Had him by the snood

[onthespot]

I have two toms in with two hens, and a bunch of chickens. They hatched 4/30. One time is just a tad bigger than the other one. They are Midget Whites. Today I saw the smaller tom had the bigger one by the snood and was restraining him and kept a hold of his snood for maybe a half hour, and pulling his head down to the ground. Should I separate them?

 

[chickensioux]

I have two huge blue slates and when they scuffle this is how they do it. They have each others snoods. I posted the same question and was answered by some of the experts on here that this is normal boy behavior. They told me not to worry that it shouldn't get too ugly unless there is a female around. They are just establishing a pecking order. Mine have done it a few more times but it seems to be mellowing out right now. I will see in the spring if it gets worse. I don't have a female so I'm hoping that it won't get bad.

 

[onthespot]

Oh, I have two boys and two girls, I just counted and they are approaching six months old. I'm thinking I should pair them off and split them up.

 

[chickensioux]

I think that is a good idea. A friend of mine has males and females and she said the males will kill each other over a female. She keeps hers seperated too.

 

[pdpatch]

1 male is usually ok

2 male fight all the time try to change there pecking order. If they are different Breeds it's not nearly as bad.

3 male or more usually better and don't try to change the pecking order.

At about 5 months of age they seem to become aware they are males, and work harder on there positions in the pecking order.

For small flocks like 20 or less you can keep them together, especially if you plan on butchering them all.

If you are keeping some for breading you may want to consider separating the males and females until it's time to breed. Then separate once the Hens are sitting on a dozen or so eggs or has stopped laying. Generally 1 male to 6 - 12 females if your trying to create you own breading flock.

At a minimum 1 male to two females for breeding.

Tom

 

[onthespot]

Well, thanks for the posts. That makes it pretty easy, just pull one tom. I have a bigger space I need to fix up for them in the back. Just haven't made the time to do it.