Help! My chickens are fighting!

[WoodlandWoman]

I would pick one roo to keep with your hens. The others you could butcher, rehome/sell/give away or set up in their own bachelor pen. You could have more trouble with the others later, if you keep them all together longer.

I don't like roos that are aggressive to people. I do like roos that are good to the hens. That's just my own feelings on roos. It's okay to keep your favorite, if you have a favorite.

 

[rainierlass]

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DITTO!

 

[Phenomenon]

I know this is bad but I have 3 hens and 5 roosters

Firstly, your hens are not hens but pullets.

As for 5 cock birds and 3 girls, the maths are all wrong! Way too many cocks to girls, this will always lead to bullying one way or the other.​

 

[Jakenhoss]

I've always heard that the ratio was 1roo:6-8 hens. I have 2 roo to 10 hens but one is a American game bird bantam and 1 is a bantam. They get along just fine. I think it's because of the size. I have 4 bantam game birds, 3 hens, 1 roo and the only fighting I have is the hens dominance over the others.

 

[Othercat]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I know the numbers are off. That's due to my inexperience. You see, I got so excited that I was finally going to get chickens that I just bought 10 chicks without knowing what they were. Thinking they were all girls, we got Henry a few weeks later. The joke was on us.

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Yes, actually. I noticed he has a limp and although his comb is red, it's not developing as fast as the rest.

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I'm trying to find a new home for Henry and Chippy since they're the most aggressive ones. It's harder than it sounds because we're in the middle of Tyson country and I don't want them to end up on someones plate. I'm not wanting to get more hens because I'll be leaving in a few months. My father-in-law will be taking over, so I'm trying to make the flock more manageable for him. I don't want him to have to deal with the flogging and all that.
I found it funny that you said to "rooster" him right back because I did that once. It was the only thing that made him back off (temporarily).

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I don't actually carry Korma around. He just follows me everywhere. I never pick any of them up.

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How would I go about doing this? To be honest, Henry scares the hell out of me.

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Firstly, your hens are not hens but pullets.

As for 5 cock birds and 3 girls, the maths are all wrong! Way too many cocks to girls, this will always lead to bullying one way or the other.

Everyones been telling me this since we found out they were mostly roosters. but I ignored them because I was sure my chickens would get along fine if I tried hard enough. So much for wishful thinking!

 

[Othercat]

Would it help at all to put Henry in a different pen for a bit? I read somewhere that taking a bird out for a few days and then reintroducing him to the flock would make him lose his position as top rooster.

 

[stormylady]

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I highly doubt this, some people would like to think chickens have the capacity to have rational thought but in my opinion they dont. Instinct is the culprit, they dont rationalize. They attack to display their dominance, any roo they feel is a threat or is intruding they will attack. Some roos are more aggressive then others. Either rehome him/them or send to freezer camp. Some ppl will say cull but not to eat, but would you like to be killed just because you have a bad attitude? Lol just my 2 cents. Best of luck

I have to say that I agree with so lucky, I know that when i get into the battles with my roosters and assert dominance, I do grab up the aggresser (none of my roos are human aggressive though) but when I do put him back down, the others do go after him for a min or so and I block them from him and it all settles down. I think that the same rules apply your sending the message that the one your holding is lower on the pecking order and will treat them accordingly.( Pick on him).

I did the same thing with my little Uno, she was low hen on the pecking order forever, and unwittingly, I helped her stay that way by coddling her too much I just hated seeing them treat her so badly, I would keep her with me at all times (protecting her) I would separate her from the other girls so they wouldn't pick on her but she would go batty like she really wanted to be with the flock so one day I just decided to let her go it and it was merciless on her she would hide and duck her head but she wouldn't fight back finially they just stopped and she is no longer low man on the totem pole in fact Im not sure where she is on it, but nobody ever messes with her anymore???

I do think that you have way too many Roosters and way too few hens for even one Roo, So, your going to have fighting and unfortunately someone has to be on the bottom, and all of your boys are coming of age now and are going to fight for the top spot. I would check out Korma and make sure there is nothing wrong with him, and if your sure you want to keep him I would get rid of the others. Maybe you could keep one of the others but really that few of hens is not a good situation they will fight some but maybe not as much.. JMO Sandy


I just went back and read over some of the post again, and I really would not rehome a human aggressive Rooster, I would work with him and try and teach him respect for people or cull him but not to a new home where he could injure someone else, or even a child. Sorry.

 

[zekii]

Same issues here ... I started with 4 roosters, these all grew up together as chicks, one day 3 of the roosters were ganging up on one
rooster, probably would have killed him, I removed him. Now yesterday, I found one of the rooster bleeding from his comb, and he was attacking
another roosters. THey all got along together for about 6 months, but now changes are happening ... guess I have to decide soon which rooster(s) stay, and
which goes !!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It would work better to keep all the roosters together without hens. But if they've already started to pick on one they may continue.
If there are hens they'll fight over them.

Here's a rooster flock.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I'm not trying to be gruff, or start anything, but if a rooster is aggressive I think rehoming is often worse than putting them on Craigslist for free, for table or whatever.
A mean rooster is a mean rooster. He will father more mean roosters.
I know it is hard. I bought "sexed pullets" and got 2 roosters out of 6.
I don't have the capacity to house roosters & hens yet, my space is not big enough to keep the numbers right.
The best choice I made - for ME - was to cull my roosters. Everyone has extra roosters here, and I think it is a roll of the dice when you sell an animal - especially a rooster - as to whether or not they will be cared for as well somewhere else as they have been with you.
At least I know my guys were happy, healthy, and killed humanely.
But, if you can't do it yourself I don't see any reason to ask questions of people willing to take them from you.
I don't plan to make a habit of raising meat birds, and I did not enjoy culling at all, but it is something I am glad I know how to do. There could come a time I am forced to cull due to illness or some sort of emergency when I don't have time to steady myself with a cold drink first.

Keep in mind, I am not trying to be judgmental, or preach to you, only to share with you my perspective after having a similar experience to yours. I debated what to do from the time I discovered I had roosters til they started to crow, and it was the right choice for us. My hens are happily laying eggs everyday, they have run of the yard, and plenty of room in their coop for me to add a few new hens next year.