450 square feet is not a lot of room when you have multiple mature roosters. Often one way they work it out is that each has its own territory so they can stay separated. That's roughly a 20' x 22' area, depending on how it is configured. That's not much separation if one is close to the center if that area.

If you are going to be breeding, does it matter to you which rooster breeds with which girl? Details like that matter when you are setting up a breeding program. One approach is to set up three different coops and runs and give each boy his own harem. Keep them permanently separated with the same girls always with the same boy. You don't free range so that should work out.

Another approach is to create a bachelor pad. House the boys separately from the girls. Usually if there are no girls to fight over they are pretty peaceful. When you want to breed put a boy with the girls. A hen can stay fertile from a certain rooster for about a month after a mating so you'd need to keep your girls separated from any rooster you did not want to be the father for a month before you start collecting hatching eggs.

There are variations of these and details you would have to work out but these are the two main processes. The first is obviously the simplest but some people choose the second.

 

[Leatherworker]

We had three gold laced and three silver laced. After nearly a year of raising them, we rehomed all of the gold laced birds. I miss them as they were very personable to people and decent egg producers, but we were always patching up damage that they did to themselves and others. No one enjoys sharing pictures of their birds when all of their butts are bare from plucking feathers from other chickens in the flock. I don't have enough experience to say they are aggressive birds by breed, but our birds were aggressive and we will never have the gold laced again, which reminds me that I need a new profile picture.

I have golden laced Wyandottes and none of them are aggressive. They are sweet and calm birds. They love to be held and they are my favorites do to the wonderful personality they seem to have. Just my experience with them.

 

[Mygoose]

If you are going to be breeding, does it matter to you which rooster breeds with which girl? Details like that matter when you are setting up a breeding program. One approach is to set up three different coops and runs and give each boy his own harem. Keep them permanently separated with the same girls always with the same boy. You don't free range so that should work out.

Yeah, we breed the same kind of hen with the same kind of rooster. Actually, we have them in that area when it is cold, but when it is warm, they free range. So when they were fighting they were actually out of the pen free ranging.

 

[Ridgerunner]

we breed the same kind of hen with the same kind of rooster.

This means you need a separate breeding pen for each group you want to breed. Keep the boys separated in their own pen with their harem and you stop the fighting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

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