Fighting Roosters, Help!!

[TheHenHen]

Hello,
Yesterday, I noticed my two roosters, the youngest looked like he was humping the oldest. I caught a glimpse of blood running down the youngest's neck feathers. He was attacking the oldest (Rocky) so bad, he had so much blood on his comb. Rocky is normally the boss of the flock, but it seems as though the youngest (Moonshine) wants to be boss instead. Moonshine may be the youngest, but he is much bigger than Rocky. After I saw Rocky, a ran over to save him from Moonshine. I brought him in my house, and cleaned his comb, and fed him some feed and water. I put him back outside, but then they started fighting again. I separated them, but soon they would have to be in the coop. Today, I went to feed them. I opened the coop door, and Rocky ran out of the coop. I noticed that there was blood on the feeders, the waterer was knocked over, and there was blood all over the roost and floor.

What do I do? I don't want one to die, and I don't want to sell one, so, do I just let them sort it out, by fighting?

Thanks!
~thehenhen

 

[sourland]

If there is a considerable size between the roosters you may need to separate them. Locking them together in the coop where the older rooster can not escape may be a death sentence for him.

 

[TheHenHen]

We do have a small coop that I usally use for broody hens and little Broilers. I could have him in there overnight.

 

[mak1]

Take the weaker roo and hold it in your hands. Then start a fight with the stronger one. Once the big one fights back put your hand out. then take the weak roo and start pecking on the bigger one until it surrenders.

 

[dekel18042]

We do have a small coop that I usally use for broody hens and little Broilers. I could have him in there overnight.

Some roosters may fight for position and then call a truce or get along if there are enough hens. Others never will and you may need to come up with a long term solution where the roosters are never together.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

This happens.

They will sort it out,but just keep this mind,younger roosters who may become bigger then the boss roo,will try to over throw him sometimes.But by the time they sort it out,one of them could be dead,you should just put a fence between them,that's what I suggest.

Take the weaker roo and hold it in your hands. Then start a fight with the stronger one. Once the big one fights back put your hand out. then take the weak roo and start pecking on the bigger one until it surrenders.

That IS NOT a way you should do it.That seems cruel.You can easily just re-intergrate them and they should just stop,or completely get rid of the guy,weather you eta him,or sell him.Also keep in mind,the longer this goes on,the more stress it puts on the flock,and the roosters.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

A peck will also not make a rooster surrender,unless he's a punk,and most roosters aren't gonna back out a fight just from peck,cockerals might,but roosters generally have to be spurred or be bleeding a lot to actually back down,it's in their nature to protect the flock,and be tough.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Plus,if you keep letting the sick one peck,it's liable to just make the stronger one even madder.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

If the younger one is using the older one for a girlfriend (and it does happen) then in my estimation they will never live together peacefully, unless the older rooster completely surrenders to the younger one. The call is yours.

PS: you may need to fix your small brood hen coop so that these two roosters can not see each other. If not they may continue the fracas through the wire and either blind themselves or cut off their own toes by fighting each other through the wire.

 

[RooDen]

I suggest you do something to separate the two at night. However, on the lines of mak1's suggestion I would advice you to let the two roosters fight during the day like sparring as they will ultimately end it with one coming on top but you will have to moderate the fight to ensure their safety. It sounds cruel but I have seen roosters fight for some time and then they just settle among themselves. There are exceptions though as there could be a pair of roosters who just fight non-stop and in such a case you will have to make arrangements to separate them.