My current two EE roos have been together since day one. Best of friends and sharing duties, even sleeping side by side on the roost one night, and then at 10 months it was like a light went off; one morning I go into the coop just after dawn and they are literally trying to kill each other. They are very evenly matched so it was NOT pretty. They had clearly been at it for awhile because they were both bloody, hoarse, and out of breath, although neither was seriously injured (mostly comb damage and around the beak, no wounds to their bodies). The hens were all in a frenzie. I was not amused. I guess I should have suspected trouble because one of them had started getting aggressive toward me about a week earlier. It did appear that the spring hormones were kicking in. Thankfully, my coop is set up in such a way that I can provide them with private quarters yet still keep them part of the flock. (I use these double-wide lockable boxes with screens below the nest boxes to introduce new birds to the flock. Comfy but safe.) We are all relaxed again - for now.
I sincerely hope they'll sort things out once I'm able to let them out of the coop again. I don't want to have to cull either one of them and caging them during the summer months does not appeal to me at all!!
I sincerely hope they'll sort things out once I'm able to let them out of the coop again. I don't want to have to cull either one of them and caging them during the summer months does not appeal to me at all!!
