Have 2 roosters; 1 losing weight since put in same coop

[parkerpeeps7]

Hey guys!
I have 2 roosters & one seems to have lost some weight since putting them & all the hens in the same coop a little over a month ago. One is a Game & the other is a rhode island red. There was a little bit of fighting between them when we 1st put them together; especially when the RIR tried to mate some of his OWN hens. Everyday I'd come out & there would be fresh wounds on the RIR's comb but there seems to be no new wounds & old ones have almost completely healed. Anyways, I'm wondering if this is normal? I have seen the RIR eating but can tell you that my daughter was hand feeding the RIR & the Game actually attacked my daughter & he has NEVER done that before, in fact he is extremely tame & lets us hold & pet him. I thought maybe he was mad that she was feeding the other rooster. I pick the RIR up & you can tell he isn't as heavy as before he was transferred to the new coop & his breastbone is sticking out a good bit. You can't see it but can feel it more than the Game's breastbone. Other than the lost weight he is acting great, drinking & mating his girls! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Amy

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

When I have tried in times past to combine two roosters in the same coop that were not otherwise raised together, often one will pick on the other and keep it from eating and drinking properly. You say it seems to be carrying on okay, but I would suggest removing the extra rooster if you feel the RIR looks less healthy. When you say Game, are you talking about the same thing as the roosters that people use for fighting. I have heard that they can be relentless on other roosters and again, you may want to remove him from the coop. Just my suggestion, we'll see what others might say.

 

[THELMA]

I agree the other rooster will be stopping him eating and drinking. I woud definitley separate them

 

[parkerpeeps7]

The 2 roosters were in a smaller coop for about 3 months together but we had chicken wire separating them. We did that so that they could get used to each other. We got 3 chickens at a flea market (found out that wasn't the smartest place to get them after we had already done it) and we were told that they were partridge plymouth rocks & that they believed one was Game. They also thought they were all females which turned out to be wrong. The Game rooster is my profile pic. He has white specks all over his belly like a speckled sussex so I guess to be perfectly honest we aren't sure what he is. I'd rather not remove him but if the other continues to decline I most definitely will. At 1st the RIR wouldn't fight back he would just hide in a corner with his head down until the other rooster quit pecking him but now he is fighting back, which I am happy about b/c I felt so bad for him. I wish that I had weighed the RIR before mixing them but who could have known that this would happen. I knew there would be some fighting but didn't even realize he wouldn't let him eat. I know so many people who have more than one rooster & no one ever mentioned that to me as a possibility.

 

[parkerpeeps7]

Oh the 2 roosters are about 7 or 8 months old & they are the same age give or take a few weeks. So if they've been together since they were both 4 or 5 months I'm not sure if that could be considered "them growing up together." These are my 1st chickens I've ever had & I'm still leaning all the ropes.

 

[silkiechicken]

Often two roos can't live in peace once mature. Sure they can live together, but eventually one will be top as in your case, and give the second/third/lower roosters the evil eye when they have something he wants or he thinks the lower birds are taking his resources. Roosters certainly have some sort of pride, and although most will not fight to the death, the lower morale and lack of resources can lead to their demise. Had a father son pair live well for a year, then one day son beat his dad. Dad hid in the nest box for a week and then just died by the coop door. Still heavy and healthy, think his morale did him in.

 

[parkerpeeps7]

@silkie chicken wow that is such a sad story. I'm sorry to hear that. I hate that the males have to be so "male". We made sure to get chickens around the same age & then when we found out we had 2 roosters we kept them together but separated to hopefully make the big move-in as smooth as possible. I guess you can do as much as you can & still have problems. I know I'm going to keep a better eye on him throughout the day & if I have to sit in there to make sure he is getting food for hours then I will but the water intake will be an issue. I can say that I thought maybe his morale, as you say, could be making him lose weight. We really thought he would be top dog until we put them together. I thought maybe the stress of everything got to him. I just don't know.

 

[lynnR]

If you still want to keep both roos then you'll need at least 10 hens to keep them both satisfied. I would give them 2/3 feeding areas and have it so that they can't see each other when they are at separate feeding points. And feed the dominant (Game) one first. I have 3 roos (dad and sons) living happily enough together with 9 hens/pullets at the moment but the 2 sons were raised from eggs in the presence of their dad. Yet my other flock have all been raised together from eggs and the lowest ranking roo tried to kill another a few weeks ago. I immediately took the weak one away with a pullet and the rest were all fine with each other again.

 

[parkerpeeps7]

@lynnR: wow 10 hens! Yeah we only have 4 hens at the moment but we were wanting to get more. And we have some friends who are willing to give some away. I'm nervous though b/c we will just have to go through the whole pecking order again with the new hens. Sometimes this can be so stressful!

I just want them all to be safe & happy.
We have 2 feeders but they are side by side & so are the 2 waterers we have. Thankfully we have plenty of room that we can add or move them apart. I guess my husband and I have some work to do this weekend. I'm glad to hear that yours are living happily. That gives me some hope. Thank you for the feedback!

Thank you to everyone else who commented!