Some guy tried to tell me my roosters would fight to the death...

[chickengeorgeto]

Yeah, all my roosters grew up together as part of the same flock... These guys have a pecking order all of their own, and they know and respect each other for the most part...

Don't take a can of black or white shoe polish and alter their appearance in any major way. If you do the rumble will be on. As I have said before a cockerel is not a rooster until age two.

 

[PrairieChickens]

I have experienced young roosters fighting themselves to the death by attacking their own reflection in a chrome hubcap.

Under the right circumstances all roosters will fight. Some not as long perhaps as others but they all will definitely fight.

Some roosters are only more determined to win than others.

Under the right circumstances, all hens will fight, too, so I don't understand what your point is. Just because roosters have a pecking order doesn't mean they are destined to fight to the death if they have other roosters around.

Our alpha rooster Mars only strikes another rooster if that rooster challenges him first, and he will often do little more than puff up and rush at the offending roo. The challenger, realizing his mistake, usually backs down immediately. If he doesn't, a few quick smacks is all it takes to put an end to the altercation. Blood has never been drawn in these encounters, and the VAST majority of the time, our entire flock interacts peacefully. Mars will even allow other roosters to mate with his hens, as long as the hen isn't upset. He only intervenes if she protests, and then he puts a quick end to the mating by chest-bumping the other roo off of the hen.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Quote: Thanks for that advice... Though I don't know why you shared it. Hens will behave the same way if they don't recognize one of their own.

 

[azygous]

Speaking of hens fighting one of their own if their appearance has been altered, I sure found that out when I fashioned a neck gator for my Brahma hen who was getting her feathers picked bald in that area. The minute I turned her loose in the pen wearing her new fashion accessory, several hens jumped her and began beating her up. I quickly snatched her up and tore off the gator, and set her down. It was as if nothing had happened. She looked like herself again and all was well.

Back to roosters fighting. I had two who were raised as brooder mates, and when they reached puberty, they suddenly felt the need to kill each other. They never did "settle" it. I constructed a partition in their coop so they couldn't tear each other apart, and they tore the partition to shreds to get to each other. To try to keep some peace, one would be in the pen with the flock one day while the other did perimeter "patrol", and they'd swap positions next day, etc. Finally, one got killed by visiting dogs, being his misfortune to be outside the pen that day.

So, it's no guarantee of compatibility if they're raised together. It's just the individual temperament. My friend olychickenguy who runs a homeless rooster rescue in Olympia, WA, has twenty roosters all residing together in a homeless encampment, using tents as coops, and they all get along just fine.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Exactly. Yeah, there's roosters that will fight to the death, but not every rooster is like that, and some roosters that will fight in one circumstance won't fight in another. People oversimplify chickens far too much. They're not ones and zeros, all or nothing. They're complex little critters.

 

[MrPaterax]

Exactly.  Yeah, there's roosters that will fight to the death, but not every rooster is like that, and some roosters that will fight in one circumstance won't fight in another.  People oversimplify chickens far too much.  They're not ones and zeros, all or nothing.  They're complex little critters.

x2

 

[trooper]

My first batch of chickens was TSC Straight run. They were about 85% roosters.they fought but not til death.They did fight until blood was flying.I eventually culled them out to the dining room table and replaced them with other hens.I knew that one of these replacements was a rooster but to my surprise I had 2 roos .When they got older they would fight terribly.One was a white rooster and his whole head and neck area was red.The other is a Blue Wyannedote and his head would turn Black from the dried blood.I gave the white one away with 2 hens and he did great.I kept the Blue and he has done great.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Yeah, I'm going to have to cull several roosters in the spring, because our batch of "pullets" turned out to be 50/50. While they are all getting along fine for now, it's just too many roosters. Even if they are all best buddies, we have to consider the state of the poor hens! lol

I've been pretty fortunate as far as the chemistry between our chickens goes. I know that Mars has the will and the ability to fight rival males, because I've seen him try to take on our first rooster Milton back when we had him, but for whatever reason he is totally cool with all the newcomers that have shown up in his flock. I even saw him trying to protect another rooster when it had incurred our wrath by flogging us. The only reason that rooster survived long enough to be rehomed was because Mars had put himself between me and the little stinker. Of course, as the weeks went by and the offending roo became more and more of a problem, Mars stopped protecting him and started protecting US! More than once, Elvis would be circling me, giving me the stink eye, and Mars would put himself between us and just stare Elvis down.

 

[trooper]

Kinda funny how some roosters will protect different things.My rooster Blue will allow me in the the coop and run but he won't allow anyone else in.He dances for me at times and when he hears a hen squawking when I pick one up he will come running but he stops when he sees its me.My grandson was in the run and had a small shovel between Blue and he and Blue was trying to him under the shovel.When our dog gets to close to the fence he will try to get to the dog.He is great about protecting his girls.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Our alpha rooster Mars only strikes another rooster if that rooster challenges him first, and he will often do little more than puff up and rush at the offending roo. The challenger, realizing his mistake, usually backs down immediately. If he doesn't, a few quick smacks is all it takes to put an end to the altercation....

It is funny that you named your rooster Mars, because Mars was the ancient Roman god of war as well as agriculture. The point being is what will happen one day when Mars slaps some up start roo and the up start doesn't run away with his tail tucked between his legs like a whipped puppy?

There is an old adage that says, "It takes two to tango!" Well it also takes two to fight, and neither you nor Mars knows what will happen when Mars tries to bluff a rooster who is willing to fight Mars for control of his kingdom. The to the death part depends on whether or not one of the rooster cries in time, "Stop, I've had enough."