Savage fluff balls

[Hennyfromdblock]

Hello and I hope everyone had a great holiday!

I would like some opinion/suggestions on what to do with 2 fighting Roos.

I have 2 silkie roosters (11mo old) whom were from the same hatch. Have always been together but I know that one of them (piffles) is the head honcho out of all of them because the other brother (caramel) goes to piffles when he calls his girls to eat and when piffles is walking near by, caramel will quickly avoid crossing his path. They each have their own ladies and there has never been a problem/issues with them until today. I caught them jumping and pecking at each other (none have spurs yet) so I quickly separated them and thought that piffles was probably picking at caramel, but I noticed caramel was the one going and starting the fight, he even pecked at my toes and jumped at me. The sun was already setting so everyone just went into the coop including both roosters but they didn’t continue to fight, just crowed for a couple of minutes (I think it was due to it being dark already and they couldn’t see each other). I’m an early bird so by the first crow or daylight starting to show I go and let them out the coop. Should I immediately separate them with their girls, Or should I wait to see if they continue to fight throughout the day, separate the instigator?

I know I’ll probably have to te home one if nothing works but I’m hoping maybe some of your suggestions work.

Thank y’all!



Here’s half the gang, watching me de-clutter the shed I nstead of helping . piffles is in white with his one long sexy tail feather, Caramel is the fluff ball to the left.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If one is actively going aftrr your toes, odds are he's going to escalate amd start going after the whole you

 

[Hennyfromdblock]

If one is actively going aftrr your toes, odds are he's going to escalate amd start going after the whole you

I mean him and another of my girls have pecked at the holes in my socks but He’s only done it that one time after I separated them and held one away from the other. Hopefully he doesn’t do it anymore, I’ll have to wait and see in later today.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like the second in command is wanting to take over the top spot. He may have spotted a weakness in the other or he may have matured to the point that he thinks he can do it. Nothing unusual in that.

Different things could happen. They may fight to the death. They may not have spurs yet but they have very sharp claws. Their beak is also a dangerous weapon, that's how they often kill each other. That beak can rip a mouse or frog into bite sized pieces if they work at it. If one gets a chance they often peck at the head, opening a hole.

The winner may decide he needs to finish off the challenger, the challenger may just not quit until he is dead, or one may be injured with one of their weapons. If one is bleeding or has a raw wound even the hens may turn cannibalistic. A fight to the death is possible.

What often happens is that they skirmish and one decides that he is better off running away. There may be chasing but often the winner stops chasing. There can be several repeat skirmishes or even all out fights but eventually the two reach an accommodation on how they work together to protect the flock. This accommodation can look different in different flocks. One typical method is that each boy has his own territory where they can't even see the other and the girls decide which one they want to be with. Each boy gets his own harem. Of course you need enough room for them to get their own territory.

I've seen two boys hang with each other more than with the girls. All the eggs were fertilized and they knew which one was boss but they seemed to prefer each other's company. Certain girls would hang with them but other girls would do their own thing. I don't think enough people give the girls enough credit as to how much their desires contribute to flock dynamics.

So what can you do? You've ruled out building a coop and run so the two can be permanently separated from each other, with or without their own harems.

You can let them fight it out. Let them decide who is boss and whether they can reach an accommodation or not. I'd have a way you can isolate them immediately if you decide they are not going to reach an accommodation or if one gets hurt. Try to do this when you can observe but this might take a few days.

Some people build a bachelor pad. This is where you put all boys with no girls to fight over. It often works but would require a separate coop and run.

You can permanently separate one of those boys. That doesn't mean you have to eat him though some people would. You can rehome, either trying to sell him or just give him away. I don't see any other options.

My general suggestion is to keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed to have more problems with more boys, just that problems are more likely the more you have. I don't know what your goals are but I think those are what should be driving your decision, your goals not mine. And go more by what you see than what some stranger over the internet like me tells you. None of us can tell you what you will see, just what you might see.

Good luck!

 

[Hennyfromdblock]

It sounds like the second in command is wanting to take over the top spot. He may have spotted a weakness in the other or he may have matured to the point that he thinks he can do it. Nothing unusual in that.

Different things could happen. They may fight to the death. They may not have spurs yet but they have very sharp claws. Their beak is also a dangerous weapon, that's how they often kill each other. That beak can rip a mouse or frog into bite sized pieces if they work at it. If one gets a chance they often peck at the head, opening a hole.

The winner may decide he needs to finish off the challenger, the challenger may just not quit until he is dead, or one may be injured with one of their weapons. If one is bleeding or has a raw wound even the hens may turn cannibalistic. A fight to the death is possible.

What often happens is that they skirmish and one decides that he is better off running away. There may be chasing but often the winner stops chasing. There can be several repeat skirmishes or even all out fights but eventually the two reach an accommodation on how they work together to protect the flock. This accommodation can look different in different flocks. One typical method is that each boy has his own territory where they can't even see the other and the girls decide which one they want to be with. Each boy gets his own harem. Of course you need enough room for them to get their own territory.

I've seen two boys hang with each other more than with the girls. All the eggs were fertilized and they knew which one was boss but they seemed to prefer each other's company. Certain girls would hang with them but other girls would do their own thing. I don't think enough people give the girls enough credit as to how much their desires contribute to flock dynamics.

So what can you do? You've ruled out building a coop and run so the two can be permanently separated from each other, with or without their own harems.

You can let them fight it out. Let them decide who is boss and whether they can reach an accommodation or not. I'd have a way you can isolate them immediately if you decide they are not going to reach an accommodation or if one gets hurt. Try to do this when you can observe but this might take a few days.

Some people build a bachelor pad. This is where you put all boys with no girls to fight over. It often works but would require a separate coop and run.

You can permanently separate one of those boys. That doesn't mean you have to eat him though some people would. You can rehome, either trying to sell him or just give him away. I don't see any other options.

My general suggestion is to keep as few boys as you can and still meet your goals. That's not because you are guaranteed to have more problems with more boys, just that problems are more likely the more you have. I don't know what your goals are but I think those are what should be driving your decision, your goals not mine. And go more by what you see than what some stranger over the internet like me tells you. None of us can tell you what you will see, just what you might see.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your feedback, I highly appreciate it.

 

[Hennyfromdblock]

So the brawl continues, I’m definitely leaning towards either separating them or just getting rid of one. If I get rid of one, I’m stuck between which one.

With piffles the, he’s always pecking at 2 of my silkie girls which are part of the other Roos girls. After the other is gone will he sexy dance with them or will he continue to be mean to them?

With caramel, he’s the one that was starting the fight, they are all free range on an acre but he’s determined to go after piffles. He’s never mean to any of the girls. But he did begin to attack my toes… I did notice that his spurs are coming in and the other rooster has nothing. Not sure if that has anything to do with the situation.

I’m so sad, I new I would end up with just one roo but never thought it would be so soon.