Young rooster and cockerel had a fight. Advice?

[Magpie2]

We finally were able to introduce our two groups of young birds this Easter weekend. But we had a fight! What should we do?
We live in Canada and it’s been too cold to build anything outside so we have two brooders separated by glass with chicks quickly outgrowing their space.
We’re working on a temporary solution though and we were finally able to let them meet each other without a barrier! Yay! We wanted enough space that we could be with them just in case things got ugly and thank goodness we did.

The two groups are a few months apart in age. The first group of four were born in late December and the second group of eleven were born late February/early March. I’ve heard that you can mix chicks with up to a three week difference in age but that clearly wasn’t an option here so we set the new guys up next to the older ones with glass between them so they can still get to know each other even if they don’t inhabit the same space, this seems to have worked fabulously! Apart from the glass which has a crack (reinforced now), would recommend something like plexiglass instead.
The big rooster from the older kids likes to cuddle with his girlfriend while watching the little ones, and the little ones hang out next to them on the other side.

Finally the little guys are getting big enough that we thought we’d try and see how they’d all get along on the newly enclosed porch. It actually went really well! A couple of the little guys got a gentle peck from the two almost-hens when they were blocking the food but apart from that they were wonderful together.
There are probably three cockerels amongst the little guys, the biggest one (a partridge rock mix) seems to be a little bossy though, he picks fights with the Brahma cockerel all the time. The Brahma is five days younger than the partridge guy and smaller for now as well as fairly non reactive, he’ll raise his hackles and stand his ground but doesn’t escalate anything, the last cockerel is a bantam Cochin who doesn’t bother with any of that and just hangs out with the girls, he probably knows that he’s too small to stand a chance.
The two big roosters from the older group we introduced last. They were well behaved, mostly ignoring the little ones and exploring the space.
The partridge rock mix though, he had other plans. He decided to pick a fight with the big boss. He got stomped almost immediately and tried to hide the entire rest of the time. We managed to split them up very quickly but the poor little guy definitely has a bruised ego and the running and hiding seemed to trigger the big guy to go for him several more times (they’re both very good boys with us so it was easy to pick one up before anything happened).

The big rooster has only ever fought once before when he was maybe a month old and the cockerel who in now the second largest rooster came home from being a nursing companion to a sick chick. The big guy chased the little guy around several times because the smaller one probably picked a fight (he was very excitable when he was little and would jump at you when he got too worked up).
So I think the big guy is just reacting to threatening behaviour and not actually looking for trouble (thank goodness).

Any tips on what we should do? Advice other than rehoming or culling please, these birds are family already and we’re willing to put a lot of effort into whatever we need to do to keep them.

The handsome partridge drama queen

Tall, dark, and usually better behaved

Group shot with the boys numbered from biggest to smallest. 1 and 3 had the fight. There are 15 birds total but one was out of frame. We know it’s a bad roo/hen ratio, we’ll be getting more hens eventually and are already watching to make sure none of the ladies get roughed up come puberty.
Also please ignore the heeler trying to open a locked door, she hasn’t earned her chicken privileges yet.

 

[azygous]

It sounds like you have things splendidly under control. I only wish to point out one thing. As your cockerels mature, their personalities may change. What you see now may not hold true in a few more months, especially when the younger group of cockerels get their hormones.

One of my first experiences with roosters was when two cockerels, a Buff Brahma and a Black Cochin brooded together, got their hormones at the same time and from then on, decided to try to kill each other every chance they got. Nothing would help them make friends or even to tolerate one another. When they were a year old, visiting dogs killed the Cochin and the conflicts blessedly ended.

 

[Magpie2]

It sounds like you have things splendidly under control. I only wish to point out one thing. As your cockerels mature, their personalities may change. What you see now may not hold true in a few more months, especially when the younger group of cockerels get their hormones.

One of my first experiences with roosters was when two cockerels, a Buff Brahma and a Black Cochin brooded together, got their hormones at the same time and from then on, decided to try to kill each other every chance they got. Nothing would help them make friends or even to tolerate one another. When they were a year old, visiting dogs killed the Cochin and the conflicts blessedly ended.

We’ll keep that in mind, thanks.
Hopefully we’ll have a quarantine space set up by then or a few dog crates so anyone trying to pick fights can take turns having freedom.
We’re not opposed to having two coops and runs for anyone who doesn’t get along as well.

I’m sorry to hear about your Cochin

 

[Barn yard chicks]

Peeking order changes daily.
Roos and cockrell don't know there age.
They go by who's taller.
You can have a 6 month old and a 4 year old fighting if the 6 month old is getting or is taller .
Course of nature

 

[Magpie2]

Peeking order changes daily.
Roos and cockrell don't know there age.
They go by who's taller.
You can have a 6 month old and a 4 year old fighting if the 6 month old is getting or is taller .
Course of nature

We have a very mixed flock with all sorts of heights. With this logic, the Brahma (assuming he is biggest) would eventually be the undisputed boss or constantly challenged just because he’s tall. I hope there are ways to avoid any fighting.

The partridge rock mix definitely likes to pick fights with the bigger birds though. Mainly the younger Brahma cockerel but also a Brahma mix pullet who used to be his closest friend (I think she got tired of him picking fights with her. She’s the fastest one to chase him off if he starts posturing) and the two hens who are still bigger than he is for now, he tried to pick a fight with them too but we moved him away before they could do anything back. He’s really easy to redirect, just twirl him around and he finds something else to do he’s not the smartest

He’s the biggest of the little guys, likes to pick fights with the second and third biggest, went after two larger hens, skipped the second largest rooster, and finally got stepped on by the biggest bird around right now. I can see a height thing with him but the others don’t seem to care much.

 

[azygous]

There aren't too many rules in rooster world. The most important is rank and that is usually associated with age, the older claiming dominance and the younger usually being intimidated into surrendering. The operational word is "usually". Temperment plays a role along with hormone levels. We can have a feisty bantam rooster be the biggest bully in a run.

Most often, though, when you have roosters separated by one or two years, the older one ranks above the younger, and the older will enforce it with constant intimidation until the younger gets with the program.

The real conflicts usually happen with cockerels and roosters very close to the same age as yours are.

 

[Magpie2]

There aren't too many rules in rooster world. The most important is rank and that is usually associated with age, the older claiming dominance and the younger usually being intimidated into surrendering. The operational word is "usually". Temperment plays a role along with hormone levels. We can have a feisty bantam rooster be the biggest bully in a run.

Most often, though, when you have roosters separated by one or two years, the older one ranks above the younger, and the older will enforce it with constant intimidation until the younger gets with the program.

The real conflicts usually happen with cockerels and roosters very close to the same age as yours are.

Would it be a good idea to let them sort it out themselves once the little guy is bigger? At the moment he’s a little less than half the size of the big guy and could end up dead but I could see him being pretty close in size ultimately.
Or would it be better if we always monitor their interactions and split them up if they start fighting?

Side note, they still see each other all the time right now, through the glass, and they’re not pecking or jumping at each other as far as I know, although they stare at each other more.

 

[azygous]

It would be best not to put them together until they are all of the same size. It's a high probability that the younger one will get pounced on, and if it's while he's small and vulnerable, it likely wouldn't end well.

Continue to house them all in proximity so they will consider the younger ones part of their flock.