How to stop 2 males from fighting?

[chkva]

Here is your solution
View attachment 1784337

I tried not to laugh, but I can't help it

 

[Shadrach]

Hello all,

This is my first post and i want to apologize in advance if my post is long. I have a concern about the males in my flock. Here is a little backstory:

I have 10 females and 2 males in a 4x2 w/ a 2x2 extension, they are all coturnix but are mixed colors. I purchased them when they were about 6-10 weeks old. The males were smaller (presumably younger) than the females and were initially picked on by the females when we first brought them home. It's been about 1 month and the males got bigger and the females stopped picking on them. However, 1 of the males began to consistently pick on the other male. We assume it's a dominance thing, but it began to make the females restless. We decided to isolate the aggressive male from the rest of the flock and the flock seems to be more content with just the 1 passive male. After a week has passed, we reintroduced the aggressive male back to the flock, since the aggressive male kept calling for the flock and we felt bad that he was isolated. The males began to fight each other, causing the females to either flee, pick sides, or do nothing. I assumed they were going to settle down, but after a day, the males still pick on each other, the flock continues to be restless, and the number of laid eggs decreased (not sure it if means anything). We decided to isolate the aggressive male again.

So my questions are, what should I do about the aggressive male? Should I reintroduce him to flock later on, or should I just cull him?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello Ryulk.
Welcome to BYC.
Roosters fight I have 6 atm and they fight every day. But, they all have their own coops and their own hens and the fights are mostly show.
Are they drawing blood, apart from small comb and wattle wounds?
Are the chickens contained in a run? If so then unless you are prepared to split the flock making sure each rooster gets his favorite hens then you're going to have your work cut out for you.

 

[le_bwah]

The aggressive one is just aggressive to the other male, so I don’t know if he is just dominant or naturally aggressive. I will try and isolate the passive male and reintroduce the aggressive male back to the flock, maybe he will behave differently when he is the only male.

It's a hard balance to strike. I had the same issue a few months ago—two rooster, one much more aggressive than the other.
Now I only have one, and he's started to chase off all but his favorite hens.

Unless you intend to hatch your hens' eggs, you might even entertain the idea of culling both roos. Coturnix quail hens can get along just fine and still lay without a male present.

 

[Ryulk]

Put the aggressor in a lovely baking dish at 300 degrees Fahrenheit rubbed with butter and seasoned with garlic and herbs.
That should do the trick!

Sounds very tempting.

 

[BReeder!]

Sounds very tempting.

 

[Ryulk]

Hello Ryulk.
Welcome to BYC.
Roosters fight I have 6 atm and they fight every day. But, they all have their own coops and their own hens and the fights are mostly show.
Are they drawing blood, apart from small comb and wattle wounds?
Are the chickens contained in a run? If so then unless you are prepared to split the flock making sure each rooster gets his favorite hens then you're going to have your work cut out for you.

Thanks! They aren't drawing blood, just the few plucked feathers and restlessness. They are contained in a run. We have decided it is best for the flock to cull the aggressive male. He's back in isolation for now, until we are ready to cull him.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Thanks! They aren't drawing blood, just the few plucked feathers and restlessness. They are contained in a run. We have decided it is best for the flock to cull the aggressive male. He's back in isolation for now, until we are ready to cull him.

@Texas Kiki !!!

Come tell them why this is a bad idea if they ever want to hatch their eggs.

Cull the wimp is my vote. I have noticed little to no correlation between aggressiveness to other males and to hens. In fact, many of my most dominate males are quite tender with the girls, and very protective of them when I'm around. I have actually had a serious problem where males that have gotten the beat-down from other more aggressive boys early in life have ended up meaner to the girls.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Don't want babies = eat both boys

Don't want babies but do want a male around = eat the aggressive one

Do want babies ever = eat the wimp

 

[Kiki]

Cull the wimp for sure.
Made the mistake of culling my
'aggressive' males too soon and kept the wimp.
I had to wait and wait and wait for fertilized eggs.

if I could go back I would have culled the wimp instead in a heartbeat.

The aggressive one is more likely to be matured or has matured faster than the wimpy one. When it comes to breeding quail you want them to mature faster.

 

[Sara L]

Can you split the run into 2 runs? If the hens were picking sides, they probably prefer one rooster versus the other, fertility would be better if they like the rooster they are with. If you can separate them into the two flocks they should hopefully settle down.

Or just eat the wimpy rooster and keep the other.