urgent help needed fighting birds

[eHuman]

I'm in Arizona high desert. 9 cold months and 3 hot.

 

[rhondita55]

Just sent a PM

 

[eHuman]

Looks like we're just over the mountain from each other. Funny I try to give you a little helpful advice and i had to isolate 2 aggressive males last night. One of my sweet a&m males nearly had his eye plucked out. it is that age (5 weeks + teenagers are mean) and they can hear the hens. Luckily i have three isolation cages and bonus, everyone is going to pitch in and help me complete the aviary asap.

 

[rhondita55]

Learned a lot on this thread. Yes teenagers are mean and teenage males have raging hormones. I'm hatching eggs now, but there are for someone else. My next hatch, I'll be prepared for separation. You should post pics of your aviary when finished.

 

[eHuman]

Thanks I will make sure to. The heat these last few days has been rough for outdoor work and digging holes anywhere in Arizona is back breaking. I need to get it done as ive run out of cages...

 

[Sill]

No, the cage that is OK has 2 adult males. They all get along just fine.
The Roo I had to harvest along with the 4 severely damaged hens was in a different cage. He was the only Roo and was 8 weeks old. The hens were 5 weeks old.
They hadn't even begun to breed.
I was upset and didn't put WEEKS for the ages.

My 2 males that are together with 7 females are good Roo's. I had 1 before that hung on the neck and caused some bleeding and he was served up for dinner. But this guy that's in the freezer. In 1 night he scalped 4 hens and did really bad neck damage to 2 others. The poor scalped ones broke my heart. The entire head had NO SKIN..... just the meat showing. So sad. So from now one, I'll keep the 2 breeder males, but in the growing pen, as soon as I know they are males, it's to a separate pen. The 2 roos that are together don't even crow anymore. They just get along.
But yes, rule of thumb is 1 male with a min of 3 females per covey.

Part of the problem was the age difference. Those young hens were not old enough to want to be bred, plus you have slightly older but young males with raging hormones. I try to always raise a batch of chicks together and weed out the unwanted roos for freezer camp and leave only the roos with the best temperament, (and also well marked and not a shrill voice if I can pick and choose). If I see a roo roll a hen even once it's buh bye, into the freezer. Roos are numerous so only keep the ones that are nice to their hens, and they will pass that trait down to their sons.

I do keep the sexes together until 5-7 weeks old, then cull the extra roos. If one is particularly aggressive he will go sooner. The young hens are left with a roo in their covey that is the same age, familiar to them and not likely to injure them in a fit of hormone driven crazed sex. A good young roo will start to call the hens over for food when you put in treats, even at 5 weeks, so look for those gentlemen and keep them!

 

[rhondita55]

Thank you so much for your very good advice. It's hard to figure out what is going on when you begin. I wondered about the 2 nice roos... When I put in fresh food they did crow and I hadn't heard them for a while. I know what you mean about the shrill... such a horrid ear splitting sound. We are moving next summer and I am already planning my new bird houses. 1 for quail and my hens are getting old (they are 2 yrs now) but I have 1 female Royal Palm Turkey and 2 Black Lace Wyandotte which are just 2 months now.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

You sure it was the males doing the scapling? Usually when my hens get scalped it was another mean arse hen that did it. It's normal for a hen to be missing feathers on her head & neck but being scalped bloody is an aggression issue, not an overmating issue.

 

[rhondita55]

You sure it was the males doing the scapling? Usually when my hens get scalped it was another mean arse hen that did it. It's normal for a hen to be missing feathers on her head & neck but being scalped bloody is an aggression issue, not an overmating issue.

I'm sure. The other hens are healing up and all is quiet now. I only harvested the small scalped females and the 1 roo. Now all is fine.

 

[Everlong]

Will the aggression ever end? if they mature? how long till they mature?