My small rooster is bullying my big rooster

[big bouncer]

jester is bullying

bouncer. Will bouncer stand up for himself?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Were they raised together? How old are they now? How much roaming space and roost space? Size of coop & run? How many hens? And what do you feed including treats? All these questions are to help answer yours, because there are many variables at play.

Your WLH looks nice, but your black guy is very pretty.

 

[big bouncer]

Hi, welcome to BYC! 

Were they raised together? How old are they now? How much roaming space and roost space? Size of coop & run? How many hens? And what do you feed including treats?  All these questions are to help answer yours, because there are many variables at play.

Your WLH looks nice, but your black guy is very pretty. 

yes they were raised together. They are both almost 8 months old. They free roam as far as they want. There is roost space for an extra 15 chickens. There are 19 hens. They get fed mealworms as treats, food scraps, and chicken feed. They also eat a lot of bugs and weeds. The black one is somewhat scared of me but will eat from my hand. The white one lets me catch him. The coops is quite big

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sounds like your set up should accommodate them both.

I usually provide a couple of feed stations and plenty of visual barriers. They should be able to get along. Squabbles are normal. But is the meany just relentlessly chasing the other guy? If so, you could temprorarily separate the bully so he has to work his way back into the pecking order. Maybe start with 1 day out of sight. Bouncer doesn't look like he is missing a bunch of feathers. He may stand up for himself. Or he may accept his place as lower rooster... Usually it's about confidence and will power between them.

Also, if you are feeding layer.... it has 16% protein and 4% calcium usually. That is the minimal protein to support a layer. So roosters and technically layers could use more than that. And too much calcium long term can cause kidney issues for non layers such as roosters, chicks, and molting hens.

I have a mixed age and gender flock. So I use Purina Flock Raiser which is 20% protein and 1% calcium with oyster shell on the side for layers. This way I never have to worry about changing feed when we have chicks either. There are lots of feeds that are lower calcium and higher protein, including starter or grower. And none of those are harmful to your girls as long as you give OS on the side. The higher protein helps grow feathers back in faster for molting girls as well.

Though your boys may be gathering enough protein on range, it's hard to say. And higher protein prevents things like feather picking and eating and cannibalism.

Incidentally, the rooster staying away from you is a good thing. In the chicken world, fear equals respect! So you may have less problem with human aggression from the one who keeps his distance. It is suggested that you don't be too kind to the roosters. Make sure you walk directly through their path and they must step out of your way. I try not to be rude even to my animals, but that isn't how they see it. To them it's part of the pecking order.

Sorry if I haven't been much help.

I do know that our interference is irrelevant to the pecking order, like if we try to stop it at that moment it will just continue later. Although they should be able to work it out, hopefully you will get more suggestions. If they don't and you can keep only one, I like Bouncer!

Though, that also would depend on how they treat the ladies. By now they should be calling the girls for treats. And courting (dancing and serenading) instead of just jumping on and pulling out her feathers sometimes damaging her comb and relentlessly hounding them.

Best wishes!

 

[big bouncer]

Sounds like your set up should accommodate them both.

I usually provide a couple of feed stations and plenty of visual barriers. They should be able to get along. Squabbles are normal. But is the meany just relentlessly chasing the other guy? If so, you could temprorarily separate the bully so he has to work his way back into the pecking order. Maybe start with 1 day out of sight. Bouncer doesn't look like he is missing a bunch of feathers. He may stand up for himself. Or he may accept his place as lower rooster... Usually it's about confidence and will power between them.


Incidentally, the rooster staying away from you is a good thing. In the chicken world, fear equals respect! So you may have less problem with human aggression from the one who keeps his distance. It is suggested that you don't be too kind to the roosters. Make sure you walk directly through their path and they must step out of your way. I try not to be rude even to my animals, but that isn't how they see it. To them it's part of the pecking order.

Sorry if I haven't been much help. :/  I do know that our interference is irrelevant to the pecking order, like if we try to stop it at that moment it will just continue later. Although they should be able to work it out, hopefully you will get more suggestions. If they don't and you can keep only one, I like Bouncer!   Though, that also would depend on how they treat the ladies. By now they should be calling the girls for treats. And courting (dancing and serenading) instead of just jumping on and pulling out her feathers sometimes damaging her comb and relentlessly hounding them.

Best wishes! 

Yes my roosters have learned to call the hens and are nice to them. Both are great roosters. Jester the white will scare Bouncer off the hens and will chase him away from food. To me that is bad. Bouncer can run away. I just don't like jester chasing him. I hope bouncer stands up for himself and takes over

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Yes my roosters have learned to call the hens and are nice to them. Both are great roosters. Jester the white will scare Bouncer off the hens and will chase him away from food. To me that is bad. Bouncer can run away. I just don't like jester chasing him. I hope bouncer stands up for himself and takes over

That sounds fairly standard. Every single one of my birds chases somebody away from the food.

And sadly my favorite cockerels are never at the top of the pecking order.... but then if they are they become the jerks. Crud always rolls down hill! I even see it in my dogs and my kids.

But I do understand wanting him to stand up for himself. And he may, it's hard to say.
But you could always keep the one you like best. Your hens will be fine without two boys competing for their affections.

They may all be happy and you just don't like the pecking order? Would you feel different if Bouncer was chasing Jester? In real life that would make more sense!

 

[bobbi-j]

If it's a big problem for you, maybe you want to rehome the white one?

 

[aart]

One cock/erel will always be dominant....who is top cock can change, and change back, and change again.
Size doesn't matter..... haha!
You can't control it....and it doesn't really matter who is dominant as long as both are doing their jobs.
As long as no one is bleeding copiously or being pinned down and beaten unmercilessly.....just let them work it out.
Observe and enjoy.