Dealing with aggressive rooster

[malkered]

Some males get along, some do not. Even under the best of scenarios there will be tension, that usually gets worse with time. When males don't get along, the females suffer and can be treated roughly, mainly by the subordinate who tries to dive bomb a female for a quickie while the dominant male is not looking or too far away to intervene.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you should learn how to put down a bird, even if you don't eat it. It is an essential part of animal husbandry and needs to be done, at times, for various reasons. Do it in a loving way. Sit down in a chair, hold them upside down between your legs, stretch the neck with one hand and slit the throat, just under the chin and slightly to the side, with the other hand. When you hit the artery you will know, a good flow of blood quickly ensues. Hold them tight until they are gone. There are some good utube videos on this. Think about it and good luck.

Thank you for your advice, and yes, at some point I may have to put a bird down for some, as yet unforeseen reason and I will keep your advice on record for when I need it.. When I hatched my chicks I fully intended to fatten the boys and use them for meat but once I had watched them hatch and grow I hadn't the heart to see that plan through.

Through my hatching efforts I ended up with 13 hens and 9 roos. I have so far rehomed 5 Roos through two local farms and they now each have their own flocks. One of the roos is in charge of my LF flocks and one bantam roo is in charge of my small bantam flock. This leaves me with two Batchelor roos who, ideally I would like to rehome but they're going nowhere unless I find them a good home. As far as I'm concerned it's my duty to care for them as I brought them into this world.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
I admire your sense of responsibility. It's ok if you don't want to slaughter your own birds. You are taking the responsibility to not breed any more, and to find good homes for the ones you have. If you don't feel comfortable putting down a bird that may need to have it done, you can always ask a friend or neighbor for help, or have the bird euthanized at a veterinarian.

I didn't realize that your cockerels were so young. They may fight at this age, but depending on the breed, it is not likely that their fights will be deadly. However, they might be quite disruptive to the flock. Sometimes setting up individual harems with one male each is easiest, but it's not the only option.

 

[malkered]

T

I admire your sense of responsibility.  It's ok if you don't want to slaughter your own birds.  You are taking the responsibility to not breed any more, and to find good homes for the ones you have.  If you don't feel comfortable putting down a bird that may need to have it done, you can always ask a friend or neighbor for help, or have the bird euthanized at a veterinarian. 

I didn't realize that your cockerels were so young.  They may fight at this age, but depending on the breed, it is not likely that their fights will be deadly.  However, they might be quite disruptive to the flock.  Sometimes setting up individual harems with one male each is easiest, but it's not the only option.

Thank you for your advice, much appreciated.

I'd like to hatch again at some point but I will need a definite plan for any males before I do.

My next step is to take in some rescue hens, I've got 3 coming on Easter weekend so maybe that will give one or both of my spare Roos a purpose.

 

[Ra_]

At a recent poultry swap, a guy had 6 huge roosters in a small cage.
They were mellow. He said there was no problem because they grew up together.

I had two young roosters and two young hens caged together in a run.
They got along great until one hen began setting and I brought her inside.
Soon after, the boys got into a big fight and I had to separate them. The remaining hen seems unconcerned.



They were all doing fine until I disturbed the balance.

 

[Sydney Acres]

At a recent poultry swap, a guy had 6 huge roosters in a small cage.
They were mellow. He said there was no problem because they grew up together.

I had two young roosters and two young hens caged together in a run.
They got along great until one hen began setting and I brought her inside.
Soon after, the boys got into a big fight and I had to separate them. The remaining hen seems unconcerned.



They were all doing fine until I disturbed the balance.

That's one way to interpret it. The other way is that they were all doing fine until they got old enough to care.

Most breeders can keep their cockerels together, either housed separately from the females or together, up until a certain age. What that age is depends on the breed, and the individuals, and the type of housing. But at some point most, not all but most, cockerels will decide that they don't want to share their space/hens/food/etc., and will start to fight. Usually there is a trigger, sometimes not, but it is "the chicken way" for there to be a pecking order, and you establish that by fighting. IF the dominant rooster isn't abusive, and IF the subordinate rooster is accepting of his role, acts respectfully, and doesn't continuously challenge his superior, then the two (or more) roosters can live together, mostly peacefully, become obvious friends and work together to protect the hens. My two ancient Croad Langshan roosters are like that, and when they were younger they had a cooperative relationship that mirrored military precision. It was amazing to watch, and so notable because it is fairly rare.

I raise Red Dorkings. My management style is pasturing. There are a few established harems of one rooster with 4-8 hens, and they are bonded family units that will never be separated. They each get their own one acre pasture with woods. Most of the other hens live in a layer flock until they are used for breeding, in a pasture with two old roosters that are too old to breed, but still watch the sky and alert the girls to hawks and eagles. The remaining males live in two separate pastures, four in one group and five in another. The larger group used to have six. They were all raised together, and established a pecking order relatively peacefully. Their pasture has a lot of enhancements (trees, huge draping bushes, clumps of weeping umbrella bamboo, compost piles, fruiting vines, etc) and is more than an acre, so there's plenty of room and lots to do, plus there's a lot of places to hide if you're not the dominant rooster. Everyone got along great until they were about 14-15 months old. Suddenly and without warning, the two roosters on the bottom of the pecking order, #5 and #6, got into a huge fight. Number 6 won, and moved up the pecking order. It stayed that way for about a week, then suddenly #6 decided that he wanted to be the boss. He challenged #1, and lost that fight quickly. Undeterred, the next day he decided to work his way up in a more logical order., challenging #4 and winning, then the next day #3 and winning. I wasn't too worried, as boys do this, and no one was actually injured, although I did notice that the fights were getting more violent with each challenge. Rooster #2 had always been his best friend, and is the largest rooster of the group, so I figured the climb for dominance would stop there. Everything was fine for about a week, then one day #6 decided he was moving up again. He attacked #2 with a level of violence that I have never seen in this breed. Number 2 was able to fight him off and won, but I became worried. After another week, #6 tried it again, and this time almost killed #2. Had I not been home that day and heard the commotion, which was #1 loudly and frantically trying to drive #6 off a nearly limp and now defenseless #2, it would have turned out differently. Number 2 almost died, requiring two weeks of aggressive medical care to recover (he's my best quality rooster, and I am planning on using him as the new foundation of my breeding program when he's 2 years old, so he got whatever care he needed to pull through). Number 6 was transferred to a finishing pen for fattening, and was slaughtered 3 weeks later. He had been my third best quality rooster of that group, but I won't have that level of aggression in my flock.

Keeping cockerels/roosters together in the same flock requires the individual roosters to accept their place on the pecking order, and for those higher on the pecking order to be good leaders. Abusive leaders don't allow for a peaceful flock, and birds that become too violent as they jostle within the pecking order are too disruptive, and will eventually ruin the stability of the group. It's different for every group, and it does require adequate monitoring, plus the willingness to intervene when necessary.

 

[Sydney Acres]

T
Quote:
Your rescue hens may need some time to recover from their previous ordeal before being housed with a rooster, especially a young, annoying, and usually tactless rooster. Many of the rescue hens are a bit weak, often haven't had a lot of room to exercise and build up their musculature, and frequently don't have very good plumage over their back to protect them from a rooster's claws while breeding. They can be easily injured by an overly amorous youngster. It is important to be sure that they are in good physical condition before putting them in a breeding pen.

 

[malkered]

Your rescue hens may need some time to recover from their previous ordeal before being housed with a rooster, especially a young, annoying, and usually tactless rooster.  Many of the rescue hens are a bit weak, often haven't had a lot of room to exercise and build up their musculature, and frequently don't have very good plumage over their back to protect them from a rooster's claws while breeding.  They can be easily injured by an overly amorous youngster.  It is important to be sure that they are in good physical condition before putting them in a breeding pen.

You raise a good point, the last rescue hens that I took in went in with my two original hens, one of them was a big hen who I rescued from a tenant of mine who kept her locked up in a tiny space with 40 quail she was very passive and was initially bullied by the two new rescue hens but that settled down after a few days. The second hen was only 22 weeks old and a lot faster than the new hens so the foursome quickly settled down.

My original hen died in the middle of taking a dust bath, ( we think her heart gave out )

I then added my first three hatchlings , three RIR pullets at around 21 weeks. They had been within sight of the older birds for a while and after making good use of their perches and seprate food for a while they eventually joined the others.

Meanwhile we had Pingu and the four hens which hatched with him in a separate coop but within sight and sound of the others for several weeks until they were a similar size to the older hens.

One of our rescue hens then became unwell and on the advice of the vet was euthanised.

We then introduced Pingu's group into the older group, two hens at a time and finally Pingu and they got on well after a few days although Pingu spent the first few hours of each day in a 'time out' cage until his amorous advances calmed down a bit.


Now we have the 9:1 ratio previously mentioned.

I may put the new rescue hens in with my two smaller hens, two Pekin hens and Hamburg hen with my Hamburg roo presiding over them. Do you think that May work?

 

[Sydney Acres]

If the Hamburg rooster isn't too aggressive with his advances, and the hens aren't much smaller than him, it seems like the obvious choice between the two pens. It is important to quarantine any new additions to the farm for several weeks, just in case they are bringing in new disease or parasites with them. The quarantine time will hopefully give them time to gain their strength enough to join an established flock.

 

[malkered]

Thank you to Fentress and Sydney Acres. I have followed your advice with Pingu and it's working. Now when I enter the coop he keeps a respectful distance, doesn't crow and is generally much calmer so I would say that, with your help, the process of taming Pingu has been a resounding success.

One problem I have noticed is that several of the hens have bald patches on their heads where Pingu has been holding on. There are no other injuries but are these bald patches normal?

 

[Sydney Acres]

The bald spots on the hen's heads are from the rooster. It is common when hens are housed with a young "active" rooster. Often you also see feather loss over the hen's back as the rooster stands on her while breeding. You can put a hen saddle on a hen that is losing feathers over the back, but I don't know of a way to protect the back of her head. My husband joked one day that one of our hens needed a helmet!! I've never seen one of my hens get any injuries to her head, just some feather loss. I've seen some severe injuries to a hen's back, so many of my hens wear saddles. Here is my favorite type of hen saddle: http://crazykfarm.mybigcommerce.com/copy-of-hen-saver-hen-apron-saddle/ I recommend the single strap, with optional shoulder protection (I prefer the removable version, but either work well). If you free range and have any hawks, eagles, falcons, etc,, I'd recommend adding the "predator eyes" option also.