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Doing what?
Sorry, lol, but you've quoted my entire post and I can't tell what part you're replying to... Better to cut and paste in quote the bit of my post you're replying to.![]()
Oh sorry they were fighting the rooster
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Doing what?
Sorry, lol, but you've quoted my entire post and I can't tell what part you're replying to... Better to cut and paste in quote the bit of my post you're replying to.![]()
I have a question on this topic. I have two bantam size roosters (and one standard but he has a home he is going to soon) My yard is larger for urban areas and a large part is fenced off for the chickens. Could I get away with letting the two bantam roosters just freely roam the yard (its all fenced in, and then the chicken area is double fenced if if you understand me)... I want to keep both boys we love them and they are sweet but we want to avoid issues. So can we get away with letting them roam the yard away from the girls?
The cockerels?
If cockerels are attacking a mature rooster, generally it's because they feel pretty big and healthy and want to see if they can become head honcho. Mostly these fights will be sorted out pretty calmly. If it gets serious then either your cockerel/s may be violent natured, or your rooster might have something wrong with him they can see. But generally I would expect it's just teenage boys sizing up to the man to measure themselves.
That's normal, especially if they weren't raised with roosters, but even then the alpha hens have to remind the cockerel who is who. If he's under a year old hes still a cockerel. Roosters do not reach their adult size before a year old, some take as long as two years, same with hens, though they reach adult or close to adult height quickly. He will get bigger and heavier soon and once he's not so young he'll be respected.
Even if he grows up to dominate other roosters he will not be alpha over the hens. That's a common misperception people have. There will always be an alpha hen, and she will always dominate juveniles, and the hens just under her on the hierarchy will also dominate juveniles. In fact any adult chook will dominate the juveniles. Once he's a grown up rooster, usually around a year old, he will be accepted. Until then he's just an upstart teenager. If they keep attacking him beyond that age, there is either something wrong with him or them.
Have they all been living together peacefully? If so, you shouldn't have to do anything. And unless they're breeding quality you might have some trouble getting that much out of them, depending on your area. I have two roos and 7 hens and they all cohabitate well together. One roo is definitely dominant and will get after the other one from time to time, but usually just a quick chase to make sure he's still top dog and that's it. It really just depends on your flock dynamics and what kind of space/resources you have for housing. My flock is really laid-back and we don't have any of the problems that people have told me I will due to numbers, keeping broodies and chicks with the flock, etc. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!
What's a hot blooded bird?I should tell you I have 6 blooded Welsumers, cocks and cockerels, in the pen, with 3 half-Welsummer cross breeds. I don't know if this would work with hot-blooded birds.