[SJC]

Hi,  I hope somebody elses experience can help me with my quandry.

I have 12 chickens, 10 hens and 2 cockerels, 6 hens are large fowl & the other 6 are bantems (both the cockerels are bantems).

There all live in the same coop and free range together in my acre field, 99% of the time there is no problem but then the less dominate cockerel is trying to get over amourous with the dominate cockerels ladies and keeps injurying them, which then upsets them and keeps turning into a scene from phsyco.  The injuries are minor and are always on the comb hence why so much blood.

I would like to get a few more ladies this year but until I have sorted this I think it will only make things worse.

Am I rigt in thinking the only way I can sort things is by having them as 2 seperate flocks in 2 seperate coops or to get rid of the problem causing cockerel.

I only ever wanted hens but my well meaning father in law came home one day with a mother hen and 5 chicks, as lovely a gesture as this was I new I was going to end up with cockerels I am grateful that I only got two of them.

If anyone has any experience of this problem your advice is gratefully sort.

Thanks you

[Helenaj]

less dominant cockerels do tend to be a bit rough with the hens - it's basically they have not "honed" their wooing (for want of a better word!) skills yet, so basically drag the poor hen under them. It may be best that you separate your cockerels and give him his own ladies - the bantams may be best because they are less of a weight to drag and the more practice he gets in the more refined his technique will become and less injuries will occur. As long as he is in with the dominant cockerel who will chase him off at every opportunity, the longer he will drag a hen under him "for a quickie" (sorry about the terminology!), before your dominant cockerel gets to him.

[Casey76]

10 hens is probably the outer limit for 1 cockerel to keep under his wing.  If you get any more hens you may find that the flock splits in two naturally, though there may be a couple of hens which both cockerels like.

Having said that, having two mature cockerels in a mixed flock is likely to end in tears unless they are separated, each with his own girls.

I never really kept more than one mature cockerel at a time, it saved a lot of bloodshed :/

[Sassy]

I never really kept more than one mature cockerel at a time, it saved a lot of bloodshed :/

Definitely agree

[Debbieta]

Hi,
I have two cockerals, but keep them separated with their own girls (who I do sometimes move round so I can breed particular crosses).
However, the 'junior' cockerel managed to escape (daughter had been in to collect eggs and hadn't shut door properly!) and it was handbags at dawn .  Both wanted to be the dominant bird, but neither really knew what to do with the other one   After a few minutes jumping'ish at each other, we parted them and put junior back with his girls, neither none the worst for wear!
However, I wont be intentionally letting them near each other however daft they looked, just in case.
regards,
Debbie

[wbmkk]

Made me laugh

I have never had any livestock in my life, but while lived in South Africa quite a few years ago, in a large rural house decided to keep chickens. Well, my African wife did really.

We ended up with two cockerels, one was called MacGyver (after the TV series at the time). They would fight (surprise surprise) so my wife said to put one in the hut, then alternate them. I certainly wasn't going to catch a live bird to do it ... something she did without any difficulty.

In the end, I found it easy, as the two cockerels were giving each other 'dirty looks' I would simply walk behind one of them and grab the tail feathers ... easy.

When it came to eat the chickens ... just never happened ... wife decided we couldn't eat our pets.

Now, who would give every chicken their own name  

[pepsi100]

I had 3 cockerels, nice big boys, 2 Brahmas and a Buff Orpington

I had to get rid of 2 of them, so the big Brahmas had to go, they used to chase each other off the hens, but never any blopdshed, it was just the hens were alway shattered, they would jump in the nest box and just fall asleep, caused havoc with others that wanted to lay

It wasnt unusual to find 3 hens in one box

The big boys just strutted their stuff in the run, but the hens all went inside

Bantams can be fiesty little *, so I would either give them their own girls or find a new home for one of them, that decison for picking which to go I shall leave to you or others