BYC Café

[sourland]

Cap, sadly, is just doing what a young stud tries to do. He wants to be in charge. I hope that I am wrong, but I feel that another challenge is in the offing.

 

[ronott1]

Good morning, Cafe - moderate day today - heat and humidity arrive tomorrow.

It is 12:12pm and it is 89F heading to 99F today.

It is supposed to be a bit hotter Tuesday to Friday

 

[sourland]

We'll be cranking up the AC tomorrow.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We get above 68 we turn it on here

 

[CapricornFarm]

We are supposed to get rain tomorrow, for pity sake!

 

[pennyJo1960]

It is here today I think your as sick of it as I am

 

[drumstick diva]

88.9F here (3:17 pm) much too hot and we're just heading into June. July is usually the hottest month- I'll probably just live in the basement. I'm down here most of the day anyhow.

 

[Shadrach]

Good afternoon, Café.
I've brewed a pot. I needed one.
The boys had a brawl when I was running the dogs this morning. I didn't even realize it until my hair dresser was admiring Fabio and I looked up to see him covered in blood. She didn't realize what all the dark steaks in his hackles were. I got my first aid kit and clean up supplies and walked right up to him. He gave a solid crow and dropped a shoulder at me but made no move to get away and didn't struggle when I picked him up.
He got the tar kicked out of him. His comb is bloody but a lot of the hackle feathers on the back of his head are gone and there is a large bloody spot there. It makes me wonder if Captain didn't jump him when he was napping. After his clean up he slowly made his way to the chicken bush where he is napping now.
I found Cap dazed in the coop with a bloody comb. He seems a little wobbly so he will be locked in the ward until he heals a bit and is steady on his feet. I think they should be separated until they are both well on their way to recovery.
If this happens again, I'm seriously considering selling Captain and letting his or one of Fabio's boys stay from the current brood.
My question to anyone who might know, will Fabio know if I keep Captain's boy that he is not his son? He knew Chip and Sarge were his.

The question. I have no way of proving this but I believe they know exactly who is related to who. Take it with as much salt as your diet permits.
If both Fabio and Captain are still standing then one of them won the fight. You need to know who before you do anything. As Mr sourland mentions, it's what they do and if Captain was making a challenge he may well have another go. The extent of the injuries do often not indicate the winner.
If you got rid of Captain one of the other cockerels will just take his place and something similar is likely to happen all over again.
Pictures of the injuries would be helpful. To me, serious is missing earlobes, wattles torn right through, bad eye injuries and large lumps of comb missing. Much less than this is normal scrap damage. Do check them both over for spur puncture wounds though and check carefully, they are easy to miss.
I let them sort themselves out here and just patch up the injuries. However, it's rare, but they will fight till one dies in extreme circumstances. I think you will know by now if you see such a fight in progress. In such a case you have to make a decision. If you can rehome one then that's great. On the two occasions I've had such fights here rehoming wasn't an option. You either let one kill the other and have some serious patching up to do with the winner or you kill one before the damage gets sever.
But, bear in mind that here the fight loser has plenty of space to keep away from the winner and this makes an incredible difference. I've had fight losers spend months avoiding an aggressor until at some point they stand up for themselves again.

 

[DobieLover]

The question. I have no way of proving this but I believe they know exactly who is related to who. Take it with as much salt as your diet permits.
If both Fabio and Captain are still standing then one of them won the fight. You need to know who before you do anything. As Mr sourland mentions, it's what they do and if Captain was making a challenge he may well have another go. The extent of the injuries do often not indicate the winner.
If you got rid of Captain one of the other cockerels will just take his place and something similar is likely to happen all over again.
Pictures of the injuries would be helpful. To me, serious is missing earlobes, wattles torn right through, bad eye injuries and large lumps of comb missing. Much less than this is normal scrap damage. Do check them both over for spur puncture wounds though and check carefully, they are easy to miss.
I let them sort themselves out here and just patch up the injuries. However, it's rare, but they will fight till one dies in extreme circumstances. I think you will know by now if you see such a fight in progress. In such a case you have to make a decision. If you can rehome one then that's great. On the two occasions I've had such fights here rehoming wasn't an option. You either let one kill the other and have some serious patching up to do with the winner or you kill one before the damage gets sever.
But, bear in mind that here the fight loser has plenty of space to keep away from the winner and this makes an incredible difference. I've had fight losers spend months avoiding an aggressor until at some point they stand up for themselves again.

Fabio won.
He made a mock charge at Cap through the fence to the ward run and Cap, as usual, ran, or tried to as he is confined to the ward.
Cap doesn't have spurs, just buds. I'll look Cap over for spur injuries at lock up.
I checked eyes first. There are still 4!

My poor boy.
Right after I took the last picture Rhoda pecked at the wound on the back of his head so it's now slathered in Nu-Stock.

 

[Shadrach]

Fabio won.
He made a mock charge at Cap through the fence to the ward run and Cap, as usual, ran, or tried to as he is confined to the ward.
Cap doesn't have spurs, just buds. I'll look Cap over for spur injuries at lock up.
I checked eyes first. There are still 4!
View attachment 2159619
View attachment 2159653View attachment 2159655
My poor boy.
Right after I took the last picture Rhoda pecked at the wound on the back of his head so it's now slathered in Nu-Stock.

I agree with you. It looks like he got jumped from behind. He'll know now.
I use betadine gel on comb, ear and wattle wounds. Surprisingly these areas don't seem to get infected easily. On the down side they bleed a lot and it looks much worse then it is. I've had a couple with eye damage and that's very worrying.
Poor old Fabio.
Meat treats are in order and if you have some a couple of days of a vitamin supplement.
If Fabio had lost to the point that he would run then you would have major problems. The hens I doubt have much interest in Captain given he doesn't even have a proper pair of spurs yet. Hens get to trust their roosters I've found and a sudden change in senior rooster really upsets them, especially if it's some underage upstart!