Mean rooster...

[GarthRyan]

I have one "Easter egger" rooster that has became a problem. He about killed one of my hens by excessive mounting and I had to take her out of the pen and bathe her because him mounting her had pushed her into mud and her feathers were CAKED in mud/poop. Well she got her strength back and today i put her back in (after being away from them for 3 days) and he mounted her two or three times in a row. He also treats the other hens like that but seems to favor this one. Well, i took him out of the pen.

My question is, would he survive fine if i just release him? Or should i give him to a friend and let him become dinner?

I really don't want to send him off because he's actually a really pretty bird. I just don't want him to get eaten by nature after being out a few days. We have one chicken hawk but we rarely see it and one dog but he stays tied up. We also have 15 acres of land so maybe he won't go to the neighbors house.

But anyways, I'm really leaning towards letting him free to be a "full time free ranger."

 

[Triple Willow]

Out running loose sooner or later he will be killed by something. Also, I don't know about where you live but where I am it is COLD. He would die out running with no shelter here. I would either eat him or give him away or sell him if possible.

 

[GarthRyan]

I've read things on here that says chickens are fine without any heat down to -20°F. The lowest it's supposed to get here is 8°F but it's normally warmer than that. That's like the lowest low that there's been since 1959. That's supposed to be Monday so maybe I'll just keep him in the garage in a cage (his current abode) until Tuesday. But in actuality, I'm probably releasing him tomorrow. Thanks for the insight though.

 

[3KillerBs]

Releasing a domesticated animal into the wild is inherently cruel and irresponsible. A domesticated animal does not have the skill to survive on its own and will almost always die cruelly of starvation, thirst, illness, or predation.

If you own an animal that you cannot care for you are responsible to either put it into a situation where someone can care for it or to kill it swiftly and humanely.

There is nothing wrong with inviting a rowdy rooster for dinner. There is a great deal wrong with abandoning an animal to the terror of the wild.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have one "Easter egger" rooster... He about killed one of my hens by excessive mounting and I had to take her out of the pen and bathe her because him mounting her had pushed her into mud and her feathers were CAKED in mud/poop....

Maybe a better solution is to do something about the deep mud and poop that your poultry are forced to live in.

Also your question about him being safe alone in nature sounds to me like your intent is to drop him off somewhere on the roadside.

I hope that I am wrong but I fear that I am not.

 

[GarthRyan]

Okay everyone, I'm not just dropping him out somewhere, he'd be on my land unless he decided to leave on his own and i would still provide him feed and water. And for the mud, it gets muddy anytime it rains here and it's dried up now plus they got put into a larger pen which would've happened sooner but moving the fence with my trailblazer wasn't an option and i had to wait until my bro could borrow a trailer from his workplace. I know the propper way to treat and care for animals. My neighbor before they moved had about 30 chickens running free without too good of care and that's not what I'm doing.

Also about turning domesticated animals loose, people let their dogs run loose and they're far more domesticated than chickens. I do though, understand that a dog can protect itself better than a chicken but they too have dangers. This rooster WILL NOT be released into "the wild" nor dropped off on the road and he will still be cared for and fed and watered.

 

[chooks4life]

Maybe a better solution is to do something about the deep mud and poop that your poultry are forced to live in.

Also your question about him being safe alone in nature sounds to me like your intent is to drop him off somewhere on the roadside.

I hope that I am wrong but I fear that I am not.

They've got 15 acres, they said, so I presume they intend to 'dump' him there. I agree about the mud, that's not too healthy at all and should be taken care of.

Quote: The 'excessive' mounting is never an issue if the rooster is not a nasty bird, who spurs or tears or stabs at a hen while mating, and the hen herself is healthy. Why did she end up in the mud? Is it that deep, or is she that weak or small? Or is he just vicious?

I had one rooster who always mated repeatedly with his chosen favorite, and she was always fine. I feed mine kelp so their feathers are never so weak they get plucked by roosters' frequent attentions, and I keep a LOT of roosters running with the hens at all times, as I breed them to eat as well as for eggs. Free ranging them helps as they become less neurotic on average, and exaggerated or negative behaviors tend to settle when they are out there living the more natural life.
Quote: Levels of instinct differ greatly in different birds, even in direct siblings from the same parents. There is no guarantee he will survive but there's about a 95% guarantee he won't last long. I've had a couple of roosters and hens choose to turn feral and they survived but the vast majority of all my birds have chosen to return to the cages each night and continue to depend on me for one feed a day, so I take it they do not have the instinct to cope if I suddenly dumped them.

Try free ranging him, preferably with a hen or two, and see how they do. He may settle down if freeranged. Generally chickens are very wary and will avoid predators quite successfully during the day, it's usually during the night that they are at most risk. I wouldn't dump him because the majority of all dumped animals suffer slow and horrible deaths.

I used to live at a few rural places about 5 to 15 kms out of town and those are the 'dumping zones' for most cities, where people offload animals to 'survive on their own' ---- I have numerous tragic experiences of faithful dogs who died or were shot by farmers as they waited for owners who were never coming back, cats who suffered terrible injuries and died slow deaths while being brutalized by resident feral cats because their owners dumped them, and more sad stories. People often just drive out of town and throw tortoises out of windows, and stupid, inhumane things like that.

I truly wish I had photos and recordings of those animals and how they suffered so I could post them about town and show their owners what a terrible fate they dealt their animals. In many cases the animals ended up in my care when it was far too late to save them.

Please, don't dump, the fantasy idea of the animal's instincts keeping it alive is just that --- a fantasy. We've domesticated them, the majority cannot cope without us anymore, and their deaths are often slow rather than quick.

 

[koakai22]

Garthryan. I think this has gotten a little out of control and maybe I am "reading" into this but what I took from your question is...... you plan to release him for permanent free range on your own property not "take him off and dump him". I grew up on a ranch and never remember so much as a coop, our chickens always free ranged as did the other birds. I think a chicken roaming in your own yard is hardly inhumane.
Also from the weather forecast I'm gonna guess you are in Alabama too! Burrr... LOL

 

[GarthRyan]

The land that i speak of is the land i live on. I'm not "dumping him out." The mud has been taken care of in two ways, moved their pen and it's dried up. Like i said, it rained, so, it got muddy. As soon as they kill all of this new grass it will also get muddy.
She is small and weaker than the others and him mounting her, getting off for ten seconds then mounting her again made her weak like that from resisting him and them only being 5 months old, she already has bare spots on her shoulders from him. And because of his actions i would label him as "near vicious" and would not sell him or give him to anyone to put him with their chickens because i don't want him to kill anyones hens.

He will get fed like the others and cared for and such.

And i haven't let him go yet, I'm just thinking about things i can do.

Like i said in my first post, he is a pretty good looking chicken, and I'd rather keep him. He just can't be with any of my other chickens.

 

[GarthRyan]

Also, by nature, i mean my backyard. Like animals here. Such as raccoons that haven't came around in three months and foxes that I've seen no sign of in years. I know they're in the woods here but they don't come into my yard.

I had two incidents with raccoons but both of them got shot. But i know from pictures on our deer camera that there's 2 or 3 more. If they come around and let me see them, they will also meet lead.