young roosters

[leeboyz337]

i want to know at what age will two young roosters start to fight? i have a rhode island red and a buff orpington. and theyre about 4 months old.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like all chicks, they start establishing a pecking order the first day or so in the brooder or with the broody. Most of the time this is just pecking and intimidation, but there can actually be a few fights as they get older. Pecking order is not what you are talking about, but this early skirmishing has an effect on them settling dominance.

Once the hormones kick in, they settle who is dominant. I've seen roosters as young as 12 weeks with this behavior, and some that did not start it until a month or more later. Sometimes these fights are vicious fights to the death, but usually they exist of a lot more bluster and intimidation, very little fighting and a whole lot of chasing and running away. This is especially true if they have been raised together. Later, as they mature, one may decide to challenge the dominant rooster and this can lead to a big fight, but usually these later fights end with chasing and running away. Oh, they will square off and go at it a little bit but usually no one gets hurt. Sometimes these do end in serious injury and death, but mine never have.

I let mine free range most of the time so they have lots of room to run away, which I think helps a lot. I am retired and spend a lot of time outside during the summer and I seldom see any fighting. It's not unusual for me to have over half a dozen young roosters coming of age at the same time.

Sometimes these fights are fights to the death, but a whole lot of time, the roosters work out a partnership where they both work together taking care of the flock, each having their own responsibilities. The dominant one is probably the first out the pop door in the morning, while the other stays behind to protect the last of the flock. The non-dominant one will find ways to fertilize his share of the eggs. I very much think having more space helps with this.

So when will your 4 month old pair start fighting? They probably already have and have worked it out. You just did not notice. But it is possible they have not yet and will real soon. Each chicken is different.

 

[jenni22776rn]

I had 2 Buff Orpington roos that were so close...they went everywhere together but the older one Mr Russell was the boss! I never saw them fight but sometime somewhere they chose who the boss was and it stuck...they were about 5 months old when I rehomed Ozzy the smaller roo..they may fight or they may never fight depends on if they were raised together or the personailty of the breed..good luck!!