Which Birds are the Best Fighters ?

[LBL]

I have a Black with Red Highlights, d'Uccle - Bantam cross, who is about 1/2 size.

Tiny white 1 pound d'Uccle Mother, normal size Bantam father.

I ended up naming him "Oedipus" because of how he ALMOST killed his father.

Oedipus hung out at a distance for a year or 2 after they were hatched in 2018.

Then 1 day the Bantam father seemed to disappear, and I couldn't find him.

The next morning I heard him call, and found him in the bushes - with a very Swollen eye.

After a week indoors, the Bantam turned out to still have his eye.

Since the Bantam was bigger, I let him continue to be the Alpha bird, and let Oedipus and his sister Gertrude have a spare bathroom in the house, as their temporary coop.

Now Oedipus is going-on-6 and doesn't have all his youthful energy.

In 2021, Oedipus & Gertrude had a flock of about 10 birds, with maybe 1 or 2 of the eggs coming from an Americauna hen, with a Brahma father.

One of the Roosters from that Batch, the smallest Rooster named Little Orange Guy, more recently got loose and chased after Oedipus. It seemed like Little Orange Guy was more the Aggressor. They only wrestled for about a minute, then I intervene and grabbed one of them.

Right now I have 5 Roosters and 4 hens. 3 of the Roosters get along most of the time, and free-range with 3 of the hens, with a Brahma being dominant.

In any case, so far Oedipus has been the bird that I feared the most, that other birds feared - when he was young.

Now he is just "another old bird" and he keeps a distance from the Brahma.

To be clear about the fighting, since the birds are pets, I don't like it when one gets hurt.

I'm not advocating cock-fighting type fighting.

But since the natural nature of the males is to fight, and many of us keep more than one male, and try to supervise them, I figure I'm not the only chicken keeper who has males escape, sort of, and fight with the other males.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I dont let males that constantly fight have access to each other, plain and simple. If one gets out, he is put back as soon as I can catch him, which is usually easy to do when they're jumping at each other. Just reach down and snag him spurs first before the blows connect with the other bird.

The only one I have now that actively goes after other males is an Asian black. Every other male I have tolerates other males that they're familiar with.

 

[Amer]

One time an Ameraucana cockerel of mine killed another and poked out his eye. I wasn’t expecting that because they were raised together. When they started fighting I caged one to separate them. That was a mistake. They continued to fight but now the one outside the cage had a marked advantage and killed the other.
I should have caged them both, and separately.
Belgian d’Anvers think they are the best at fighting. They are delusional. Also they tend to fight for fun, not to harm other birds.
Naturally, the large fowl game fowl breeds are the best at fighting. That is why roosters of those breeds cannot be kept together.
I clerked for a judge at a poultry show and he judged an Old English large fowl cock who beat him with his wings and bit him several times.
Actually, two of them were biters. Most chickens just give up when you pick them up.

At one point I had a Brahma bantam that kept even the large fowl roosters in line. I don’t know if he was the best fighter but he had experience and he had presence. A rooster like that is valuable in a mixed flock. He kept everyone in line and fighting was minimal. And he was a gentleman. He hardly fought and never bullied the other birds. And he was respectful of humans.

 

[LBL]

The Flock of 5 or 6 has 2 small d'Uccle hens and a regular size gray something, probably Americauna.

And the 1 full size Brahma or Americauna-Brahma, named Moonwalker because sometimes when I have a slow motion camera running, he walks backwards, like Michael Jackson.

There is a white Roo that weighs about 2 pounds, a d'Uccle-Bantam cross.

And then there is Red John.

The White Roo is often side by side with Moonwalker, who is much bigger.

Red John and Moonwalker exhibit minor skirmishes. That territorial pressure is relieved when Red John goes back to being "at a distance".

Moonwalker doesn't let Red John near the mini-flock of 3 hens, but he doesn't mind the white Roo at all.

I think I would need more birds to figure out their behavior. But I'm already cleaning-deficient & couldn't handle more birds.

Little Orange Guy has a HUGE comb, and the natural position for his tail feathers is, sideways.

I'm not sure if those physical attributes lead the others to pick on him, or if Little Orange Guy is extra-aggressive.

But he has to be isolated - because of fighting - also. So he time-shares the spare bathroom coop with his father and mother, Oedipus and Gertrude.