Can a roo re-gain alpha status?

[skya328]

Zeus was my first roo. He has been king for the last 2 years. He is a proud, beautiful boy. He's an outstanding roo... friendly to humans, protective and alert when the ladies are concerned, etc. Well, I got home last night to find out that Zeus (RIR/EE) has been de-throned. Sancho (EE) has taken over. My neighbor found Zeus in her yard wandering around, which is totally un-heard of. He wouldn't even go near the pen. Once he was put back in the pen Sancho went after him again within seconds and Zeus ran. He has missing feathers all over, a little bit of blood on his comb, scratches and blood under his wings, and is very shaken. Deflated is a good way to describe him today. He has not crowed once today.

Because of what happened yesterday I kicked Sancho out of the pen this morning before I left for work. I'm not sure if that was good or bad. Zeus still isn't right this morning. Seeing him wander around the pen lost and scared is disheartening. I am now wondering if Zeus will ever be able to re-gain his alpha status? I'd much prefer Zeus in charge of the ladies instead of Sancho. But if he's going to be submissive and run away from now on, I have some decisions to make.

Any input is much appreciated!

 

[Judy]

If it were me I'd leave Sancho locked out for a week or so. Hopefully he will then be at the bottom of the pecking order and not be able to regain top status.

I've had exactly one EE roo and he was mean as a snake, to everyone. So, again, if it were me, he'd only get one chance to live with the others the way I wanted. But then I don't have much patience with bad roos. I don't want them breeding, and the world is full of good roos.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

re-home Sancho

 

[xyresicchick]

i would rehome sancho.... he sounds like a jerk.

 

[DillardHome]

Quote:
That sounds like a good idea. We all know when we have to temporarily remove a hen from the flock and once she is re-introduced her status on the pecking order is much lower than before she left. So I don't see why it wouldn't work for a roo. Give it a shot and if it doesn't work than at least you tried. Let us know how it works out!

I agree with DDAWN I have zero tolerance for a bad roo, it's my way or the highway to heaven.

Is Sancho only aggressive towards Zeus and noone else? If so, then he is probably only wanting to be the head roo. So you will have to decide which one to keep and re-home the other.

 

[knjinnm]

Hi,
My EE roosters never got along so we only kept one at a time. The others went in the freezer.

Joe

 

[skya328]

Thank you for your advice. I'll try keeping Sancho separate for a while. I really do think he is taking over the alpha spot. His aggression is only toward Zeus that I know of. I'd much rather have Zeus as my alpha, but I'm not the one in charge of nature, right? It was bound to happen eventually. I just hope that if this really the end of Zeus' reign that the hens don't beat him up too.

I agree with not keeping an aggressive roo. DH and I have always said there are too many nice roos out there to have a mean one. Sancho better behave. DH also told me today that he's only 1 ingredient away from a good stir fry…

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
I agree!

 

[stilldeb]

Can you split your flock and give each roo his own girls? That's what we did and my subordinate roo started prancing around and crowing again within MINUTES of getting his own space. Now we have "Harry's Harem" and "Freddy's Flock" and everybody is happy - dueling crowing in the morning but just us in the middle of a cornfield and nobody cares.

deb g
KY

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Soo ... is he stir fry yet?

Joe