Rooster fighting

[ColeTrain425]

I need suggestions and help on what I need to do or not do
I raise silkies I wanted to add another roo to my flock of 8 young 2 month old hens and 4 grown hens and silkie rooster.
He didn’t like that very much and when he first notice the new Cochin bantam roo he initiated a fight
The were biting at each others neck and running underneath and on top of each other it never got bloody but
I went into the pen and I had a plastic tote lid an I bopped the silkie roo and he went on about his business and didn’t try fighting to Cochin roo anymore they even were in the coop/house together at some point I stayed around for about 30/35 minutes watching them and making sure they was done I was still outside but they couldn’t see me and they didn’t fight so what I’m wondering if the Cochin roo won dominance and got the silkie too to surrender dominance ?
Should I seperate them or let them solve it for themselves

 

[Isadora]

The fight may be over for now but it's likely they will pick it up again at some point.

 

[aart]

1 roo per each 10 hens. The roosters will beat the hens up if he doesn't have enough of them.

That's no guarantee.

The 'rooster' to hen ratio of 1:10 that is often cited is primarily for fertility efficiency in commercial breeding facilities.

It doesn't mean that if a cockbird has 10 hens that he won't abuse or over mate them.

Many breeders keep pairs, trios, quads, etc ....short term and/or long term.

It all depends on the temperaments of the cock and hens and sometimes housing provided.

Backyard flocks can achieve good fertility with a larger ratio.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should I seperate them or let them solve it for themselves

It sounds like you are looking for a guarantee and you don't get guarantees in this stuff. I understand but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

If you leave them together different outcomes are possible. They could fight to the death. One of them just won't quit. That could be the loser as well as the winner. They just cannot accept another competitor.

They may reach an accommodation on how to work together to take care of the flock. This actually happens a lot and can work different ways. The more room you have the better your chances for a good outcome. One time I had two that hung together as best buddies. Some hens hung around but other hens formed a sub-flock and mostly hung by themselves. All the eggs were fertilized and both boys contributed to that. This may not be the most frequent accommodation but with living animals you don't get guarantees.

If you have enough room a more common outcome is that each boy establishes his own territory and attracts his own harem. If these territories are separated by line of sight they pretty much leave each other alone, though the girls may not be very loyal to their rooster and either boy can fertilize the eggs.

Sometimes the loser of the fight may hang around the periphery of the flock. That's a lonely life.

It may not just be one fight either. There can be new fights as time goes by. Often these are just skirmishes to reestablish dominance but you never know when one can get serious.

Another danger is that sometimes one gets injured, they are trying to hurt each other after all. If one gets injured, what would normally be a skirmish and over becomes serious as the uninjured one then can seriously try to kill the wounded one.

I cannot tell you what will happen with yours, but if you separate them instead of let them finish they will start fighting when you out them back together. If you are going to separate them plan on two coops and runs where they will forever stay apart. Put some girls with each of them for two flocks.

Once something is out over the internet it can never be recalled. At some point that 10 to 1 ratio was taken out of context. It's 12 to 1 or 15 to 1 for bantams, by the way. Those ratios are roughly what hatcheries use to assure full fertility since their interest is about fertile eggs. Those ratios have nothing to do with roosters fighting or hens being over-mated. Yet they are constantly quoted as a law of nature. Don't worry about maintaining a ratio.

 

[ColeTrain425]

Since the Cochin seems to have dominance over the silkie, I would leave them to sort it out.
I have this kind of problem, except they didn't work it out so I have to separate one of them.

So you think it is safe to leave them together Introduced them around 7:45 eastern time it’s now 11:14 I stayed outside till about 8:00 eastern time and they had quit fighting I wouldn’t really consider it even a real bad fight there was just a lot of jumping running and neck biting but I had smack the silkie with a plastic tote lid (I know that sounds terrible) but that seem to get his attention he and the Cochin were still cautious of one another but I don’t recall them going after each other I just wanted to add a new roo bc I haven’t had a good hatched rate with several of my silkie eggs and I thought the Cochin an silkie cross was pretty

 

[ColeTrain425]

The fight may be over for now but it's likely they will pick it up again at some point.

Is there a need to separate or should I leave them be ?

 

[Isadora]

Is there a need to separate or should I leave them be ?

It's up to you and your comfort level.
I hatched some chicks and kept one of the cockerels last year because I liked his type better than his dad. They did find together for a while but eventually they decided to fight and it got bad. Decided to sell the cockerel since his dad's temperament was proven.
But I'm not breeding my chickens for anything. You may make a different decision based on your goals.
Is it relatively easy for you to separate them? It may not be a bad idea if you have the extra pen.

 

[aart]

I raise silkies

I would think if you are doing any serious breeding, you'd want your males separated with the chosen females for your breeding goals.

 

[ColeTrain425]

It sounds like you are looking for a guarantee and you don't get guarantees in this stuff. I understand but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

If you leave them together different outcomes are possible. They could fight to the death. One of them just won't quit. That could be the loser as well as the winner. They just cannot accept another competitor.

They may reach an accommodation on how to work together to take care of the flock. This actually happens a lot and can work different ways. The more room you have the better your chances for a good outcome. One time I had two that hung together as best buddies. Some hens hung around but other hens formed a sub-flock and mostly hung by themselves. All the eggs were fertilized and both boys contributed to that. This may not be the most frequent accommodation but with living animals you don't get guarantees.

If you have enough room a more common outcome is that each boy establishes his own territory and attracts his own harem. If these territories are separated by line of sight they pretty much leave each other alone, though the girls may not be very loyal to their rooster and either boy can fertilize the eggs.

Sometimes the loser of the fight may hang around the periphery of the flock. That's a lonely life.

It may not just be one fight either. There can be new fights as time goes by. Often these are just skirmishes to reestablish dominance but you never know when one can get serious.

Another danger is that sometimes one gets injured, they are trying to hurt each other after all. If one gets injured, what would normally be a skirmish and over becomes serious as the uninjured one then can seriously try to kill the wounded one.

I cannot tell you what will happen with yours, but if you separate them instead of let them finish they will start fighting when you out them back together. If you are going to separate them plan on two coops and runs where they will forever stay apart. Put some girls with each of them for two flocks.

Once something is out over the internet it can never be recalled. At some point that 10 to 1 ratio was taken out of context. It's 12 to 1 or 15 to 1 for bantams, by the way. Those ratios are roughly what hatcheries use to assure full fertility since their interest is about fertile eggs. Those ratios have nothing to do with roosters fighting or hens being over-mated. Yet they are constantly quoted as a law of nature. Don't worry about maintaining a ratio.

I think they decided to be friends or tolerate each other I’ve checked in them several times today and they have been standing around with each other an the hen and there’s been no fighting with each other they still have caution to one another but they seem to have made truths

 

[LhickenChicken]

I need suggestions and help on what I need to do or not do
I raise silkies I wanted to add another roo to my flock of 8 young 2 month old hens and 4 grown hens and silkie rooster.
He didn’t like that very much and when he first notice the new Cochin bantam roo he initiated a fight
The were biting at each others neck and running underneath and on top of each other it never got bloody but
I went into the pen and I had a plastic tote lid an I bopped the silkie roo and he went on about his business and didn’t try fighting to Cochin roo anymore they even were in the coop/house together at some point I stayed around for about 30/35 minutes watching them and making sure they was done I was still outside but they couldn’t see me and they didn’t fight so what I’m wondering if the Cochin roo won dominance and got the silkie too to surrender dominance ?
Should I seperate them or let them solve it for themselves

Since the Cochin seems to have dominance over the silkie, I would leave them to sort it out.
I have this kind of problem, except they didn't work it out so I have to separate one of them.