Daddy and son roos suddenly switch ranks after six years of a cordial relationship

[azygous]

Just thought an update would go good right about now.

Today, I watched my two roosters during their two times out free ranging together. They seemed very much back to the way they were before the Big Fight - inseparable. They dirt bathed smashed up against each other. They were like two little trick-or-treaters when they tried to convince me to find some BOSS for them as they stood on the rear stoop.

When I did give out treats, neither one appeared to be concerned about rank and which would get to eat first. As little as two weeks ago, Tootsie was still insisting that he was Mister Big and demanded Strawberry bend to his imperial highness. Today. Strawberry is back to nudging Toosie aside so he can be sure that Toosie isn't getting the better stuff to eat. But no fighting.

It's so nice to see them friends again.

 

[DesertMouse]

I am very glad to hear they are friends again. Those two have coexisted peacefully for so long, it would be sad for that to have come to an end. Do you sense that Tootsie still is the alpha or are they on equal footing? The drama of the pecking order is endlessly fascinating!

 

[azygous]

Tootsie is still Mr. Big. Strawberry is tolerating his nonsense such as an occasional aggressive jump at him with wings outstretched. This is probably the secret to their ability to get along peacefully the majority of the time. Strawberry no longer is intimidated by Tootsie, and when Toots tries to run him off, Strawberry only runs off a short distance and pokes around until he thinks Toots is over his little burst of self importance.

 

[Folly's place]

Here things didn't go as well, and I euthanized Cloud, the Chantie rooster, last week. He was unwell, and the bantam boy wounded him during the day, and the next morning.
We aren't set up to have separated flocks for any length of time.
Mary

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a head hen (australorp) and her hench hen same breed. They got old and the hench hen died. There was a NH waiting in the wings, she ran up to the head hen and told her, now I can be your hench. Not long after the head hen started to fail, and the NH hen just abandoned the head hen. The NH never became the head hen though.

I never got another NH because of the betrayal I witnessed.

 

[The Birb King]

Hmm that's strange they only really fight when free ranging. My original Serama rooster Tiny Tim was sick last year and he recovered over the winter. I hatched 6 Serama chicks and 4 ended up being roosters. They lived peacefully with Tiny Tim for a few months, then he got sick again and they started attacking him. I seperated him but he died shortly after. A few years ago I also had Ringneck Pheasants and the 2 males and 8 females lived together fine for awhile, until breeding season came around and one male started attacking the other to the point where he was hiding for his life. We put blinders on the aggressive male, and then a few days later the tables had turned. The other male that was originally being attacked now was attacking the other male and ended up killing him. It's so weird how things work sometimes.

 

[azygous]

Pinless peepers (blinders) can trigger intense defense mechanisms in poultry. When I first began using them many years ago, the reaction of the other chickens to the chicken suddenly appearing among the flock wearing this unfamiliar device was a swift and intense attack. A similar thing happened when I put a saddle on a hen to protect her bare back. All the chickens saw were the strange devices and they considered the chickens wearing them to be intruders to be driven away from the flock or shunned.

I solved this problem by first scattering a hand full of pinless peepers into the run before I reintroduced a chicken wearing peepers. The flock went after the peepers scattered about and then quickly became desensitized to them, ignoring them. Once I saw that, I brought the chicken back wearing the peepers, and none of the chickens were interested. The peepers had lost their novelty and became invisible.

The incident with the saddle was humorous. I put a fancy saddle on the hen with a bare back and put her in the coop. I went around to the run and waited for her to make her grand entrance. The hen was very unhappy about the fabric strapped to her and she burst out of the coop into the run with such an explosive demonstration of panic and annoyance that the entire flock ran for their lives and all hid under the coop. Meanwhile, the poor hen was in the run all alone trying her best to walk backwards out of the garment that was torturing her and terrorizing her flock mates. Yet, in a short period, they all realized that it was just their hen friend in drag and everyone was going about their chicken business again in no time.

The lesson is to be aware that any superficial addition to a chicken that alters their appearance even in the slightest may elicit some strong reactions and should be introduced slowly and carefully.

 

[Climax]

Pinless peepers (blinders) can trigger intense defense mechanisms in poultry. When I first began using them many years ago, the reaction of the other chickens to the chicken suddenly appearing among the flock wearing this unfamiliar device was a swift and intense attack. A similar thing happened when I put a saddle on a hen to protect her bare back. All the chickens saw were the strange devices and they considered the chickens wearing them to be intruders to be driven away from the flock or shunned.

I solved this problem by first scattering a hand full of pinless peepers into the run before I reintroduced a chicken wearing peepers. The flock went after the peepers scattered about and then quickly became desensitized to them, ignoring them. Once I saw that, I brought the chicken back wearing the peepers, and none of the chickens were interested. The peepers had lost their novelty and became invisible.

The incident with the saddle was humorous. I put a fancy saddle on the hen with a bare back and put her in the coop. I went around to the run and waited for her to make her grand entrance. The hen was very unhappy about the fabric strapped to her and she burst out of the coop into the run with such an explosive demonstration of panic and annoyance that the entire flock ran for their lives and all hid under the coop. Meanwhile, the poor hen was in the run all alone trying her best to walk backwards out of the garment that was torturing her and terrorizing her flock mates. Yet, in a short period, they all realized that it was just their hen friend in drag and everyone was going about their chicken business again in no time.

The lesson is to be aware that any superficial addition to a chicken that alters their appearance even in the slightest may elicit some strong reactions and should be introduced slowly and carefully.

Have you ever been told that you'd make a great Author? Your comments are so easy to follow and so engaging and fun to read.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm crossing my fingers, but I'm finding myself very, very glad that my Australorp boys are exceedingly laid back and deal well with each other.

 

[DesertMouse]

Pinless peepers (blinders) can trigger intense defense mechanisms in poultry. When I first began using them many years ago, the reaction of the other chickens to the chicken suddenly appearing among the flock wearing this unfamiliar device was a swift and intense attack. A similar thing happened when I put a saddle on a hen to protect her bare back. All the chickens saw were the strange devices and they considered the chickens wearing them to be intruders to be driven away from the flock or shunned.

I solved this problem by first scattering a hand full of pinless peepers into the run before I reintroduced a chicken wearing peepers. The flock went after the peepers scattered about and then quickly became desensitized to them, ignoring them. Once I saw that, I brought the chicken back wearing the peepers, and none of the chickens were interested. The peepers had lost their novelty and became invisible.

The incident with the saddle was humorous. I put a fancy saddle on the hen with a bare back and put her in the coop. I went around to the run and waited for her to make her grand entrance. The hen was very unhappy about the fabric strapped to her and she burst out of the coop into the run with such an explosive demonstration of panic and annoyance that the entire flock ran for their lives and all hid under the coop. Meanwhile, the poor hen was in the run all alone trying her best to walk backwards out of the garment that was torturing her and terrorizing her flock mates. Yet, in a short period, they all realized that it was just their hen friend in drag and everyone was going about their chicken business again in no time.

The lesson is to be aware that any superficial addition to a chicken that alters their appearance even in the slightest may elicit some strong reactions and should be introduced slowly and carefully.

Hilarious story, and just like junior high school. Poor girl she didn't think her look was cool!