Roosters started fighting out of nowhere

[Sivle]

Hi, I'm new to this forum but we have had chickens for a couple of years now. So today we had an incident. We have 4 roosters and 17 hens. We always keep them in a caged area which is a pretty good space. We do not let this group roam around our backyard because there are woods and we are afraid they could get eaten (happened before and we lost all 16 chickens/roosters and our ducks in one day while we were out for a couple of hours). Today right as the sun started to set we decided to let them out for a bit so they could have some fresh grass. We did this for about 30 minutes then they all started to go back to their caged area. All of a sudden our two older roosters (3 years old) started going at it to the death! The other two roosters we hatched from our current chickens and are about 9 months old now.

We have never seen this before so we rushed out to stop them but they did not care. Both were badly bleeding so they must have been fighting for a couple minutes now. We have locked one of them away cuz he looked pretty bad.

I know we have 4 roosters and that is just asking for a fight but we have had them now for a couple years and they never fight. They just run after each other some times or we see one rooster defending the chickens if the other gets a bit too much.
Has anyone dealt with this before? What could we do? Also, why are they doing this now? It could be because we let them roam around, but they barely even made it that far. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Sivle]

So I just read an article on here but it seemed to say that they should stop fighting after a while? One of the roosters was already just hiding in the corner while the other kept attacking him. Is it possible he was going to just go for the kill rather than accepting his victory and walking away?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Roosters fight to establish dominance. Sometimes everything is settled through posturing, and other times they fight. Every fight is different. They can fight to the death. Most fights, one gives up and runs. Sometimes they are just chased a bit, but if the submissive one decides instead to stick his head in a corner to hide he can be pecked to death.

Here my birds aren't confined except for my bantam flock, so roosters can generally get away, and stay away. If you flock is confined things can go bad quickly.

4 is a lot of roosters for your hens.

You can remove roosters, or keep them together and see how it goes. If one is hiding than you need to remove one or you will end up with a dead rooster.

Every situation and flock is different. Only you can say if any birds are in danger. I personally would remove at least 1 rooster, and possibly 3.

 

[Mrs. K]

I don't think it was the going outside, I do think it was the "sap is starting to rise" time of year. I would not expect reintroducing the beaten rooster to go well. I think he will be attacked again. You can try it, but I would not leave it unobserved. I too, think you have too many roosters for your flock.

Always solve for peace in the flock. Roosters fighting or posturing are also upsetting to the hens. It creates quite a bit of tension in the flock. I think you might consider keeping two of the roosters, and I think I would be in favor of keeping an old one and a young one. The old one will be dominant, and the young one should become a good second in command. If you decide to go that route, pull one of the younger rooster aside, and wait for a day or so and see how the dynamics go. If not quite what you want, try a different pair.

I am sure you are hoping that it was just the weird thing of turning them out, and that you can put them all back together again and it will be fine, but I really don't think it will be. And another funny thing is, I would not be surprised if the younger ones started fighting too, like they all got the idea at once. Roosters are tricky, and what worked yesterday, may not work today, always have a plan B.

Good luck,
Mrs K

 

[Sivle]

Thanks for the replies guys! I feel bad giving them away as I feel I have grown attached to them even though they are just roosters lol.

But so odd how it just happened like that. The two older ones do protect the hens from the two younger ones who like messing with them, and the younger one always just run away so I definitely see the chain of command there. It's funny because the two older ones never fought each other or chased or nothing. I always just assumed they both equally ruled but I guess one if more dominant than the other. We locked the more beaten up one for the night.

Do y'all think alternating the two older roosters in lock up for a week could do something? I might try, if it does not work then yeah will probably have to give up two of them.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that it's spring, and your cockerels are maturing, and the whole dynamic has changed. This group of cock birds and cockerels won't get along, and some of them need to be rehomed. I would also try one of the seniors, and one of the cockerels, and see if that works. If you have particular birds that are part of a breeding group, that needs to be considered, although you didn't mention anything about that here.
Peace! Must have peace in the flock, because nobody's happy out there right now.
I have multiple cock birds and cockerels, as many as six at once, and everyone needs to get along, or adjustments are made.
Mary

 

[Timothy Menezes]

It's spring and hormones are elevated for breeding season, sounds like it's time to thin out some of the males. If your too attached to them to make them into soup then you might try giving a few of them away.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

So I just read an article on here but it seemed to say that they should stop fighting after a while?

You are dealing with living animals, yo do not get guarantees on behavior. "Should" doesn't mean "will". "Might" doesn't mean "absolutely without a shadow of doubt will". We can tell you what we expect might or is most likely to happen in some circumstances, but when I do that there is a fair chance I've seen the opposite happen occasionally. We're not dealing with absolutes. I wish I could be more specific.

One of the roosters was already just hiding in the corner while the other kept attacking him. Is it possible he was going to just go for the kill rather than accepting his victory and walking away?

When two chickens fight (it can happen with hens too, especially if no rooster is around) they can fight to the death. If one gets seriously injured the other may finish it off. But often, one figures out that it is better off running away than fighting. The other may chase a bit and there may be repeats of the fight, but often this keeps one alive. If one doesn't run away the other doesn't know it won and keep attacking. It may be in too small a space to run away (that happens a lot of here with small coops and runs), it may get trapped against a fence or in a corner (maybe like yours), or it may just hunker down, maybe too injured to run away. The other often continues the attack, usually going for the head where it can kill more easily. So yes, he was probably going for the kill.

I don't know what triggered that fight. If you are north of the equator it could be spring means rising hormones. The cockerels maturing could have triggered competition between the adults. Change can affect flock dynamics so maybe letting them out like that triggered something. I lean toward that change being the trigger but somethiing may have been simmering beneath the surface for a while.

For you to think about, you don't need to tell me.. Why do you want that many roosters? What are your goals for those four boys? In my opinion, the only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs, everything else is personal preference. Nothing wrong with personal preference, that can be a strong motivator. I can understand you becoming attached to them, boys tend to have more personality than the girls. One rooster should be able to keep all those girls fertile since it sounds like you want fertile eggs.

You can try to reintegrate them, anything is possible, but I would not. It's possible one of the adults will get along with one or both of those cockerels, especially for a while. Or by removing one or two all out war may break out now with the changed dynamics. As the cockerels mature you might see a repeat of this fight. You went a couple of years without this serious of a fight, it could happen again. You don't get guarantees on any of this.

You can try to create a bachelor pad, with no girls to fight over they are often very peaceful. You can try alternating roosters with the flock, daily weekly, monthly however you want to try. I would not, I think it tends to disrupt flock dynamics when you change major players. If you leave one or both cockerels with the flock and rotate the adults it would probably trigger fights.

It's not always an easy choice, I could be wrong on any of this. I wish you luck.

 

[Mrs. K]

I think separating the rooster for a week, and then trying to add him back into the flock, is pretty much a guaranteed cock fight, and you could sell tickets! jk.

Wishing they will all be nice, does not work. You might put the other three in a bachelor pen away from the hens and keep them there permanently. Put the injured bird, back in with the hens, might work. I really do not see your going back to the flock dynamics you had last week. It might, but it is a slim chance.

Really roosters are a crap shoot, and need a huge amount of space. Without that, you need to be able to decide who stays and who goes.

Mrs K

 

[Sivle]

Thanks for all the help guys! So we let out the locked up rooster, he walked out spread his wings and went and attacked the rooster that was the "winner" yesterday. Yesterday's winner totally back away. Got chased a bit and ran away and then it all stopped. Now they are eating together and it seems fine. Either way I think we will definitely give away an older and a younger one as it is too much. Maybe they will be at peace for another year but who knows.