Hey, guys it seems that a rooster that I've had for about two years is scared of a rooster that is about one year old, and much more bigger. The rooster that is scared, his name is Rafael (SMALL). The younger roosters name is Junior (BIG). Now, Rafael won't even eat or drink because it is scared of Junior. Every time Rafael tries even to touch food, (every time I feed them) Junior chases it.
So I tried to sell Junior but nobody wants to come and pick him up because of the gas prices. I feel sorry for Rafael because it can't eat or drink and who knows what else. I can't sell Rafael because it's been a really cool to me and my family. It saved almost four chickens from hawks. Now, I know it is hard to believe but somehow Rafael fought a hawk to save their lives, but it can't fight back to Junior.
I heard some where that roosters will fight to death? If that is right, I really don't want to see either of them die.
So please if anybody has a any good advice please reply thanks,
Eric
Need help, rooster question!!!
One thing you may want to do temporarily is keep them separated if you have the capability to do so. Then they can both eat until you get a better solution. If you do not have a way to separate them, maybe take Junior elsewhere when it is feeding time so Rafael can eat and bring him back when you think it is safe. I hope that may be of help to you.
Yeah I try to do that, Thanks a lot whosennext. That is a lot of help
Eric19,
Not to scare you or anything but Rooster have to be separated if
they fight each other because they will fight to death..
How is every thing now with the Roosters???
Is the rooster etaing or drinking any thing ???
Tracey
Eric19, Your larger roo is scared for a reason. The larger roo can hurt him. I have 4 roos together. They seldom tussle. They have decided amongst themselves what areas they each patrol. Space is the issue. If you have a large enough area ...the 2 roos could live with the same confines. My roos have 2 acres of fenced weeds to walk around so there is lots of room to patrol individually. In the mornings they head for separate spaces. At night they sleep in the same henhouse. Fighting to death might happen in a small confined coop.
Well now as I spend more time looking at them (looking over Rafael) it seems like their not the type to fight to death. I mean Junior is a big bully in all to Rafael, but I don't know if he is that big enough to kill him.
I tried a few days ago to put the the bigger roo Junior inside a separate cage outside while I was feeding the other chickens outside. But every time I come in the pen with some sort of food it panics and wants to eat. So I thought about putting food and water in Junior cage so it can eat. before you know it, it spills. So I don't think it wants to eat from there, it probably wants to be with the others or it wants to pick on Rafael and the other chickens.
Thanks for your replies, I hope to get more great ideas. I'll try to send you guys some pics of both roos.
Here's Junior the big roo (the bully).
This message was edited Jun 20, 2007 1:26 PM
Here's Rafael the smaller roo (gets picked on by Junior and other chickens).
Oooooooooooo Rafael is a beautiful bird !!! They are both very nice but I especially like the coloring on Rafael. Too bad he's getting picked at.
Hope you find a solution to your troubles so you can keep them both and keep the flock happy too !!!
Julie
They look just like you described Junior looks soooo like a bully see that nasty gleam in his eye. Where as Rafael looks kinda sheepishly indignant - like "What did I ever do to you?"
Yeah They both are beautiful birds and I hate to lose one of them. Thanks for your replies.
I have 2 roosters that I have let run loose just lately. I usually keep them in seperate pens. But it has rained so much here, their pens are really muddy, so I let everybody out to free range.
Soon as they saw each other, they went at it. Pretty soon, one would get the best of the other, and the weaker one would run off.
Few hours later, after he got his second wind, they would go at it again. Same thing, although he would run away when he got tired.
This went on for a few days. And the weaker one would just hang around the fringes of the area where the rest of the flock was.
Yesterday, I noticed they were at it again, but the tables had turned.
The outcast was getting the best of the first one, and he was running with the girls, and the other one was out around the fringes. I don't think they will kill each other, but they definately are trying to establish who's the big dog.
Yeah see Rafael doesn't hang around with the hens he just eats when ever he's not getting picked on from the others. The hens seldom pick on him that's why he doesn't hang with them.
I have two roosters as well, and if there's one thing you rarely see in the henhouse, it's complete equality. My smaller black Australorp is the king, and the hens acknowledge this. The huge light Brahma is definitely not the boss. He jumps a hen when he can, but he pays for it by being chased. He's allowed to eat, and dust with the others, and do whatever, but the Australorp does not want him breeding. :) However, since my coop has two chicken yards, he gets to fairly often, and with a new group of hens growing up, I need two roosters for fertilization. (1 rooster per 8-10 hens).
I have 12 chickens and about 10 hens. (some are still young pullets) Rafael doesn't even crow anymore. And I don't think he even breeds with any of the hens anymore. I tried to let them out of the pen for some free ranging, but I can't because I got a chick out there, and it's not in the best condition to be pecked on because it only has one leg in use. Thanks for all the replies.
This message was edited Jun 26, 2007 11:36 AM
I brought Rafael in to my garage, its barely eating. I picked it up today and it wasn't even hard, it didn't run. It seems like it's out of energy. Every time it stands it can barely balance. And even when it does eat, it takes hard little pecks at one time. So I'm keeping it in my garage until night comes, then I'll put it in with the others. But still, I filled up an old feeder and rarely it eats, only when I put up to the food. It slowly walks away i its corner. I seems somewhat physically fine (besides the fact that it can barely walk, and its kind of skinnier), but I wouldn't know mentally. I would not have the courage to put it down in all.
Do avian doc's cost a lot to do a check up on chickens?
Any advice? Eric
I wonder if he's weak from not getting enough to eat. I had a hen that was picked on and constantly driven away from the food. She did become thinner and weaker over time. I seperated her from the hens that were hostile toward her, and after a while she got stronger and did better.
It takes a lot of energy to keep on the watch and stay clear of the bullies. Not to mention that their food intake is reduced at the same time. I think the combination of extra energy used, less food intake, and constant stress takes it's toll on them.
I'd try to keep him separate till he gets more energy. Baby him with treats and I would put the stress electrolytes in his water. Probably wouldn't hurt to give him some of the liquid poly-vi-sol baby drops for an extra boost. Just a drop or two a day in his beak.
After a few days if he's a bit perkier I would take the most gentle hen or young bird you have and put her with him. They are flock birds and he will be very lonely. Maybe fix up a tractor type cage so he can get some sunshine and pick at grass and bugs.
Hope he turns around and starts to feel better soon !!
Julie
We have 2 roosters and 10 hens. We have had the 2 roosters since birth and yes they will fight till death. It also makes the roosters angry and start to flog people as well. We kept the nasty rooster locked up in a nice enclosure area. Nobody wants our rooster either. I don't recommend that you ever keep two roosters together.
Worry about the good rooster and keep him safe and happy. Good roosters that don't flog people are hard to come by.
We finally wound up moving our nasty rooster to another farm and our good rooster is back to normal. But don't wait too long to do it. Keep a few hens with the bad rooster to keep him company.
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With the ornery rooster....... if you put a few hens in with him to keep him company, you might have to change them out often. Some roosters are so rough on them. Their poor backs get all scruffed up and need a chance to heal before they get raw.
Eric, how is he doing ? It's been a couple days since we've heard.
Well for about a half month Rafael's neck and tail have both been down. Its neck is now smudged in. And it seems to want to sleep all the time. At night they know their routine, to hop into their coop and roost. But Rafael doesn't, it wants to, it stands there like it does. It tries hoping in when Junior isn't in yet, but it has no strength to, it just hides under the coop and lays there. So I have to pick it up and put ti in the coop. It doesn't roost anymore with the pullets/hen, it just sleeps on the floor of the coop. So I have to put it on a platform where the pullets are. It just goes into a corner and sleeps there. Every morning I try to take it out of the pen and feed it by itself, but ti seems every day passes by it eats less. This yesterday I gave it electrolytes in its water, it drank a little, then wandered away from both the food and water. It's doing the same now except now I pick it up and put it near the food and water, and still it wanders away without eating or drinking.
Yesterday I tried to get the nicest and gentle hen but I couldn't they kept running away from me. So finally this morning about half hour after I got them out I grabbed one hen and put it near Rafael. It just ran back to its pen scared.
Yesterday my cat got lose and scared Rafael, It tried to run but did a cart wheel. Its too weak to even walk or run or balance itself.
I don't keeps Rafael in a pen, I let it out about 200 ft. away from the chicken pen free ranging. I do keep a close watch on it. I check up on it every 30-60 mins.
It drools and has bubbles in its mouth, their not too big. It sleeps all the time. I put it near the food and water it goes away and sleeps near the chicken pen. But if I let it in the pen with them Junior and some hens with sometimes pick on him now.
He really changed from the pick I posted a while back. Then he was eating alone, and with the other hens, but still getting picked on.
If I put the low feeder in Rafael will eat, but also get picked on. He can't eat out of the hanging feeders anymore, I don't know why.
To tell you the truth, I really miss it when he took charge and attacked me when I tried to get in the pen.
I don't have the heart to put him down or sell him. I'm really, really worried of him. I hope he gets better soon.
Eric
This message was edited Jul 24, 2007 12:16 PM
It doesn't want to eat anymore. I tried to call vets in my area and vets in other areas but no one does chickens. Almost all the places I called, had doctor's that were on vaca.
Eric
This morning I saw that Rafael was picking at his neck, trying to take out something. So I lifted his hackles and there were these tiny parasites all over him.
Yesterday I did see that he had these tiny fleas around him. Could he be sick from that? Can I use any type of soap to wash him? I'm planning on doing it today. I've never wash a chicken cause they usually do it by dusting. Do roos dust too? I know it's a stupid question but, how should I wash him?
Thanks, Eric
This message was edited Jul 25, 2007 3:43 PM
He ( and everyone probably) have poultry lice or mites. How I got rid of mine was to buy a hardcore general farm insectide, then spray it on, per the directions. Then I bathed them in warm water with flea and tick shampoo. That would be a start. You can use frontline on chickens as well, to prevent reoccurance.
Parasites will suck the life out of an animal ....... they just keep feeding on the blood making them weaker etc...
Julie
I use frontline flea spray on mine
you can almost any flea spray..Adams....etc
If you give him a bath use spray and wash...
sounds weird but it kills the mites
rinse well
Put him out in the sun to dry
if the sun is down or its not sunny put him near a heater
Hi Eric, My name's Leah and I'm new here. I hope your Rafael is OK. When I used to keep chickens if a rooster became a bully I would either build another pen if I was attatched to him or give him away. It won't do to keep them together. He'll just keep getting picked on. As for the mites I used to use diatomacious earth. You can probably get it at your local feed store. Let us know how it's going...
Leah
Thanks guys, I just came back from the store and ended up only getting on thing, Adams flea spray. I didn't see any other familiar. I went to TSC and ask one of the workers if they had the things that I printed off the internet. They seem to have none of the 10 products on my list to cure cocci for poultry. I"m going back tonight to get a syringe, so I can easily water and feed him.
When ever Rafael gets better (Hope to God he does) I will try to find a way to sell Junior, right away.
Thanks again,
Eric
Your local feed and farm store will be a better source for those things than a pet store.
Well TSC is practically our farm/local feed store. I do have Pet Supply's but I doubt that the have anything to do with chickens.
I'm planing on going back to TSC and getting This Sulmet anti-bacterial. But the problem is that they only have Aureomycin Sulmet for Swine. Could I use that for chickens too???
Eric
The aureoromycin/sulmet powder for swine is actually better for them than the regular liquid sulmet
So yes
that one is fine
I have a vet I deal with online
he goes to all the big shows and specializes in poultry
thats what he tells me to use
(He's expensive,but knowledgeable)
Eric, I highly recommend Ivomec in a liquid form .... 2 ounces will cost $30. 1 drop on the back of the head from a Q-tip on each and every chicken will kill parasites for months. You should also use a powdered formula to kill mites at the same time. This routine should be repeated twice a year. Parasites and mites will literally sap the strength or energy from your poultry flock and cause them to die.
Do you use ivomec?
I've wanted to try it but .....just scared I guess
but here it costs 55 bucks for the tiny bottle
note- to anyone looking for ivomec
its not for poultry
its listed for use in cattle
Well Yesterday, I bought Adams spray and put it on him, and about 1 hr. later all the parasites were dead on the towel.
I woke up this morning and noticed that Rafael was...well...dead. I don't know what went wrong, what I did wrong, or what was wrong with it. I don't understand I fed it, looked at it, went on my computer, looked at it again, and went to bed. Everything was like it was yesterday night/day and days before that.
I looked at its droppings and saw no blood. Looked at its comb, cherry red. Looked at its wattle, white as before. Every thing seem to be like it was when it was alive.I'm think it didn't have cocci. None of the symptoms it had of cocci acted out.
Are their any other diseases that have somewhat similar symptoms?
Thanks for everyone help and support.
Eric
Perhaps the pesticide was too much for him being as sick as he was?
I asked our vet's receptionist the other day if he would see chickens and she said, "Basically, if you have a really sick chicken, there's usually not much you can do."
Oh Eric, I'm real sorry to hear that. You did everything you could. As to cause of death I'm not sure I will let others try to help. Sorry again,
Leah
I know how bad you feel
you tried so hard
I'm thinking mites,parisites and whatever had already done their damage
He had been ill for a while...or just feeling...off
He was probably so stressed ...
and not really eating and drinking
it just caught up to him
I find it highly unlikly the adams killed him
I have had birds I all of a sudden discover loaded with mites
(when you have hundreds some slip your notice)
if they are still eating and drinking well they are usually fine
but if they are already in decline,acting funny,or lethargic ....most of the time they don't make it
dang
I really can't spell.....
This message was edited Jul 27, 2007 12:52 PM
This message was edited Jul 27, 2007 12:52 PM
crestedchik, I've many poultry expert acquaintances and they all highly recommend the Ivomec. It works wonders and I suppose the price of the bottle is now more than I recalled.