Roosters fighting

[crazychick87]

Bit of a back story. Our hen went broody earlier this year, she had 4 serama cross, 1 hen and 3 cockerels. They’re now 17 weeks old. We wanted to add a cockerel to the flock so we rehomed two of the boys quite easily as they’re small and really sweet.
anyway, one died and the other got brought back because she could no longer keep him.
I have separated him into our old coop with a run attached so they can all see each other but not make contact.
they keep fighting through the mesh I have put him up for rehoming yesterday but nothing as yet. I’m not sure what to do. Top hen keeps making a racket when they fight like she’s telling them off but our cockerel is having non of it! Is there any chance at all they will sort it out and be ok with each other? Excuse the state, we’ve had a lot of rain lol. I had to use purple spray on the “new” one as he got a small peck on his comb before I could separate them.

 

[DobieLover]

The only way two male chickens are going to "sort it out" is to fight until one of them submits or dies.
Keep them separated until someone steps forward for the second cockerel. It takes time to rehome the boys even if you lucked out and the first time you rehomed them relatively quickly. I personally would never have agreed to take a cockerel back for this very reason.

 

[crazychick87]

The only way two male chickens are going to "sort it out" is to fight until one of them submits or dies.
Keep them separated until someone steps forward for the second cockerel. It takes time to rehome the boys even if you lucked out and the first time you rehomed them relatively quickly. I personally would never have agreed to take a cockerel back for this very reason.

Thank you.
To be honest I wish I hadn’t taken him back. Our boy is so lovely, he’s tiny so doesn’t scare me
I guess this is a lesson learned! I will keep him separate for now and figure it out as I go.
Top hen (she was their mum but they’re 18 weeks now) has stepped in a few times giving a peck (no blood or anything just like a warning) and ours runs off which defuses the situation. They can’t get to each other physically. Someone said to me to just let them sort it out but I don’t want either getting badly injured.
I was far too soft I think!

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

Thank you.
To be honest I wish I hadn’t taken him back. Our boy is so lovely, he’s tiny so doesn’t scare me
I guess this is a lesson learned! I will keep him separate for now and figure it out as I go.
Top hen (she was their mum but they’re 18 weeks now) has stepped in a few times giving a peck (no blood or anything just like a warning) and ours runs off which defuses the situation. They can’t get to each other physically. Someone said to me to just let them sort it out but I don’t want either getting badly injured.
I was far too soft I think!

You know I keep wondering why I know some people with chickens and they have more than one rooster and they don't fight each other. Was told it was because each rooster needs between 10-20 chickens for themselves and if you have them then they don't fight each other. I wonder if it's just some breeds that do this or it's a possibility with all chicken breeds.
We have gamefowl and was told that my rooster will fight his son eventually so I'll have to cage him. Up to this point I'm thinking I will have to cage him because I have seen our rooster chase him a bit twice. They sleep in the same pen with the girls and roam free the rest of the day (even during the day they'll lay close to each other without any fuss). But I have no idea if this will last or it's just because he hasn't gotten too hormonal yet...

 

[3KillerBs]

We have gamefowl and was told that my rooster will fight his son eventually

It's called "cockfighting" for a reason.

 

[DobieLover]

But I have no idea if this will last or it's just because he hasn't gotten too hormonal yet...

How old is the cockerel?
I had two LF roosters live together relatively peacefully for a little over a year. The junior rooster was raised in the flock under the senior rooster and hens.

One day Jr had enough of being run off by Sr and he attacked Sr when he was snoozing at the edge of a huge shrub the chickens shelter under. Sr was covered in blood but Jr took the brunt of the beating. I separated them for 3 days to cool down. Within 15 seconds of me releasing Jr from isolation, he jumped a hen, Sr knocked him off and the hackles were out again. I sold Jr.

The new Jr rooster, that was broody raised in the flock, is a bantam. A real charmer and a great look out. He has his little girls and woos and dances around the big girls but he and Sr live peacefully together as Jr is too small and fast for Sr to catch and Jr is not stupid enough to take on Sr, who is 5 times his size.

Unless you have a very large area (think on the scale of acres or part of an acre vs sq ft) and mellow males (they will still spar for dominance) plan on your two fighting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is there any chance at all they will sort it out and be ok with each other?

With living animals anything is possible. Plenty of people have multiple roosters and no real drama. Some wind up with dead or seriously injured roosters when they try that. There are several different things that influence that, many that you have no control over. A huge factor is personality. Some are going to fight to the death, no matter if they are losing or winning. Having a lot of room can help, I don't mean 4 sq ft in the coop and 10 in the run. I mean enough room they can each set up their own territory and stay out of sight of each other and each having their own harem. Yet there are some that get along fine in much less space. Each one is different. It seems to help if they grow up together, either as siblings or father-son, but that is certainly no guarantee. Yours have been separated so you lost any benefit of them being siblings. You don't have roosters, you have two immature cockerels really hyped up on hormones. Once they mature enough that they gain control of their hormones things can calm down (or maybe not) but as someone on here once said watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. They might calm down some when they both finally mature or they might fight to the death. Yours have shown that getting there will not be pretty.

This is where I usually go through a spiel about keeping as few boys as you can and meet your goals. But I think you have made an excellent decision to rehome that boy.

Was told it was because each rooster needs between 10-20 chickens for themselves and if you have them then they don't fight each other.

Sorry but that is not anywhere close to true. Plenty of people keep multiple roosters with much lower hen to rooster ratios. If the boys are going to fight they will fight over 30 hens as fast as they will fight over a handful.

We have gamefowl and was told that my rooster will fight his son eventually so I'll have to cage him. Up to this point I'm thinking I will have to cage him because I have seen our rooster chase him a bit twice. They sleep in the same pen with the girls and roam free the rest of the day (even during the day they'll lay close to each other without any fuss). But I have no idea if this will last or it's just because he hasn't gotten too hormonal yet...

This can happen with any breed. This thread is about Serama crosses after all and Seramas are supposed to be pretty peaceful. It's not just some breeds. Mature roosters of any breed will often chase their sons when their sons hit puberty and start bothering his hens. There can be exceptions but that is about as normal and standard behavior as you can get with chickens of any breed.

The original gamefowl were developed for cockfighting. They were specifically bred to fight. So fighting and fighting to the death is in their genetics. But cockfighting is no longer legal in any state in the US though people still cockfight illegally. I don't know the legal status in other countries. So there are still plenty of flocks with "fight to the death" bred into them. But there are some flocks of gamefowl where fight to the death has been bred out of them. These can behave like any other chicken breed.

I don't know which flock you have. Cockfighting is still practiced around the world, illegal or not. Once your cockerel reaches a certain point of maturity there is a real chance that it will be a fight to the death. I'd have that cage ready no matter what breed they were, but the risk is higher with gamefowl.

If you want to keep both of the males you might look into staking. That's a pretty common way to keep multiple roosters and stop them from killing each other. I don't know the details on exactly how it is done, how to attach them or how far apart they have to be, but this keeps them from killing each other. This leaves it up to the hens to hang with whichever boy they want to.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

How old is the cockerel?
I had two LF roosters live together relatively peacefully for a little over a year. The junior rooster was raised in the flock under the senior rooster and hens.

One day Jr had enough of being run off by Sr and he attacked Sr when he was snoozing at the edge of a huge shrub the chickens shelter under. Sr was covered in blood but Jr took the brunt of the beating. I separated them for 3 days to cool down. Within 15 seconds of me releasing Jr from isolation, he jumped a hen, Sr knocked him off and the hackles were out again. I sold Jr.

The new Jr rooster, that was broody raised in the flock, is a bantam. A real charmer and a great look out. He has his little girls and woos and dances around the big girls but he and Sr live peacefully together as Jr is too small and fast for Sr to catch and Jr is not stupid enough to take on Sr, who is 5 times his size.

Unless you have a very large area (think on the scale of acres or part of an acre vs sq ft) and mellow males (they will still spar for dominance) plan on your two fighting.

He's about 6 months old,

With living animals anything is possible. Plenty of people have multiple roosters and no real drama. Some wind up with dead or seriously injured roosters when they try that. There are several different things that influence that, many that you have no control over. A huge factor is personality. Some are going to fight to the death, no matter if they are losing or winning. Having a lot of room can help, I don't mean 4 sq ft in the coop and 10 in the run. I mean enough room they can each set up their own territory and stay out of sight of each other and each having their own harem. Yet there are some that get along fine in much less space. Each one is different. It seems to help if they grow up together, either as siblings or father-son, but that is certainly no guarantee. Yours have been separated so you lost any benefit of them being siblings. You don't have roosters, you have two immature cockerels really hyped up on hormones. Once they mature enough that they gain control of their hormones things can calm down (or maybe not) but as someone on here once said watching pullets and cockerels go through puberty is often not for the faint of heart. They might calm down some when they both finally mature or they might fight to the death. Yours have shown that getting there will not be pretty.

This is where I usually go through a spiel about keeping as few boys as you can and meet your goals. But I think you have made an excellent decision to rehome that boy.


Sorry but that is not anywhere close to true. Plenty of people keep multiple roosters with much lower hen to rooster ratios. If the boys are going to fight they will fight over 30 hens as fast as they will fight over a handful.


This can happen with any breed. This thread is about Serama crosses after all and Seramas are supposed to be pretty peaceful. It's not just some breeds. Mature roosters of any breed will often chase their sons when their sons hit puberty and start bothering his hens. There can be exceptions but that is about as normal and standard behavior as you can get with chickens of any breed.

The original gamefowl were developed for cockfighting. They were specifically bred to fight. So fighting and fighting to the death is in their genetics. But cockfighting is no longer legal in any state in the US though people still cockfight illegally. I don't know the legal status in other countries. So there are still plenty of flocks with "fight to the death" bred into them. But there are some flocks of gamefowl where fight to the death has been bred out of them. These can behave like any other chicken breed.

I don't know which flock you have. Cockfighting is still practiced around the world, illegal or not. Once your cockerel reaches a certain point of maturity there is a real chance that it will be a fight to the death. I'd have that cage ready no matter what breed they were, but the risk is higher with gamefowl.

If you want to keep both of the males you might look into staking. That's a pretty common way to keep multiple roosters and stop them from killing each other. I don't know the details on exactly how it is done, how to attach them or how far apart they have to be, but this keeps them from killing each other. This leaves it up to the hens to hang with whichever boy they want to.

Thanks for the info, we do have a cage ready. Definitely will have to so more thinking on the course of action to take.