17 weeks old. That appears to be the age that my cockerels switch from minor disagreements to all-out war.
There are only 6, but they are all going after one bird. I try to ignore their screaming, - mostly they are just chasing and trying to mate each other, and no one has drawn blood.
We were gone for about 3 hours yesterday, late afternoon into early evening, and when I returned home the picked-on cockerel was missing. I found him on the other side of the 9 foot fence in another flock's ranging area. Lucky for him, that flock had gone to bed, because the rooster in there is big.
After much chasing around through scratchy bushes and tangled vines while light was rapidly decreasing, I got him cornered. When he saw my net, I watched him soar over the 9 foot fence back home. A little adrenaline goes a long way I guess, because I watched him try to get over that fence and fail multiple times before I pulled out the net.
I think I'll have to cage this bird. We are going away for a couple nights soon, and I can't ask chicken sitters to spend their evenings out there with a net. I just hope the next lowest in the pecking order doesn't figure out how to scale the fence!
There are only 6, but they are all going after one bird. I try to ignore their screaming, - mostly they are just chasing and trying to mate each other, and no one has drawn blood.
We were gone for about 3 hours yesterday, late afternoon into early evening, and when I returned home the picked-on cockerel was missing. I found him on the other side of the 9 foot fence in another flock's ranging area. Lucky for him, that flock had gone to bed, because the rooster in there is big.
After much chasing around through scratchy bushes and tangled vines while light was rapidly decreasing, I got him cornered. When he saw my net, I watched him soar over the 9 foot fence back home. A little adrenaline goes a long way I guess, because I watched him try to get over that fence and fail multiple times before I pulled out the net.
I think I'll have to cage this bird. We are going away for a couple nights soon, and I can't ask chicken sitters to spend their evenings out there with a net. I just hope the next lowest in the pecking order doesn't figure out how to scale the fence!
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