# Rooster fight



## Pinkter (Aug 19, 2012)

I got 2 roos this weekend. I was told they get along. They were fine for 2 days together. Then I got home tonight and they'd torn each other apart. The white leghorn adapted quickly with the hens etc. and the banty was shy and seemed to stay away from the flock at first and then today seemed interested. What would have caused this fight? Do you think they fought over the hens?


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## bob (Feb 27, 2013)

Usually roosters don't get along together especially when you have bantams cause they can be mean my roosters fought they never really got along they just kind of kept their distance until the mean one kind of was getting after the smaller one so I got rid of the mean one


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## Sundancers (Jun 20, 2012)

That is what they do ...fight.


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## bob (Feb 27, 2013)

Pretty much yeah


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Like 6 or 8 hens per Roo. See if getting more hens helps. I'm in that process at the moment.


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## bob (Feb 27, 2013)

That is a good idea and do you have free range chickens


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

This is the time of year when their hormones kick in hard and heavy. In fact my roosters (6) have had a mass fight every year except this one. They are all the same age, but two were from a peep batch and then the other four were hatched under a hen about 2 months later. Every Spring I have two or three battles going on for days on end. I sent my dog to break up one and I kept a broom at hand to break up the others. 

Last year was really bad, and my dear darling Hamish is now blind in one eye as a result. I don't know if the extended winter weather has kept them from really getting into it, or if it's the fact that they are older. They bicker and peck at each other, but they haven't had the blood bath brawls like in the past. Before these guys I did have to cull roosters because of fighting.

You have to keep in mind that humans domesticated wild chickens for rooster fighting long before they did for egg laying and meat. It's what they do, and they fight to the death.


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## farmhand (Feb 5, 2013)

The advice I read that made sense was if you are going to keep two Roosters together, have one being a yearling that is not able to match the older one and then plan on culling the older one after 2 years when you are inducing another young one. The big fights come in spring when two roosters are closely matched. I've been away from chickens for 15 years now and restarting and planing on trying this. Of course this won't work if he's your favorite pet.  
Some roosters are just mean and need to be culled.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

Energyvet said:


> Like 6 or 8 hens per Roo. See if getting more hens helps. I'm in that process at the moment.


i had 7 hens in with my big buff orpington rooster
before long none of the hens had back feathers 
i have now added 6 more pullets that are about to come into "season"

piglett


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

farmhand said:


> The advice I read that made sense was if you are going to keep two Roosters together, have one being a yearling that is not able to match the older one and then plan on culling the older one after 2 years when you are inducing another young one. The big fights come in spring when two roosters are closely matched. I've been away from chickens for 15 years now and restarting and planing on trying this. Of course this won't work if he's your favorite pet.
> Some roosters are just mean and need to be culled.


i like to keep a pair of roos who are brothers in 1 of my coops
doing this can keeps them on their toes
& may keep them from getting too big for their spurs & starting to attack people.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I've kept two roosters in my free range flocks many years and never seen them fight unless a youngster challenged the flock master~this usually happens only few times. 

It is never overly violent and I've never seen blood drawn on any of my birds, roosters or hens, so they don't "fight to the death" if they are given enough room to avoid each other. I've had various breeds of roosters, so I'm sure this fighting to the death is not breed specific, but has more to do with space and available hens. 

I would never keep two roosters in a confined pen/run setting for this very reason...no room to run and avoid conflict. Same with hens...never had hens pick on another bird because they can escape each other in a free range setting. 

I keep 10-15 hens for each rooster and once an older rooster is dethroned, I usually cull him unless he is of use for flock survival out on the range.


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## clintdaniels83 (May 23, 2013)

If there is that much damage they will kill each other. If they aren't raised with the roo (I.e. brothers, or son and father) it's a keeping them seperated issue.


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## ReTIRED (Mar 28, 2013)

FACT of Life: *Roosters FIGHT one-another.
*( no sense expecting something different.)
-ReTIRED-


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## clintdaniels83 (May 23, 2013)

ReTIRED said:


> FACT of Life: Roosters FIGHT one-another.
> ( no sense expecting something different.)
> -ReTIRED-


Amen!!!!!....


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

ReTIRED said:


> FACT of Life: *Roosters FIGHT one-another.
> *( no sense expecting something different.)
> -ReTIRED-


Yep, yep.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

I read this earlier today. Does it actually work:

3. If you have neither plenty of hens nor plenty of space, you can keep multiple roosters together by having NO hens. This is an arrangement you might have, for example, if you keep a flock of roosters for exhibition (rather than having a flock of hens for the purpose of laying). With no hens to compete for, multiple roosters often live together in relative peace.

4. Raise them together in your flock. Roosters who are raised together establish a pecking order between them as they are growing up. Because they have already established that order, there is less incentive to fight when they are older and more likely to hurt one another by sparring. Alternatively, you can add new roosters to your flock relatively painlessly if they are raised by a hen in your flock, or if they are introduced to your flock when they are young, before reaching sexual maturity. It will be difficult to maintain the peace if you add an adult rooster to your flock that already has roosters, because that new rooster will be regarded as an invader&mdash;not just by the other rooster(s), but also by your hens!


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I've never tried the first option but know people who have and they report very little serious fighting in the bachelor pens.

The second option I have done for years and it is true. Young roos introduced as chicks in the flock rise through the ranks just like they are supposed to do, with very little fighting back and forth as they recognize the pecking order in the beginning. 

When they do challenge the flock master, you may not even get to witness it(meaning, it doesn't happen repeatedly and dramatically)...just notice who is top dog the next day and on the roost. No blood or injuries. Just gets settled and then things are different, with the younger holding the majority of the hens and the older drifting around the edge of the flock with a few hens of his own. 

Introducing a strange, mature rooster into an established flock with roo is a little more dramatic and there may have to be several confrontations, but I still never saw untoward violence, blood or wounds. Just the top dog showing the interloper how it stands and it is, by necessity, more out in the open and noticeable because this rooster is a stranger to the flock and this must be established quickly. This is why you can even see hens schooling a new rooster as to the pecking order in the flock. 

You can help this be a more peaceful transition if you back up your flock master in his show of supremacy. Having a long, flexible stick and monitoring feed times and roost times the first few days can help the new rooster get the idea that the flock is all one accord...he is the low man on the totem pole and must work his way up. 

It's also a good time to let the newbie know you take no guff from roosters...something he may not know from where he lived previously. He might have been a holy terror to humans there, so starting him off right at your place means establishing dominance. 

The stick is not for hitting, it's for touching and driving him where you want him to be, keeping him out of the coop until you want to let him in, moving him from one place to another with the guide stick until he gets the idea that you have that control and ability to make him move when you approach or are in the coop. It can be fun and also instructive to see how easy it is to make an impression on the new guy with your long, long "beak".


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## ReTIRED (Mar 28, 2013)

kessy09 said:


> I read this earlier today. Does it actually work:
> 
> 3. If you have neither plenty of hens nor plenty of space, you can keep multiple roosters together by having NO hens. This is an arrangement you might have, for example, if you keep a flock of roosters for exhibition (rather than having a flock of hens for the purpose of laying). With no hens to compete for, multiple roosters often live together in relative peace.
> 
> 4. Raise them together in your flock. Roosters who are raised together establish a pecking order between them as they are growing up. Because they have already established that order, there is less incentive to fight when they are older and more likely to hurt one another by sparring. Alternatively, you can add new roosters to your flock relatively painlessly if they are raised by a hen in your flock, or if they are introduced to your flock when they are young, before reaching sexual maturity. It will be difficult to maintain the peace if you add an adult rooster to your flock that already has roosters, because that new rooster will be regarded as an invader-not just by the other rooster(s), but also by your hens!


_______________

That _MIGHT_ work with some of the milder-mannered breeds....such as Buff Orpingtons....but I DOUBT it.
I'm sure it wouldn't work with "Game Roosters" ..._OR _Brown Leghorns..._OR _Rhode Island Reds, and MOST other Breeds of chickens.

A neighbor of mine raises various types of Game Chickens. EACH Rooster has his own pen which is located "out-of-sight" of the other Roosters. IF they can even SEE each other.....they raise the Roof ( so-to-speak ) *!!!*
-ReTIRED- 
*P.S. *I have 3 Roosters that roam together with my hens...._occasionally _they will fight ....until one "backs-down". But, they are ALWAYS "testing" each other.


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## ThreeJ (Jun 28, 2012)

They are just establishing the pecking order. Some one has to be top rooster!


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

Bee said:


> I've never tried the first option but know people who have and they report very little serious fighting in the bachelor pens.
> 
> The second option I have done for years and it is true. Young roos introduced as chicks in the flock rise through the ranks just like they are supposed to do, with very little fighting back and forth as they recognize the pecking order in the beginning.
> 
> ...


last fall we were going around picking up free roosters from craigslist.
most were bound for the freezer but we happened to get a buff leghorn with nice long spurs. 
the buff orpington rooster i had at the time was a young fella no sign of spurs because he was too young still.
i added the huge leghorn & watched. 
my buff knew he was out classed & quickly figured out that it was best for his health if he were to just step down as head roo & all would go well. 
it worked for a few months. nothing broke into my coop so i'm not sure the monster leghorn was a fighter but he sure kept the whole flock heading the rite direction. all was well till i was given a few redstar hens that had some age to them but still layed. 
within 2 hours the 2 roos wanted to kill each other. (i had changed the pecking order)
the buff got his comb torn up in good shape. 
i needed the buff for this years breeding program so i cornered the leghorn without getting all torn up myself & took him straight to the woodshed for processing .


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I would have kept the leghorn!  Yeah, I know...you needed your Buff boy for breeding your buffs. 

But still...everyone could use a mack daddy of a roo like that Leghorn and good laying genetics, to boot!


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## ReTIRED (Mar 28, 2013)

My Brown Leghorn Rooster "Rules-the-Roost". He is only about 2/3 the size of my White Leghorn Rooster and 1/2 the size of my Buff Orpington Rooster....BUT he is "THE KING" of my Chicken Yard.....without a doubt. He doesn't tolerate ANY usurpers.
( They are ALL the same age.)

-ReTIRED-


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## ypease (May 28, 2013)

Roos fight for the right to run "their" hens! It is what they do naturally. You need to make a decision, which one is the keeper. Otherwise, separate them physically, 2 totally separate pens and see how that works. Poor guys, they are just doing what comes naturally. You are very lucky you weren't burying one. You might next time if you put them back together. Please think about that.


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## Gd4sumthn (Jan 3, 2014)

I agree with the hormone thing and also fighting over their new flock. And they WILL kill each other even if they got along before. I had two that loved each other and were together 24/7, all over the yard. Then one day I went out to feed and they were beating the tar out of each other. I separated them and they nearly tore the fence apart and still hurt each other! I finally had to get rid of one and after that, the other one was mean to ME!


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

All roos fight but if you have a large number of hens it works out (by large I mean like 10-12 each ish in separate pens tho you can get away with slightly less). Without that large number you may want to cull one


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## Gd4sumthn (Jan 3, 2014)

My two were raised together and they almost killed each other. They were best buds until that day. So no, #2 doesn't always work.


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## ypease (May 28, 2013)

Roosters get along until they become sexually mature. Then they fight to the death if necessary. Sometimes you don't have to have hens around at all. You have seen pics of fighting cocks....right? Same thing! Please, oh please, do not try to put them back together in any way shape of form! Even if they appear to have kissed and made up, they will go at it again and again until one is removed, dies or runs. By the way, it is not in a Roos nature to run from a rival. Please find the poor boy a new home. Poor beautiful guy, he has had enough from a humans stand point.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

a bet a couple dozen more hens would change their tune
they would be too worn out to fight


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