Purple comb on rooster.

Can you recall the 70s and "mood rings"? They were supposed to change color according to your mood. Roosters' combs are a lot like mood rings. Depending on how they feel emotionally, excited, stressed, relaxed, etc, their comb color can change with the tips appearing purplish, sometimes bleeding down into the lower comb. It usually returns to a normal red in mere minutes.

A rooster with circulation issues or a heart and lung condition will have a dark comb all over, not just the tips.

Frostbite causes the comb to go white, not purple, as tissues freeze and lose the blood supply as it is drawn in toward the body's core.

Normal, healthy comb color is a dusky red. If you ever see a bright cherry red or fire engine red comb, it means the chicken has a fever or body temp is elevated above normal. It means the chicken should be immediately moved to a cooler environment or examined for other signs of illness so they can be treated.
(I love mood rings)
I don't know if I really knew that, about their combs and how they are like mood rings, that is really cool.
 
Ha ha ha! Okay.
Well, I got these two in August, they are EE and hatched in April I believe. They are great with me and my young kids, but they are absolutely rough with the girls. I’m having lots of feather loss and a couple of the hens are hiding in nesting boxes
lately. I have 17 leghorns and 22 Various heritage mixes all of different ages (4 are bantam hens, so they don’t really count, lol).

Are these boys rough because they are so young? Or because there are two of them? I thought I could get two because I have a lot of hens, but I’m really rethinking my need for roosters if the girls don’t like them anyways. I was wanting them more so for additional protection for the flock and hoped they make the girls happy.
They both dance for the hens now but only the one does the treat cluck call thing.

It’s going to be cold soon and they are going to be spending more time inside and in close quarters. I’m worried that the girls without feathers will be chilly and that the overall flock will just be unhappy being constantly mounted (and sometimes one rooster right after the other).

My friend tells me that I’m thinking too hard about it all and just leave everyone be. But I’ve become a crazy chicken lady and really care about these girls.
 
Six-month old cockerels are punks. They are pure hormones, no finesse. They are not yet fit to be around hens, and probably won't be until after they're a year old, if then. Many of us that have had many roosters over the years, segregate the young punks until they reach an age and temperament that they are able to treat the hens with respect.

Your boys may seem nice around you and your children now, but they are only just coming into their hormones and things can turn on a dime. You need to be vigilant that they don't become suddenly aggressive and do some harm to their humans. I suggest you read up on raising and training and disciplining cockerels. Everything hinges on how you deal with any initial aggression whether you will end up with gentleman roos or devils.

That said, having two roosters, as long as you have a good hen/rooster ratio, can be very effective at protecting the hens. On a few tense occasions, my two roosters have protected the hens in their flock by double-teaming predators and drawing the predators away from the flock, thus saving the lives of the hens. I believe having the two work together actually saved their own lives rather than having one rooster needing to sacrifice his life to save the girls.
 
Six-month old cockerels are punks. They are pure hormones, no finesse. They are not yet fit to be around hens, and probably won't be until after they're a year old, if then. Many of us that have had many roosters over the years, segregate the young punks until they reach an age and temperament that they are able to treat the hens with respect.

Your boys may seem nice around you and your children now, but they are only just coming into their hormones and things can turn on a dime. You need to be vigilant that they don't become suddenly aggressive and do some harm to their humans. I suggest you read up on raising and training and disciplining cockerels. Everything hinges on how you deal with any initial aggression whether you will end up with gentleman roos or devils.

That said, having two roosters, as long as you have a good hen/rooster ratio, can be very effective at protecting the hens. On a few tense occasions, my two roosters have protected the hens in their flock by double-teaming predators and drawing the predators away from the flock, thus saving the lives of the hens. I believe having the two work together actually saved their own lives rather than having one rooster needing to sacrifice his life to save the girls.
Thank you! Yes, definitely vigilant on the aggression. My littlest is never in there out of my reach (I try not to bring him in at all if I can). And my older two would be able to get out if things got nasty (but are still not allowed in the pen without me, but kids don’t always listen). And if there is any aggression issues they will no longer exist here. Not taking chances with that. I have read a lot about what to do if challenged and rooster behaviour, but there seems to be a lot of varying advice out there (everyone is an expert lol). I am more than comfortable with asserting my roll as boss of the coop though if need be. And I feel like they already know that (but of course I’m sure would be more than happy to try and best me at some point).

Great info about having the two work together; that is definitely reassuring! Thank you.
 

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