Hello--
This young Brazilian "Cherryhead" (3 years old? 4?) arrived recently, and I introduced it to my creep of 1 male/4 females (one of the females is 8 years old; the others are 5, and I have had the latter since they were hatchlings). As soon as I put the new one in the pen--sex is undetermined--the male went right for it and started aggressively pushing it from behind and chasing it around the pen; see video clip. Is this bullying/fighting? It wasn't so much a fight as it was my 5-year-old male acting like the schoolyard bully, and the smaller new one running for its life. Was it trying to mate? To this point, the male hasn't exhibited nearly this type of behavior ever before with the more mature females...but all of a sudden he is trying to mount a small juvenile within a minute of it being introduced? I removed the new one pretty quickly, and I tried again this morning at feeding time; same result. I once again took it out of the pen.
About 6 months ago I obtained the 8-year-old female that I dropped in there, and there were absolutely no issues at all.
What say those of you with experience? Can I assume this new Brazilian--who is a very sweet, very mellow creature--is a male, and that my 5-year-old wants no part of another rooster in his henhouse? I have always thought the Redfoot was a very laid-back species, though I have read that the Cherryheads can be aggressive. There is a very, very faint concavity to the plastron, and determining the sex by virtue of the tail is inconclusive to my relatively novice eye.
I would love to know if it's a breeding thing, or if some Cherryhead males simply cannot co-exist with another male.
Thank you!
This young Brazilian "Cherryhead" (3 years old? 4?) arrived recently, and I introduced it to my creep of 1 male/4 females (one of the females is 8 years old; the others are 5, and I have had the latter since they were hatchlings). As soon as I put the new one in the pen--sex is undetermined--the male went right for it and started aggressively pushing it from behind and chasing it around the pen; see video clip. Is this bullying/fighting? It wasn't so much a fight as it was my 5-year-old male acting like the schoolyard bully, and the smaller new one running for its life. Was it trying to mate? To this point, the male hasn't exhibited nearly this type of behavior ever before with the more mature females...but all of a sudden he is trying to mount a small juvenile within a minute of it being introduced? I removed the new one pretty quickly, and I tried again this morning at feeding time; same result. I once again took it out of the pen.
About 6 months ago I obtained the 8-year-old female that I dropped in there, and there were absolutely no issues at all.
What say those of you with experience? Can I assume this new Brazilian--who is a very sweet, very mellow creature--is a male, and that my 5-year-old wants no part of another rooster in his henhouse? I have always thought the Redfoot was a very laid-back species, though I have read that the Cherryheads can be aggressive. There is a very, very faint concavity to the plastron, and determining the sex by virtue of the tail is inconclusive to my relatively novice eye.
I would love to know if it's a breeding thing, or if some Cherryhead males simply cannot co-exist with another male.
Thank you!