Spereated silkie boy from his female when he was sick. Now, adding them back together, they wont sto

[mustangrooster]

My gorgeous young silkie cockerel (Whom is my little sweetheart, who comes when called!) , came down with eye conjunctivitis a while back. Now, he is all healed up.

That's not the problem, I had to separate him from his girls-- so that he wouldn't pass anything on. You see, he has his little flock inside of the bigger flocks, the silkies tend to stay away from all the big birds and turkeys and ducks, so they form they're own little 'herd'.

In the time that the young silkie cockerel 'Nemo' was away from his mates, a darn Python got two of his girls, which left Topaz as his only remaining friend. It would of been a big change for the silkies, and especially for Topaz because she looked so lost without her sisters. When I turned Nemo in to his only remaining sister in the big flocks, Topaz charged up to him and fought with him! Nemo who had only just recovered from his sickness and being isolated for two weeks was weak and lost the fight. So I tuned Nemo in to a different bigger pen, after they wouldn't STOP fighting!

I must add, Nemo looked confused without his two other sisters, and im thinking maybe Topaz is confused about where her sisters are, and she could of forgot about Nemo. She is top bird when it comes down to all the chicks and young silkies.

A week later, I got Topaz, and put her in with Nemo in his pen, thinking that if Topaz was in 'his' territory, Topaz would back down and not fight. I was right about that,she backed down, BUT she didn't start the fight this time, NEMO did.

I cant understand this, they used to be best buddies. Now they are steering clear of each other, with Topaz hiding and Nemo steering clear far from her. Before, they we're inseparable! Its gotten me scratching my head, Im positive Topaz is a girl, she has a round feminine crest and has the posture of a girl. Nemo is definitely a cockerel, he has streamers, a upright cockerel posture, and makes that 'concerned cluck noise' along with the other roos-- whenever they're is a weird sound. So why are the fighting so bad?

They are still small, maybe as big as my two hands or less, but they have all their adult feathers, and they have their adult voice.

I want to fix this problem, as I was wanting to breed them- I don't see how I can with them acting like this!

Help....

Mustang

 

[Ameraucana5]

I have experienced the same problem, over half of my flock was eaten by a fox one morning. So I bought some more from a hatchery, when I put them together the following morning they did not stop fighting. They would not eat together so I had to throw some food out for the old ones and then go throw more food out in a different spot for the new ones. Really the best thing you can do is just let them get used to each other again.

 

[aart]

Whenever a bird is removed from the flock for a time, can be just a few days, there will likely be territorial problems when you put them back with the flock.
This is common.... despite the 'best buddies' and 'chickens can memorize a hundred faces' theories.

Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, tho some info is outdated IMO:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[centrarchid]

How certain are you of gender with respect to Topaz?

To facilitate re-bonding you might pen the subordinate in a cage within the Nemo's pen. The lack of bonding is a two way street, both birds need to be open to it. If you can, then give Nemo some insects like meal worms or grasshoppers to see if he gives tid-bit calls. If he does not then he may not be in good enough shape to have an interest in girls. Also we are talking silkies here. They seem not be be able to communicate as well as other chickens which may be part of problem as well.

And how old are these guys? Adults are easy to bond between genders, juveniles not so easy.

 

[mustangrooster]

Quote:
Thankyou for your input. I read up on that link you provided, and the things that were suggested, i have already tried, but still no success. And yes, i was thinking that this was a territorial problem, and i tried to work around the problem----yet still no success with them to stop fighting.

 

[mustangrooster]

Quote:
Im 99% Topaz is a young pullet. I will try to dish up some pictures of need be...but she acts like all my other young pullets, has the same 'voice' and has a round feminine crest. However, i know silkies are hard to tell whether they are young cockerels or pullets, so she *could* be tricking me! Hmm....honestly, if i put worms or insect in front of Nemo he would gobble them all up and not share Im 100% he wont show interest in girls for a while, they are still super young--i do agree with you on the communication factor though. Thanks for your input

 

[centrarchid]

If they are engaging in sustained fighting, then both parties are sexually mature. I am not confident in honestly part above as you have yet to try, Nemo may surprise you if he is sexually mature. You may also find the other does the same which would indicate it is also a male. Need to have known adult females near to test.

 

[mustangrooster]

If they are engaging in sustained fighting, then both parties are sexually mature. I am not confident in honestly part above as you have yet to try, Nemo may surprise you if he is sexually mature. You may also find the other does the same which would indicate it is also a male. Need to have known adult females near to test.

I should clarify myself when i say fighting, what i mean by fighting is two young silkies running up to one another, flapping their wings trying to bounce of the others back,and most often they try to flip each other. Yeah not your usual chicken fight..the only thing i find normal is that they will puff up and 'kick' each other.

These guys are the same age, so if Topaz was a male, certainly she would have streamers,etc like Nemo does, right? They are about as big as my two hands, maybe smaller---actually, they are small enough for me to hold them with one hand-- surely they aren't sexually mature yet

 

[centrarchid]

If they are that small then you will likely not be able to sex either bird, What you describe is fighting as my game (fighting) chickens do it.

Sit back and show pictures of these birds.

 

[mustangrooster]

If they are that small then you will likely not be able to sex either bird, What you describe is fighting as my game (fighting) chickens do it.

Sit back and show pictures of these birds.

Okay im messing things up here, when i say i can fit my own hand around them and hold him, i dont mean they fit perfectly. But i can grab them under they're legs, and put my index finger between the gap of the legs and wrap my fingers around they're body. There, is that cleared up? I must be a bit tired..

Yes, i should! However, i only have old pics of them, not updated pics, but i'll try to scoot through all of my pictures..