Roosters fighting

[Ebony Rose]

Yes and they have been living together peacefully in the coop since June. There has been very little friction between either the roosters or the hens. This is a sudden change and I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that it happens during a period of bad weather where they have had to do with less space than normal, or if it would have occurred anyway. I haven't seen the smaller rooster come down from the roost all day.

Teenage hormones kicking in. They are establishing who is top dog & who has the right to mate. If the 'brother' of the winner is appropriately submissive, the dominant cockerel may allow him to remain in the flock; if however the loser of this challenge refuses to submit, then the winner will effectively drive him out. This can manifest as anything between chasing the submissive bird, forcing him to hide from the alpha bird to death battles between them. Since this is occurring to younger cockerels, it's much more likely that they'll come to a truce. You need to try to ride this out, and separate the two when blood is drawn as the sight of blood stirs bloodlust in chickens (they'll keep picking at a bleeding wound, even unto death). If you need to separate them, put your bleeding boy into a wire cage and leave him in the coop so that the rival (and the rest of the flock) can still see and hear him to avoid him losing too much ground in the pecking order. A one-day scab of the wound is usually sufficient time before releasing him back into the flock to try to establish dominance again. This process can be short and sweet, or could drag on for a considerable amount of time... depends upon how determined each cockerel is in their goal to be 'the king'.

 

[NatJ]

The one that used to be in charge, despite being somewhat aggressive towards us, has been a good boss to the chickens, which is why we've kept him all along while butchering his other brothers. It might be better to just get it out of the way and butcher one.

Is it important that you keep a rooster at all?

If you must have a rooster, it could be important to pick the right one (so you aren't stuck keeping one that you come to dislike).

If you are willing to butcher any rooster who causes trouble, even if that leaves you without a rooster, then it's not such a big deal to pick the "right" one now.

I think people have more trouble with rooster aggression when they feel that they must keep a certain rooster (because they love him, or because they need him for breeding, or because they think he protects the flock, or whatever other reason.) People who are willing to butcher any rooster seem to have less trouble. Of course that is partly because they butcher the ones that cause trouble, but I think being willing to butcher a rooster may also change how they interact with the rooster, and that can change how the rooster interacts with the people.

 

[Agathe]

Wet and windy, unless it's nearly a hurricane, won't bother those birds! But, there will still be times when they need to be locked in. Every night, and when there's a predator problem. Upgrade your run so it's safe enough, and block the wind on the windward sides, so it can be used all the time.
Then, still consider removing one of these cockerels. And 'sometimes human aggressive' doesn't sound good to me.
Mary

It's mostly during storms or heavy wind when the wind direction hits right at the coop door that I close it during the daytime, and it's not so much for the birds than for the rain not getting into the coop and making the floor/sawdust wet. I could potentially get a small roof just over the door area so it wouldn't be a problem, but I'd need help with that as I'm not very handy myself. They rarely go outside if it's raining anyway except for one hen who tends to be outside no matter what the weather! I'd love a roof over the whole run also because there has been restrictions in the past on allowing birds out at all if you don't have one. These were lifted just before I moved mine out into the coop so I didn't have to consider it at the time. I just have a net over in case any eagle comes along and is hungry. I doubt they'd attack anyway as there is a big tree above the run and houses nearby. The tree makes the roof a bit complicated though, and I'd need a good carpenter to look at it.

 

[Agathe]

Is it important that you keep a rooster at all?

If you must have a rooster, it could be important to pick the right one (so you aren't stuck keeping one that you come to dislike).

If you are willing to butcher any rooster who causes trouble, even if that leaves you without a rooster, then it's not such a big deal to pick the "right" one now.

I think people have more trouble with rooster aggression when they feel that they must keep a certain rooster (because they love him, or because they need him for breeding, or because they think he protects the flock, or whatever other reason.) People who are willing to butcher any rooster seem to have less trouble. Of course that is partly because they butcher the ones that cause trouble, but I think being willing to butcher a rooster may also change how they interact with the rooster, and that can change how the rooster interacts with the people.

Personally I don't really care which one it is, it is mostly my 10 year old son who loves both these two and would have hard time letting any of them go, so any good argument for which one helps him accept the choice we end up making. Hadn't he been at school during all this I'd have most likely gone out and taken out the trouble maker right away, but I knew he would never forgive me if I did it without him having a say in and getting to say goodbye.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I'm agreeing with @NatJ regarding butchering (or even rehoming) an unwanted or dangerous bird. I eat both egg & meat from my flock, but some folks cannot bring themselves to 'do it'.

 

[Agathe]

Teenage hormones kicking in. They are establishing who is top dog & who has the right to mate. If the 'brother' of the winner is appropriately submissive, the dominant cockerel may allow him to remain in the flock; if however the loser of this challenge refuses to submit, then the winner will effectively drive him out. This can manifest as anything between chasing the submissive bird, forcing him to hide from the alpha bird to death battles between them. Since this is occurring to younger cockerels, it's much more likely that they'll come to a truce. You need to try to ride this out, and separate the two when blood is drawn as the sight of blood stirs bloodlust in chickens (they'll keep picking at a bleeding wound, even unto death). If you need to separate them, put your bleeding boy into a wire cage and leave him in the coop so that the rival (and the rest of the flock) can still see and hear him to avoid him losing too much ground in the pecking order. A one-day scab of the wound is usually sufficient time before releasing him back into the flock to try to establish dominance again. This process can be short and sweet, or could drag on for a considerable amount of time... depends upon how determined each cockerel is in their goal to be 'the king'.

Thank you for great advice! I do have a spare coop with run (not suitable for living in permanently), that I can put next to the existing run. I'll keep watch and see how it plays out.

 

[Agathe]

I'm agreeing with @NatJ regarding butchering (or even rehoming) an unwanted or dangerous bird. I eat both egg & meat from my flock, but some folks cannot bring themselves to 'do it'.

I've butchered 5 of his brothers so it's not that I can't, but I definitely don't like doing it! I'd much rather leave that job to someone else, but there isn't anyone else, so I'll do what I have to do. There aren't a lot of chicken keepers in the area so rehoming one is unlikely.

 

[Ebony Rose]

If you don't mind giving up the skin, you can quickly process a bird by peeling the feathers off with the skin, sacrificing the portions of the wing that are too stubborn to allow this technique. Takes me about 15 minutes to fully process a bird in this manner. I live in a rural area of Panama with a high feral/wild animal population (dogs, cats, birds of prey), so I 'donate' the skin and offal in the vacant lot across the street. One day out there, and it's gone, absolutely nothing wasted and not enough time to develop a stink (by human standards).

 

[JedJackson]

From what I gather, it seems like the battle is mostly over, and the larger rooster has won. At this point the smaller one is probably being attacked when he comes down for food or water. If you had a lot of space they might work things out, eventually, but being in the smaller space means the small rooster is likely to be continually attacked by the larger one. And that is a poor life for any creature. So maybe consult with your son to see which one he prefers you to keep, and then butcher the other. You could try rehoming on Craigslist, but not too many people want roosters unless they intend to butcher them themselves.

 

[ElizaMay]

Did everybody miss the OP's remark that one of these cockerels pulled a hen out of a nesting box to mate with her?

THAT bird there would not have lived beyond the time it took me to stand on a broomstick with his neck under it, and pull up.

Any rooster that will haul a female off a nest should not propagate, he has no interest in ensuring her safety or that of her (and his own) young.