[pandora]

I have 2 mature cockerels, each kept in their own large pen with their own house and girls. One boy has 6 girls and one boy has 5. They are both large fowl (a cream legbar and a marans) and nice natured, both toward humans and to their ladies. They do glare at each other through the fence though. They have been kept in pens separated by a fence angled inwards at the top in each direction iyswim so that they cannot jump over it, and have never got over in the past.

However, today the legbar managed somhow to get into the marans' pen. I was not around to see what went on, but they were clearly both hellbent on mutual destruction. Now they are both looking blooming around the face and rather sorry for themselves. The legbar is looking a bit more sorry for himself than the marans. He trespassed on his older and bigger colleague's ground and was the loser. When I got home he was hunched in a corner of the pen with his girls on the other side looking distressed and flapping round him. The marans was strutting around looking pleased with himself, if a little beaten up.

Now I am not too worried about keeping their wattles and combs in show condition (although they were pristine before today.) However I am not sure what to do with them now they are a bit battle-scarred. I know you should keep a bleeding bird separate from it's mates to stop them pecking at each other. But I've never had 2 birds to keep away from them, and I am a bit worried about keeping them apart from their girls as it is flipping freezing here tonight, and they would each have to go in a disused stable. (They can't come in the house because my mother's dogs are all in the utility room while she is on holiday, and OH would go nuts if they went in the kitchen or living room!)

The girls were showing no sign when I got back of having a quick peck, so I've let them all get into bed together. What is the likelihood of them having a go in the night? (The houses have automatic openers on them so they won't be cooped up together for long once it is light.) Would you put anything on their combs? (Which is what they mostly seem to have damaged.) I have varying levels of cream for my horse's wounds, but aloe vera is the most commonly used thing. Or should I just leave them to dry and scab and heal that way?

Sorry for the hundred and one questions, I've had the boys for a few years now, and not had this problem before. BTW I have created a 'no-mans-land' between their runs so that if this should be a new party trick they have to flap a bit harder to get at each other and hopefully I'll get to them first!

[IMOmimey]

Poor you. My cream legbar Mr Whippy cut his comb somehow, and bled everywhere, it looked awful, but combs bleed profusely. I shut him inside his coop for the rest of that day, allowing only his wives to be outside. I let him out to eat and drink half an hour before his bedtime, while i stood and supervised, then shut them all into bed. the next morning, he had stopped bleeding, but after his amorous exercise, started bleeding again. I shut him back in the coop on his own, with his own little drinker, and repeated the bedtime freedom. then he was ok after that.

[pandora]

All was quiet on the last-thing yard inspection, so I am going to leave them as they are and supervise them tomorrow morning to make sure they are not too under the weather. If they are making lurve I will assume that they are at least feeling a bit more chirpy!

BTW the word that was replace by the censor was a shorter version of 'covered in blood.' Nothing more sinister!

I like the name Mr Whippy. My legbar is Bobby Charlton, as he has a comb-over! The marans is Mummy's Boy. My old Wyandotte hen hatched him out along with his 2 sisters. The girls were very independent from early on, but he was nearly fully grown and still trying to hide under his mummy every night!

[hillfooter]

I' d bathe their wounds in warm soapy (baby safe if you have it or horse shampoo would be OK) water and spray with Gentian spray (purple spray) which not only is an antiseptic but will discourage pecking.  

Check their wattles which usually get torn in these encounters and if they do they usually shrivel up and drop off.  It's difficult to see on my avatar but Sylvester the VW cock has one wattle which is a lot smaller than the other as a result of a similar encounter with Sydney.  They were both in a terrible state afterwards not only from wounds but were completely black with mud as it was very wet at the time,  You couldn't have identified their true colours so dirty were they.  They were totally exhausted so I was able to pick them up and bath them in a large bucket of warm soapy water.  A good towelling and a blow dry and Stanley who wasn't too badly injured went straight back but Sylvester needed a couple of weeks R&R in a disused stable before he was fit to return.

It never happened again so perhaps they learnt and had sorted out their differences.

I actually clipped their wings after this as a precaution so possibly that helped too.

Regards
HF

[pandora]

Hillfooter, glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had this, and also glad to hear your's never did it again.

This morning it is clear Mummy's Boy is feeling very well, but Bobby (who started the fight) is not a happy bunny. So he will be coming inside to stay infor a bit. I have purple spray in for the horses - I'd never thought of using it for the chickens. Thanks for the tip! I have baby shampoo as well, for the baby