Roosters who were living peacefully, randomly started fighting.

[BrittanyG]

I have two roosters in my flock that have been living together peacefully for almost two years now. Well just since yesterday I noticed they have started fighting. I've had roosters fight before but these two don't know when to quit. I tried to stand back and watch, hoping they would stop once deciding which one was dominant. But I don't want to let either of them get seriously injured, so I keep having to interfere before it gets too bad. I usually let my flock free range, but this past week I've had an increase in predators (a fox & hawks) and lost a few to them, so I've been keeping them in their pen temporarily. I'm sure this probably has something to do with their fighting. But yesterday I let them all free range and I still caught them fighting 3 times! My dog breaks them up when they're inside the fence but then they took the fight out of the fenced part of the yard. My dog alerted me this morning they were fighting and I went out to monitor it and one of the roosters had backed down and put his head down in the corner of the run but the other rooster was still after him. For now I took one of them and put him in a smaller pen beside the chicken run to keep them both safe but still close enough to see each other. What should I do about it? Should I find a way to separate the two permanently? Thank you.

 

[Kessel23]

It happens all the time. Which one was on top? The bottom one was the challenger. Trim his spurs or dull them down to make the fight unfair so he losses. Top roosters will fight longer than a challenging rooster because they don't want to lose their position. You could also just split them up. One could kill the other if you don't do something.

 

[BrittanyG]

Thank you! Yes I definitely want to do something soon. That's why for now I have them separated until I find a solution. They have had no serious injuries so far, and I'd like to keep it that way. My game rooster which is smaller, had my Ameraucana rooster in the corner with his head down. And that surprised me because of the size difference. I've not trimmed their spurs before because they've never caused problems until now. So I think I'll definitely do that now. It's crazy they've been together nearly two years and just now started this. The stubborn boys just won't stop challenging each other.

 

[aart]

Spring hormone surge.
Are they the same age?

 

[centrarchid]

If you have the space and other resources, then it is possible to make so each rooster has his own territory. It is a hassle, but can be done.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As I've often said, size isn't important, it's the spirit of the rooster. It's not that unusual for the smaller one to be the dominant one. And thanks for the information that they got along for two years before starting fighting. That's good info.

My guess is that when they were free ranging they each had their own territory, but when you locked them together they had to share territory. The serious fighting started. It sounds like they are still locked in the run so they cannot go back to their established territories.

If you can turn them loose so they can get back to their territories the fighting may stop. But until then I'd try housing them separately so they can't fight.

 

[Shadrach]

I think you know what happened.
While they were free ranging they had space to avoid each other if necessary. They can't do this when confined.
If as you apparently do have two coops then separate the roosters and work out which of the hens will follow which of the roosters and put the appropriate hens in with their roosters.
That's one solution.

 

[BrittanyG]

If you have the space and other resources, then it is possible to make so each rooster has his own territory. It is a hassle, but can be done.

I think that's something I'm going to do. I'm going to make a separate living space for the game rooster and put some hens in with him. And hopefully when I let them free range they'll stay out of each others way.

 

[BrittanyG]

I think you know what happened.
While they were free ranging they had space to avoid each other if necessary. They can't do this when confined.
If as you apparently do have two coops then separate the roosters and work out which of the hens will follow which of the roosters and put the appropriate hens in with their roosters.
That's one solution.

That's what I'm going to do for sure. I'm going to move the game rooster in his own living space and he has a few hens that have a strong bond with him so they're going with him for sure.

 

[BrittanyG]

Spring hormone surge.
Are they the same age?

My Ameraucana is about 3 years old. I raised him from a chick. The game rooster I'm not sure of his age. I got him about 2 years ago and he was grown. I believe he may be older.