Young Aggressive Cockerels

[Hendrix507]

I have two 4 month old roos that are coming of age and have both started behaving very aggressively towards other chickens in the flock. They are tag teaming the others, dragging them around by the wings, biting constantly and causing general chaos. I have separated them from the rest but is there anything anyone can suggest to get them to calm down? They don't mess with my older chickens or eachother, just the ones that are similar in age and size. I know they need to establish the "pecking order" but the behavior seems more like they want to eliminate the others versus show dominance.

 

[wrathsfarm]

If my boys do start harassing the girls, I separate them from the pullets and put them in with the older flock to teach them manners, until I decide who/if I'm keeping. Pullets don't mature as fast as the boys.
That tag teaming must be stopped, not good behavior to keep in your flock.

Fyi..roosters are not part of the pecking order. They oversee the flock. I also have older roosters to teach my younger boys how to treat the girls.

 

[Hendrix507]

I was very surprised/disappointed that my older rooster didn't put them in check. He is very protective of all of the other chickens. I definitely won't be letting these two back in with the others anytime soon. I have been trying to integrate them all but it's just not going to work out I don't think. They are beautiful roosters and I hate to get rid of them without trying everything I can first.

 

[aart]

I was very surprised/disappointed that my older rooster didn't put them in check. He is very protective of all of the other chickens. I definitely won't be letting these two back in with the others anytime soon. I have been trying to integrate them all but it's just not going to work out I don't think. They are beautiful roosters and I hate to get rid of them without trying everything I can first.

Why would you need more than one male?
IMO, multiple males are most often nothing but trouble.
How many females do you have?
Are they confined to a run or free ranging?

 

[wrathsfarm]

I was very surprised/disappointed that my older rooster didn't put them in check. He is very protective of all of the other chickens. I definitely won't be letting these two back in with the others anytime soon. I have been trying to integrate them all but it's just not going to work out I don't think. They are beautiful roosters and I hate to get rid of them without trying everything I can first.

What I do is when the young cockerels get feisty with the pullets and/or my older roo starts trying to mate them before laying age. I separate out the pullets until the last pullet has layed for close to a month.

The cockerels remain with the main flock. The older girls will train them and they should follow the older roos lead, they watch him. Monitor for bloodshed, excessive violence but let the elders school them.

 

[Hendrix507]

They weren't supposed to be males. They only recently started crowing and showing signs of being roosters. If the aggression can be corrected one will be housed with a separate flock of females and the other will go to a new home. I keep multiple flocks, one made up of good egg layers and one made up of rare/decorative breeds. I have 25 hens that are mature right now with my mature rooster and another 20 hens that are the same age as these two roosters.

 

[Mrs. K]

If they were not suppose to be males, move them on. I tend to think that once they start getting aggressive, it is too late, and does not change, but tends to get worse.

A lot depends on your space and set ups, if you can keep them separate, maybe one might turn out, but if you can't, you can't.

 

[Burnt Brass Homestead]

Hi @Hendrix507

Good luck with your controlling or re-homing your cockerels.

Welcome!

 

[Hendrix507]

Hi @Hendrix507

Good luck with your controlling or re-homing your cockerels.

Welcome!

Thank you!

 

[Brooks_]

I very much agree with Mrs K.