Rooster Drama: Older rooster chasing young rooster out + Attack

[Amazing_chicks27]

Hello, so I currently have 2 American Game fowl roosters in my flock. One of them is the father, oldest named Red (leader) and the younger one is about 1 year & 1/2 named Alex, the son. They have been together all this time with no issues until one night where they both got cocky, they fought each other almost non-stop for I don't know what reason. But they stopped and the younger one, Alex would avoid being too close and would run away from Red; but no issues would arise. Up until 2 days ago, In the morning, the young roo (Alex) was out of the coop and before I knew it, both roosters were fighting through the fence/coop. I split it up and took the younger rooster somewhere else so they can calm down. After, a couple of hours I took Alex and put him in the coop. The moment he was in there he starting looking for RED and started to give signs that he wanted to fight, he started pecking the ground and pecking at the mesh wired fence. The older one (Red) was in this little house from TSC that has hardware cloth in it so they would kind of peck on each other from there but it seemed like Red didn't really want to fight (wasn't really pecking back). I decided to make the younger one go somewhere else, even though they weren't really fighting. When I did approach the younger one he kind of seemed to want to peck me or maybe warn me (I am not too sure) so with a stick nearby I tapped him on his back like 2-3 times lightly and so he moved away and since I was following him he started running away. So, I for the fun of it, decided to chase him around for a little but soon stopped and decided to leave since I thought nothing was going to happen it seemed like Red wasn't interested and though "What could possibly go wrong?". And out of nowhere I hear Alex squawking and I see Red chasing Alex. They were going around in circles until one of Red's foot and spur got caught on one side of the fence. That is when the younger one Alex started attacking the Red because of course the Red couldn't defend himself. So, I scared Alex away and released Red. After releasing Red, Red would still continue to chase Alex. Red would stop chasing as soon as Alex would get on top of something higher. Alex would avoid going down there. He would stay up on top of this little chicken coop from TSC. And while he was there, I took a play pen and put it right next to the coop. I decided to do that because Alex hadn't really eaten anything or drank water since he was not allowed to go down. I thought, well if I leave him there, he is going to starve and could get sick. I really don't want them to be separated but him not eating would lead to a sick bird. So, I need some advice. I don't have much more room for another coop. Also, Does anybody know what it means when Red (older one) attacks Alex when he is on the ground but when Alex is on top of something like that small coop from TSC, Red does nothing. I decided, to leave it like that for the night, since it was already bed time. The next day, I decided to take Alex out and put him in the playpen. That is when something unimaginable happened. I went in there caught Alex and carried him but when I was leaving the coop, Red comes right in front of me and starting puffing up and looked like he wanted to fight so, I stood there like "No, Red let me pass by". But wanted him to move away so I took a small step forward and that is when Red started attacking my right leg, which had me all confused so within seconds I dropped Alex, and when I did, Red started pecking at Alex. For context, the little TSC house has a little door that is covered with hardware cloth. That little door came off of the house from quite awhile back. So, I got the door from the little TSC house (was nearby) and pushed Red in the TSC house with that door. I picked Alex up and took him to the playpen which is right next to the coop just outside of the coop. I released Red and nothing happened until he say Alex on the other side and continued to pace around and wanted to kind of continue fighting even though they are separated. Present day: Alex is roosting on a stick practically all day, I don't see him eat. And even though, he is separated, every time Alex gets down, Red wants to continue chasing. What do you guys think is happening? Does this mean Red completely kicked Alex out of the Flock? I am confused on how this whole thing started because they were good. And also confused as to why Red attacked me when I was hold Alex. Sorry for the long text but felt like I needed to explain in detail.

NOTE: I am okay. It looks like Red didn't attack me with his spurs. His spurs are HUGE and I was only injured minimally with some bruises and 2 red dots, nothing too big.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

How many hens do you have and how much room in your run? Game roosters are notoriously territorial and it’s not unusual for a younger one to challenge the top rooster and eventually for one to kill the other. I don’t have a lot of game chicken experience but that’s what I’ve learned here on various threads. I will tag a couple people with more experience @MysteryChicken @Florida Bullfrog who can hopefully help you sort it out. I wouldn’t recommend stepping in again and risking injury to yourself because you are then taking on the responsibility of a rooster and further confusing things. It might be better to get rid of one of them or separate them permanently.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hello, so I currently have 2 American Game fowl roosters in my flock. One of them is the father, oldest named Red (leader) and the younger one is about 1 year & 1/2 named Alex, the son. They have been together all this time with no issues until one night where they both got cocky, they fought each other almost non-stop for I don't know what reason. But they stopped and the younger one, Alex would avoid being too close and would run away from Red; but no issues would arise. Up until 2 days ago, In the morning, the young roo (Alex) was out of the coop and before I knew it, both roosters were fighting through the fence/coop. I split it up and took the younger rooster somewhere else so they can calm down. After, a couple of hours I took Alex and put him in the coop. The moment he was in there he starting looking for RED and started to give signs that he wanted to fight, he started pecking the ground and pecking at the mesh wired fence. The older one (Red) was in this little house from TSC that has hardware cloth in it so they would kind of peck on each other from there but it seemed like Red didn't really want to fight (wasn't really pecking back). I decided to make the younger one go somewhere else, even though they weren't really fighting. When I did approach the younger one he kind of seemed to want to peck me or maybe warn me (I am not too sure) so with a stick nearby I tapped him on his back like 2-3 times lightly and so he moved away and since I was following him he started running away. So, I for the fun of it, decided to chase him around for a little but soon stopped and decided to leave since I thought nothing was going to happen it seemed like Red wasn't interested and though "What could possibly go wrong?". And out of nowhere I hear Alex squawking and I see Red chasing Alex. They were going around in circles until one of Red's foot and spur got caught on one side of the fence. That is when the younger one Alex started attacking the Red because of course the Red couldn't defend himself. So, I scared Alex away and released Red. After releasing Red, Red would still continue to chase Alex. Red would stop chasing as soon as Alex would get on top of something higher. Alex would avoid going down there. He would stay up on top of this little chicken coop from TSC. And while he was there, I took a play pen and put it right next to the coop. I decided to do that because Alex hadn't really eaten anything or drank water since he was not allowed to go down. I thought, well if I leave him there, he is going to starve and could get sick. I really don't want them to be separated but him not eating would lead to a sick bird. So, I need some advice. I don't have much more room for another coop. Also, Does anybody know what it means when Red (older one) attacks Alex when he is on the ground but when Alex is on top of something like that small coop from TSC, Red does nothing. I decided, to leave it like that for the night, since it was already bed time. The next day, I decided to take Alex out and put him in the playpen. That is when something unimaginable happened. I went in there caught Alex and carried him but when I was leaving the coop, Red comes right in front of me and starting puffing up and looked like he wanted to fight so, I stood there like "No, Red let me pass by". But wanted him to move away so I took a small step forward and that is when Red started attacking my right leg, which had me all confused so within seconds I dropped Alex, and when I did, Red started pecking at Alex. For context, the little TSC house has a little door that is covered with hardware cloth. That little door came off of the house from quite awhile back. So, I got the door from the little TSC house (was nearby) and pushed Red in the TSC house with that door. I picked Alex up and took him to the playpen which is right next to the coop just outside of the coop. I released Red and nothing happened until he say Alex on the other side and continued to pace around and wanted to kind of continue fighting even though they are separated. Present day: Alex is roosting on a stick practically all day, I don't see him eat. And even though, he is separated, every time Alex gets down, Red wants to continue chasing. What do you guys think is happening? Does this mean Red completely kicked Alex out of the Flock? I am confused on how this whole thing started because they were good. And also confused as to why Red attacked me when I was hold Alex. Sorry for the long text but felt like I needed to explain in detail.

NOTE: I am okay. It looks like Red didn't attack me with his spurs. His spurs are HUGE and I was only injured minimally with some bruises and 2 red dots, nothing too big.

How old are they exactly? American Gamefowl it is best to keep the males separated, cuz once they hit puberty(Gameness) will start to show. It can take between 5-6 Months to 1-3 years for it to start to show depending on strain of fowl.

With the older one attacking you that one time seems like he may have been triggered somehow by a motion you made possibly.

These two have been trying to get after each other for almost 2 years now.

 

[Amazing_chicks27]

How many hens do you have and how much room in your run? Game roosters are notoriously territorial and it’s not unusual for a younger one to challenge the top rooster and eventually for one to kill the other. I don’t have a lot of game chicken experience but that’s what I’ve learned here on various threads. I will tag a couple people with more experience @MysteryChicken @Florida Bullfrog who can hopefully help you sort it out. I wouldn’t recommend stepping in again and risking injury to yourself because you are then taking on the responsibility of a rooster and further confusing things. It might be better to get rid of one of them or separate them permanently.

Hello, so I have 20 hens and as for room I am not quite sure, I would say that they have enough room just that I do notice that they don't hang out around a certain area in the coop which I don't know how to make it interesting so they can spread out.

 

[Amazing_chicks27]

How old are they exactly? American Gamefowl it is best to keep the males separated, cuz once they hit puberty(Gameness) will start to show. It can take between 5-6 Months to 1-3 years for it to start to show depending on strain of fowl.

With the older one attacking you that one time seems like he may have been triggered somehow by a motion you made possibly.

These two have been trying to get after each other for almost 2 years now.

The oldest I am not sure since I didn't raise him. He came all alone to my property, I guess he heard my hens and decided to come. But, I would say he isn't that young, he looks a little old but not too old.

About the picture you put. Back then, I had a another rooster that would fight with Red (oldest roo) only because Red would pick a fight. They would always want to fight and based on what you and @BlindLemonChicken say is to keep them separated. Do you still have both roo's in the picture? If you do, how do you do it to keep them separated?

​

 

[MysteryChicken]

The oldest I am not sure since I did raise him. He came all alone to my property, I guess he heard my hens and decided to come. But, I would say he isn't that young, he looks a little old but not too old.

About the picture you put. Back then, I had a another rooster that would fight with Red (oldest roo) only because Red would pick a fight. They would always want to fight and based on what you and @BlindLemonChicken say is to keep them separated. Do you still have both roo's in the picture? If you do, how do you do it to keep them separated?

​

I've got both cocks still yes. I just keep the one in the cage for now, so far this has worked for me. I wanna set up his own area with some ladies of his own once I can. This just temporary until then.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well they don't call it cock fighting for nothing. I would expect this to get worse and worse. Sometimes, they will have it out, and that settles it, but your two did not do this, they continue to fight.

I am thinking that Red didn't so much attack you, as the attack the bird you were holding, but I would not bet a dime on that. I think your birds are becoming more and more aggressive.

A lot depends on your set up, and the space you have. Personally, I would let either one of them or both of them go. I do not like that kind of tension in my flock.

The real truth about roosters, is how they acted last week or even yesterday does NOT indicate how they will act tomorrow. Once they become aggressive, there is very limited training that will change that, none that I have heard of that will work between the aggression of two birds.

Completely separate them, out of sight or cull them.

Mrs K

 

[FrostRanger]

Keeping multiple game roosters in a flock is asking for trouble as they were bred for cockfighting. I agree with @Mrs. K, the only real solution here is going to be permanent separation and possibly rehoming(or culling) one or both birds. If they stay together this will go on until one or both are badly injured or dead. Also, don't chase roosters, that can trigger an attack in some birds eventually - and don't chase the hens either for that matter

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Also, don't chase roosters, that can trigger an attack in some birds eventually - and don't chase the hens either for that matter

This is a very good point. They are prey animals and chasing them will make them afraid of you and eventually cause aggression, probably when your back is turned.

 

[MysteryChicken]

As a Soft Cull(No Kill) I'd take one from you, but have no idea of your location.