Fighting Roos

[shelljf]

I have just gotten a flock of 6 silkies. Four hens and two roos. Two of the hens and the roos came from the same place, so I assumed thy all knew each other and would get along. But 5 days in, the roos have started fighting. do I have to get rid of one of them or is there a way to manage this behavior?

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

I would get rid of one or both or get a few more hens

 

[Folly's place]

Some roosters will get along fine, and some won't. If they have plenty of space and aren't hurting each other, it may work itself out. BUT you have too many boys for only four hens, not a good combination anyway. I'd move one of the roosters elsewhere so there's less stress for everyone.
Mary

 

[aart]

I have just gotten a flock of 6 silkies. Four hens and two roos. Two of the hens and the roos came from the same place, so I assumed thy all knew each other and would get along. But 5 days in, the roos have started fighting. do I have to get rid of one of them or is there a way to manage this behavior?

How old are these birds?
Do you have other birds?
What are your goals for keeping chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

I have just gotten a flock of 6 silkies. Four hens and two roos. Two of the hens and the roos came from the same place, so I assumed thy all knew each other and would get along. But 5 days in, the roos have started fighting. do I have to get rid of one of them or is there a way to manage this behavior?

Every rooster I've had here fought, it's what they do.
Space helps, but even here where they free range and have virtually unlimited space they fight.
Pretty much every day there is a rooster fight here. Years ago I used to worry about it and wonder if there is something I should be doing to prevent the fights.
With the help from the local guys here who keep chickens I set out to learn which fights were serious and which were just the usual scraps that are a natural part of rooster behavior.
To put this into context; in a serious fight one rooster ends up maimed, or dead. It's this sort of fight you need to worry about. The day to day scraps, just tend to the injured (bloody combs and wattles usually) and keep an eye out for infection.
Here on BYC often the advice is to get rid of one of the roosters. More often than not this means killing it. You may as well let a rooster do the job for you, the outcome is the same.
You can, if you are confident reduce the resultant injuries just by stepping in between the fighting pair. Bear in mind that a rooster in fight mode si just as likely to have a go at you in the scrap. Wear heavy duty trousers and boots and you won't get hurt.
I can stop most fights now by just doing this; no sticks or rooster bashing is necessary, just you in between gently ushering them apart. Do this often enough and they seem to accept that when you call time out that's it.
Fight flash points are usually at feed time. One rooster will try to prevent the other from getting to the feed. It's not that the rooster guarding the feed doesn't want the other rooster to eat, it's that the rooster that can provide a hen with food gets the hens. What the senior rooster doesn't want is the junior rooster pecking at the food and calling the hens.
Other fights might look random but these are often over territory. It's not about the physical space as such it's about what that space contains (best dust bath areas, shade and shelter etc)
I can't tell you how to know which fights are serious and which are not. Over time if you see enough rooster fights and know your flock you will learn. What I can tell you is if every time these two fight and you worry over much about it, that worry is wasted and you will likely lean towards re-homing, or killing one of the roosters.
My advice is get a large tube of Betadine and some medical swabs and get used to taking your rooster off their perches at night and cleaning up the wounds. Eventually one rooster will win enough fights that the other rooster will accept that the winner has the right to his senior position. Yes it is a bit brutal but this is how chickens live.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, how old are they? How much room do they have, in feet or meters, in the coop and outside the coop? It's hard to give specific suggestions on how to handle something if I don't know what you are working with. There can be a difference in cockerels and roosters also.

In general, when you relocate chickens or add/subtract flock members you have upset the pecking order. They need to re-establish that. Sometimes that is really peaceful, sometimes not. But between two roosters it's not just pecking order, it is flock dominance. They have to determine who is boss. Sometimes that is mostly chasing and running away (as long as hey have room to run away) but often some fighting is involved. As Shadrack said, some fights are serious and to the death but some might be more skirmishes where one quickly decides it is better to run away. When they are fighting someone is trying to hurt someone, it's not just for show. But often one decides he is better off if he runs away.

That's why how much room you have is important, if the loser doesn't have enough room to run away, he can't run away. It helps a lot to have enough room for them to avoid each other once they have figured out who is boss. Sometimes it is a fight to the death, sometimes they reach an accommodation. That accommodation can look different in different circumstances. Often each claims a certain territory and defends it, maybe each getting a harem. There may be raids outside that territory and encroachment onto another rooster's territory so there is always the opportunity for drama but in general it is often not too bad.

I have seen two roosters share a territory. They still know who is boss and may occasionally have a skirmish but things were pretty peaceful and all eggs got fertilized. Each flock has it's own dynamics that can change with the addition or subtraction of one flock member. The more room you have the more likely they will reach an accommodation without one killing the other.

I'll go through my standard spiel. Why do you want a rooster? What are your goals pertaining to that rooster? The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. As far as I'm concerned everything else is personal preference. Personal preference can be a strong motivator but my personal preference is not necessarily yours. I suggest you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, just that the more roosters you have the more likely you are to have problems.

Good luck!

 

[Chickassan]

The only way you'll never see a rooster fight is if you only have one rooster.
Even fellas who are raised together and best buds 99% of the time are going to fight.
Your boys could have a ton of space, all the hens a guy could handle but you're still going to have those days where they just hate each others face.
Roosters aren't good at insults, so fighting it is.

 

[Mimi13]

Before starting a thread, I was scanning the most recent threads looking for an answer to my most recent problem, roosters fighting. And, wah-la, I found it here.

These two “bator mates” have been the best of buds for 18 weeks now. Then yesterday came and boy did things change. Obviously I came in on the tail end of the blood bath as both cockerels were badly bloodied and limping. There was an evident winner - the one still standing his territory and with less blood drawn. These two did not enter each other’s space for the rest of the day, which made me worry about roosting time. (I did treat both boys’ facial wounds with Vetericyn last night.) However, I did not check their legs.

They both share one coop, one run, an unlimited amount of yard and pasture, and 25 laying girls. I would have thought all was well in their world until I read @Shadrach ’s post.

This morning, yesterday’s loser came running (or should I say hopping on one leg really fast) out of the coop, ahead of the winner. Since I don’t let them out to free range until lunch time (I’ve got several new layers), I went ahead and put the loser in one of my empty broody cages. I then watched as the other boy taunted the caged cockerel terribly, which earned him solitary in the other empty broody cage. Thank goodness they were both empty.

I had already read this thread before I let them out at lunch. I started with the more dominant cockerel and once he hobbled out and away from the run I turned the other one out. So far they have stayed away from each other.

Obviously their bickering will continue until true dominance is established, so here is my concern. Even though the run is 600sf, which is plenty of room for 27 non-bickering birds, I’m hesitant to leave the two loose in the run. Hypothetically speaking, will they be able to settle who is top dog while out in the yard soon enough for me to let them remain in the coop/run together after a few days OR will they need to be separated forever?

I am guessing there is no steadfast answer here and most likely I am going to have to take a watch and see approach to this. But I guess I’m really hoping a rooster guru can give me their take on this situation I am dealing with.

Thank you bunches, in advance.

ETA: correctly tagged member.

 

[Folly's place]

I've had times when the boys sort it out and do fine, and other times when it's not so good. Unlike Shadrach, I'm not interested in having wounded birds continue to hurt each other, so if things don't calm down, I think separation is best.
Mary

 

[Mimi13]

I've had times when the boys sort it out and do fine, and other times when it's not so good. Unlike Shadrach, I'm not interested in having wounded birds continue to hurt each other, so if things don't calm down, I think separation is best.
Mary

I agree about living with constantly injured birds. It’s not my cup of tea when there’s something I can do about it.