9-week old cockerels gone mad

[chickenfan]

Sorry to have yet another question, but my three 9-week old bantam sussex cockerels, having got on peacably since birth, had a major bust-up today. They all pecked each others faces (beginning to go pink) until they are raw-red and feathers missing from the head. I have had to separate them, as moving to a different pen didn't help. What's made them go so crazy all of a sudden? Are they lacking something in their diet? They have a nice spacious pen and two sisters.

 

[chrismahon]

They are fighting over the two sisters and are evenly matched Chickenfan, so none of them want to back down. Separating them from the pullets so that they are out of sight should do the trick and calm them down a bit, although one will still want to be top. We had similar behaviour, but far less extreme, at about the same age with our three cockerels with 5 Leghorn pullets. The most aggressive was despatched and the other two kept until they started treading the pullets. Unfortunately we haven't the space to keep surplus cockerels.

 

[chickenfan]

Thanks so much Chris. I will try this. Does this mean they need to be out of sight of adult hens too? This might be complicated.

 

[chickenfan]

What would happen if I mixed cockerels from another brood of the same age with the three cockerels? I am getting short of coops.

I can't understand how breeders often have two cockerels running with the hens and why this doesn't end up in disaster.

 

[dinosaw]

You would get a fight that would make the previous one look like a love-in Chickenfan. I also agree 100% with what Chris said previously. If you raise your cockerels together from birth then they establish a definite pecking order by adulthood whereby their positions are settled and there is less squabbling and even then they need enough hens and space to satisfy them so that conflict doesn't arise. I have nearly always thinned out to a single cockerel before they are adults in the past and unless you have some definite use for 3 cockerels of the same breed going forward would suggest that you cull or rehome 1 or 2 of them now.

 

[chickenfan]

Thanks Dinosaw. They are lovely birds, so I am planning to just keep one and to rehome the others. I've already had two of the cockerels put to sleep. They are still babies and too young to rehome at present, but I'll have a go. I am getting a coop organised for the sisters. Presumably the boys wouldn't be competing for adult hens that might be free-ranging near their coop?

I think speckled sussex bantams - which are the gentlest of breeds - are competitive when it comes to the girls. Its still a mystery to me how Breeders frequently put two cockerels, including unrelated ones, in the breeding pen with the hens. Or do you think they lose a lot in fights and don't mind?

 

[dinosaw]

Breeders may put two cockerels in the same pen but it doesn't mean that they don't fight, how bad it is will depend on individual birds, the space they have to avoid each other and how many hens there are to go around, and of course there is fighting and then there is fighting to the death, most cockerels won't fight to the death. The general consensus is that even related cocks once separated shouldn't be put back together because of the fighting. I suppose breeders like individual keepers come in all sorts, some care about their birds first and foremost, for others profit is the end game, the profit driven ones probably won't care if their boys go around injuring each other or not.

 

[chrismahon]

The breeder I bought our replacement Wyandotte cock from kept all his separately in individual boxes, each 3 ft x 18" with just a mesh window to the front and all kept in a courtyard arrangement, so no sunshine at all, no run or grass. There were only two to chose from and one had clearly gone mad in the confinement. The other really enjoyed the drive back and doodled every time I stopped, opened the boot and gave him water. It was when he arrived here the problems started. Clearly agoraphobic, he panicked when put into a run with vision out of all 4 sides. When he went into the enclosure he wouldn't come out of the coop run. However, if it was the other way round and he was going into a smaller space I don't think he would have coped with the confinement. So it's not necessarily a bad thing keeping cockerels in confinement, although the aforementioned box is far too small I think.

 

[Marigold]

Thanks Dinosaw. They are lovely birds, so I am planning to just keep one and to rehome the others. I've already had two of the cockerels put to sleep. They are still babies and too young to rehome at present, but I'll have a go.

Why do you think they're still babies and too young to rehome, at 9 weeks?

 

[chickenfan]

Marigold they could not be put with adult birds and it would be wrong to keep a baby on its own. They are 11-year-olds, only half-grown, and need to enjoy the rest of their youth to grow into balanced birds. I am really proud of them. They are gorgeous. They had a fantastic broody mum and have been a really calm, close-knit, friendly brood. They all seem to have recovered from their tiff on Sunday and faces back to normal colour. It is hard to find nice Speckled Sussex bantams, and they are from top breed lines, so I hope to find homes. Unfortunately almost every bird born has been a cockerel so I can't spare any hens to make a trio or pair.

 

[chickenfan]

Forgot to say, the speckled sussex chicks were my attempt to replace Joanna, who broke her femur, for my cock. She is no longer suitable for breeding, although she is in great shape again with not even a slight limp.

 

[elmdene]

I had 2 young pekin brothers a few years ago, who I had to separate from their father and grandfather (who were both in separate trios) because they fought with each other. They seemed to get on fine with each other,apart from the odd play sparring, although one was clearly much more aggressive than the other. We had to free range them all in shifts and as soon as we let the young cockerels out they rushed straight over to the other pens to taunt the two older cockerels and try to peck them through the fence. Unfortunately while we were away on holiday, the aggressive one was killed by the other one in a fight in their pen (which was pretty horrible for our neighbour who was looking after to deal with). So I would say try to rehome them as soon as possible, although I know from experience this is not easy. We tried for ages with Dumpling, the one that was left, who was the most handsome, sweetest natured little bird ever (apart from murdering his brother), but sadly he died very suddenly about 6 months later.