chicken war

[jme76]

Can someone please explain what my chickens are doing? I have two males who have decided today would be a good day to try to kill each other ( we never had any problems before with them fighting) and then one of the males decied to turn on one of my females. We caught he pinning her down and now her neck is bleeding from where he grabbed her. We cleaned and dried the area and then treated it with blu kote. Should we have done anything else? I really don't want to lose a chicken. Please help!

 

[Renee]

Hmmm, it sounds like your chickens have grown up.

How old are they?

 

[jme76]

They are all about 1 year at this point (give or take a month). Do males frequently attack females? And should I seperate the males from the rest of the flock quickly?

 

[damselfish]

How many roosters and hens do you have in total? The ratio may make a difference in aggression.

You'd usually be aiming for about 8 or a few more hens to one roo.

 

[Renee]

I am no expert on this, but from what I have gathered from this site, the two roosters are fighting over who is going to be the top dog, so to speak. It is unlikely it will stop. As I recall, each needs about 15 hens to be happy, but some will always fight, even so.

Some people keep "bachelor pens" of extra roosters, some get more hens, some eat the offending rooster.

I would separate them from the hens until you read more and decide what to do.

Young roosters are also unclear on the concept, if you get my drift, and can be quite rough on hens. Often, hens are missing most of their back and neck feathers from mating. That's why I don't have roosters. Some are worse than others, and some are real gentlemen.

Your hen will probably be fine. You have done the right thing, cleaning her up and dressing her wound. Make sure she is eating and drinking enough.

 

[DarkUnicorn]

I feel your pain

My roosters who are brothers went nuts the last two days...

One of them is in the Hospital crate looking pathetic

Torn to shreds and bald....

 

[jme76]

Thank you everyone for your quick replies! It looks like Dexter and Dudley will be getting a new home this week. Now, my new question is, should I build seperate quarters for each of them off of the existing chicken coop so they can still be close to the females? Or should I put a cage for each of them in the coop so they can still sleep around the females? I have the room inside and I'm not sure what would be better.

 

[Momma_Cluck]

I just put my Aracauna male in a dog-kennel in the coop-- and the otherRoo's (Silkies and OE Bantams) will be in smaller cages in the coop-- that way, since they all grew up together, they can still socialize--- but the "Only lookey--no touchey!"rule will be in effect!

 

[Lollipop]

Roosters reach an age when they "turn on". Then they fight until someone runs. Like Renee said, they have grown up. Some reach that point early and sometimes one roo can run such a bluff that problems never surface. Young roos are like teenage boys, clumsey and aggressive. Sometimes pullets are injured in the rough sex. After they mature, they usually become gentlemen. If you decide to pen them seperate, you can usually leave one with the girls. Doesn`t matter if the loner can see them, he`ll be fine.

 

[cluckychick]

It must be spring in the air because my two silkie roos have been just down right vicious to eachother and they never have been in the past.