Roosters are fighting. Help!

A little background:
We have 2 roosters who we've had since they were chicks. They are about 7-8 months old. Out of nowhere, they started fighting today. It wasnt anything too severe, but they both had blood on their faces. It seems that our welsummer has surrendered to our wyandotte (the welsummer was in charge, so this surprised us). We've been keeping an eye on them all day and the wyandotte is not letting the welsummer even come out to eat or drink. The welsummer has been under the chicken coop most of the day and everytime he tries to come out, he gets attacked. We locked up the wyandotte in a dog kennel at roosting time. Is there any hope they will get along or do we need to pick our favorite one?

First, why do you want a rooster or both roosters? What are your goals relative to roosters? The only reason you need a rooster is that you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. There is nothing wrong with personal preferences, I think they are important. I generally recommend that you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed problems with more roosters, just that more problems are likely. Your goals are going to be different from mine and it's your goals that should drive this decision.

Some people do keep multiple roosters with the flock successfully but some can't. The males may fight to the death or they may reach an accommodation in how they protect the flock. Often that means they each set up their own territory out of sight of the other and each keep their own harem. How much room they have is an important factor in behaviors. Some people do keep multiple roosters in much less space but the more room they have the more likely are to get along.

In Wyoming this time of the year it is possible that weather recently reduced the space available to them which may have triggered this behavior. But you don't really have roosters, you have cockerels. The are still maturing. What it sounds like to me is that your Wyandottte was slower to mature but he finally has and staged a palace revolt to take over. He is making sure that the Welsummer understands that. It's possible if you leave them alone that they will work it out in a day or two or it's possible it will be a fight to the death. Every time you interfere the process is pretty much going to start over.

Even if they work it out and get along for now it is always possible there will be skirmishes in the future. Usually these are minor but you never know when they can escalate into a fight to the death.

I don't know your goals or your set-up so I can't tel you what to do. I try to make these decisions for the benefit of the flock as a whole and not for the benefit of any individual bird.
 
To answer some questions -
we don't need roosters. They were all supposed to be pullets but ended up with 11 hens and 2 roosters. We kept them because they are beautiful and they got along great in the beginning! Our hens always seemed to like the welsummer, although they run away from the wyandotte. I also don't have the heart to kill one just because they are a rooster - which is why I'm struggling with this.
This morning, we let the wyandotte out of the kennel and he instantly went after him again. He's been hiding under the coop ever since. The wyandotte has also been a bit of a bully to the hens. He was doing his dance around them and pecking them away from the treats.
The weather has been very cold and we have been leaving the heat light on at night. I don't know if this would have anything to do with the problem? We left it off last night, though, and the roosters are acting the same way. They still have the same amount of room they have always had.
I'll also add that the welsummer was occasionally agressive towards us and we almost got rid of him a while back. He let us pick him up and hold him yesterday, which hasn't happened in months. Idk if it was because he was exhausted or because he's submissive. Either way, it was sad to see him like that. We feel so bad for him. He hides in the corner under the coop with has head buried in the corner. Breaks our heart.
 
To answer some questions -
we don't need roosters. They were all supposed to be pullets but ended up with 11 hens and 2 roosters. We kept them because they are beautiful and they got along great in the beginning! Our hens always seemed to like the welsummer, although they run away from the wyandotte. I also don't have the heart to kill one just because they are a rooster - which is why I'm struggling with this.
This morning, we let the wyandotte out of the kennel and he instantly went after him again. He's been hiding under the coop ever since. The wyandotte has also been a bit of a bully to the hens. He was doing his dance around them and pecking them away from the treats.
The weather has been very cold and we have been leaving the heat light on at night. I don't know if this would have anything to do with the problem? We left it off last night, though, and the roosters are acting the same way. They still have the same amount of room they have always had.
I'll also add that the welsummer was occasionally agressive towards us and we almost got rid of him a while back. He let us pick him up and hold him yesterday, which hasn't happened in months. Idk if it was because he was exhausted or because he's submissive. Either way, it was sad to see him like that. We feel so bad for him. He hides in the corner under the coop with has head buried in the corner. Breaks our heart.

He is hiding his head to protect his life. That's where the other one can kill him. Which means a communication has happened between the two of them that makes him fear for his life.

If you want to keep him, which I understand, he needs his own little enclosure and mini coop. I have this video that show my ees in one place attached to my orps, and then you can see my 'henrooster' on the otherside as well, they arent lonely bc they can see each other but they all live in peace....

In the following video, you can see the 3 separations, mama hen and chick are no longer separate


 
sounds like normal roostering to me, I would leave them be for awhile and see how it goes. The number 2 one will learn its place and things will be fine if they are like most. once it calms down there will still be occasional scuffles if the number 2 tries to regain top position but thats normal chicken behavior. Its not like they are game chickens, It is highly doubtful they will fight till there is serious injury, not as long as they are able to get away from each other at the end of a scuffle at least

If or when trouble breaks out again it will be when the second place rooster courts, tries to court, or attempts to top a hen. Then depending on the breed of chicken that you are trying to keep a "Battle Royal" may break out. Chickens love being in a flock of their own kind except when they don't enjoy being with their own. No rooster prefers a shot nosed cockerel or other subordinate rooster sneaking around behind his back and trying to cut a hen out of the OLD BOYS' flock.
 
Our hens always seemed to like the welsummer, although they run away from the wyandotte. - At 7-8 months old you're dealing with pullets and cockerels. They may have preferred the welsummer because he matured slower.
I'll also add that the welsummer was occasionally aggressive towards us and we almost got rid of him a while back. - Human aggression is not something I'll tolerate.
If it were me I'd get rid of the welsummer. You don't have to kill him. You can rehome him. Once the pullets and the wyandotte mature odds are they will get along fine. If it weren't for the human aggression I'd say the exact opposite. I was going to tell you to keep the welsummer till you mentioned that. Maybe elaborate on what/when etc this aggression was.
 
Well, they were better today! Welsummer still got chased but they slept together on the roost last night and were out in the run together for a short time today. Hopefully it keeps getting better from here!
 
I’m having issues creating a post of my own, I have 2 cockerels one small bantam frizzle which is just a few months old than my seianna Star cockerels, my frizzle Named Roo has always been the dominant one, and aggressive too, he must of struck a nerve with my seianna Star Named Horn yesterday with is younger but twice as big as his is Horn came unglued on him and would not let up on the poor little guy, the more he ran away the more he had him pinned down I had to break it up and save the frizzle life! Horn has never showed any aggression to humans or Roo! Will they ever be ok together again? I believe Roo is scared of Horn now but afraid if I put them out together Horn will kill him
 

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