The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: whitby_sam on February 14, 2010, 02:29:35 pm
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The last couple of days my 2 boys have been scrapping to the point that they're both looking pretty bedraggled and scabby. Will they eventually sort it out? Or do I need to think about separating them? Someone has told me its just the time of year and they'll sort it, someone else told me they won't stop til one of them's dead...
They grew up together and the bigger one has always been the boss and the smaller one always accepted that. What's changed? They each have their own girls and usually go about their business separately, coming together at feeding time and when they sense "trouble" from one of the dogs.
If I separate them it'll mean one of them losing his "girls" for a while and when they free range together they're bound to bump into one another. I haven't got enough fencing (or money) to ensure their paths never cross again.
Silly thing is I'm going to have to change them very soon anyway (within the next 4 weeks) so they don't run the risk of covering their daughters...
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You'll probably have to split them up, they may well fight to the death, we're getting towards the breeding season so they'll both want to mate with the girls, in my experience they only co exist if there are so many hens that they can't possibly compete for all of them all.
If you don't want related stock could you find someone to swap with, we normally eat surplass boys, is this not an option.
best wishes, Helen
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I was going to say that cockerels are hugely territorial, and there is the possibility that they may fight to the death. It's nearly spring, so they may well be fighting more than normal because of that. Can't you separate them so they've got their own 'harem'?
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They have 22 girls between them! I'd be more than satisfied with 11 females to service, infact I'd be bloody worn out!
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LOL, i tend to agree 11 each is more than enough, i suppose you could sit it out and see if they settle but you can't watch them all the time so one could end up in a very bad way.
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i would split them up as soon as, we left ours together to long and had the ultimate missfortune of one killing the other.
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Something I was reading the other day said that the way to do it is to hobble them both. Tie thick string round their legs so that they can walk but it stops them fighting all out and killing each other. When they have established a solid pecking order they will stop............ Think that it was this months practical poultry mag (chicken porn)
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Cockerals usually either always tolerate eachother or decide they want to kill eachother, sounds like you have the latter, happened to us last year so we culled one and kept the other. And yes he has covered his daughters and we have perfectly healthy young from them, its not quite the same in the chicken world!!
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Really? :o